Bavaria loses copyright lawsuit on famous slogan

Bavaria cannot claim copyright on its slogan "Zo. Nu eerst..." (So. But first... in English), the court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday in a lawsuit between the brewer from Lieshout and an internet company from Zwolle, Omroep Brabant reports. The brewer filed a lawsuit against internet company Yourhosting after it used the words "Zo. Nu eerst na de cloud" (So. But first to the cloud) in a radio commercial. This was the appeal in the case. The previous ruling gave Bavaria the exclusive right to the slogan. The Hague court ruled that the words "Zo. Nu eerst" can not be protected by copyright as it is a "simple, common sentence in the Dutch language". "It is a usual combination of words", the court statement reads, "A personal stamp of the author can not be discerned in it." The court also found that Bavaria did not have enough evidence to sufficiently prove that Yourhosting infringed on its trade mark acted illegally. A spokesperson for Bavaria called the ruling "quite disappointing" and added that the brewer will first study the ruling before responding substantively. "Whether we will take further action, we can not yet say", the spokesperson said. After the first ruling Bavaria delivered a pallet of beer to Yourhosting in Zwolle, with the message "Zo. Nu eerst een Bavaria". The brewer stated on Tuesday that it is curious about what the internet company's reaction will be. A spokesperson for Yourhosting said the company is "very pleased" with the ruling, but does not yet know whether they will use the slogan again. He added that Yourhosting won't "pour salt on Bavaria's wounds" when asked about a possible reaction.