Beth Galí sues the State of Qatar for copying her design of the LATINA street lights
Last June the internationally known architect Beth Galí filed a lawsuit before the Commercial Court of Barcelona for copyright infringement, given the copying of the LATINA street lights designed by her and which have been copied by a public entity of the State of Qatar.
The conflict goes back to 2005, when SANTA&COLE (Spanish enterprise, assignee and right holder) was awarded with the project of installing in Doha the street lights that would enlighten the Al Waab Avenue, with occasion of the XV Asian Games. The LATINA street lights are 16 meters tall, they cost around 12.000€ and are considered a superior work of art with perfect structure solutions.
After handing the technical specifications and several models of the LATINA street lights, the Public Works Authority of Qatar “ASHGHAL” said that they were not interested in the project. Nevertheless, the Authority hired a Chinese company that copied the designs and installed over a thousand “poor copies ” of Beth Gali´s street lights. The poor quality of the materials used in the construction of the street lights gave rise to complaints brought by citizens and drivers that got blinded because of the bad positioning of the street lights. To put an end to these problems with the street-lights, ASHGHAL contacted SANTA& COLE that found out that they were an infringement of the LATINA designs.
The present conflict is 7 years old. Despite the multiple complaints brought by Beth Galí and SANTA&COLE, the counterfeited LATINA street lights keep shining all along the Al Wadd Avenue, while the Qatari government remains impassible and does nothing to bring this conflict to an end. Due to this, the architect Beth Galí filed the corresponding lawsuit against the State of Qatar and the Public Works Authority “Ashghal” for copyright infringement.
Regarding the copying of the LATINA street lights, Beth Galí manifested this conflict stains her reputation, given the accidents that have occurred due to the bad quality of the materials used in the construction of the street lights at issue. At the other end, SANTA&COLE echoed about the economic loss suffered, as it lost the chance to make and install the LATINA street lights with occasion of the Olympic Games held in London.
The Qatari Government refused to submit the present controversy to any of the alternative dispute resolution systems offered by WIPO, that is, mediation and arbitration, reason why Beth Galí filed a lawsuit before the Commercial Court of Barcelona. As far as we are aware, Beth Galí requested in her lawsuit 100.000€ in damages and the withdrawal and destruction of the counterfeited LATINA street lights.
The State of Qatar has been summoned to reply the lawsuit filed by Beth Galí for copyright infringement. Nevertheless, it looks like the poor copies of the LATINA street lights will continue to light the Al Wadd Avenue a little longer. It remains to be seen how the corresponding Court will resolve the present controversy.
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