{"id":4323,"date":"2018-11-13T17:02:27","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/food-taste-not-protected-by-copyright-rules-eu-court\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T17:02:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:02:27","slug":"food-taste-not-protected-by-copyright-rules-eu-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/food-taste-not-protected-by-copyright-rules-eu-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Food taste ‘not protected by copyright’ rules EU court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The ruling will have implications for cheese producers across the EU
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The taste of a food cannot be protected by copyright, the EU’s highest legal authority has ruled in a case involving a Dutch cheese.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Justice said the taste of food was too “subjective and variable” for it to meet the requirements for copyright protection.<\/p>\n

The court was asked to rule in the case of a spreadable cream cheese and herb dip, Heksenkaas, produced by Levola.<\/p>\n

Levola argued another cheese, Witte Wievenkaas, infringed its copyright.<\/p>\n

The firm claimed that Heksenkaas was a work protected by copyright; it asked the Dutch courts to insist Smilde, the producers of Witte Wievenkaas, cease the production and sale of its cheese.<\/p>\n

The Court of Justice of the European Union<\/a> was asked by Netherlands’ court of appeal to rule on whether the taste of a food could be protected under the Copyright Directive.<\/p>\n

Kit Kats, Tofu and Champagne<\/h2>\n

In its judgement, the European court said that, in order to qualify for copyright, the taste of a food must be capable of being classified as a “work” and it had to meet two criteria:<\/p>\n