The Provincial Court of Badajoz has dismissed the appeal from the Town Hall of Don Benito and confirms that it violated the intellectual property rights of Tenerife designer Francisco Javier Torres Franquis by using his work for the 2025 Carnival.
Tenerife designer Francisco Javier Torres Franquis has definitively won the legal battle against the Town Hall of Don Benito (Badajoz). The Provincial Court of Badajoz has confirmed that the Extremaduran council plagiarised his poster for the Santa Cruz Carnival of Tenerife in 2016 to promote its own festivities in 2025. The ruling, issued on July 10, entirely dismisses the municipal appeal and upholds the ruling of the Commercial Court of Mérida from January of this year.
The designer retains his rights
One of the key arguments from the Town Hall of Don Benito was that Torres Franquis could not claim rights because the rights to the poster would have passed to the Santa Cruz Council when they paid him for the work in 2016. The Court outright rejects this: there is no document that proves an express assignment of exploitation rights. The Town Hall of Santa Cruz only acquired the right to use the work for that edition of the Carnival, but the creator retains the intellectual property.
For the designer, the news represents a validation of his struggle. “It’s not a coincidence, it’s my poster,” he stated when comparing both images. The ruling considers that the plagiarism is “obvious”, with full coincidence in the design of the main element, the graphic style, the composition, and the proportions.
“A simple glance” is enough
The defence of Don Benito argued that they were unaware of the Santa Cruz poster, that there were significant differences, and that the burial of the sardine is a common motif. The Court does not accept any of these excuses. The judges state that the changes introduced by the Town Hall – in the background and colour – are “secondary and accessory,” and that “a simple glance” reveals the enormous similarity.
The judicial resolution emphasises that the Extremaduran council used the design with slight modifications, which constitutes a clear violation of intellectual property rights. For the residents of Santa Cruz, the ruling is a vindication of the authorship of a poster that marked that year’s carnival.
The importance of intellectual property
This case sets a precedent regarding the protection of creators. The Court reminds that the assignment of rights must be express and in writing; otherwise, the author retains control over their work. Torres Franquis, based in Tenerife, has seen his work replicated without permission nine years later.
For the Canarian design sector, the ruling is a relief. “It’s a victory for artists who live off their creativity,” cultural sources state. The ruling is final and there is no ordinary appeal, meaning Don Benito must bear the costs of the process and remove the plagiarised poster from its official communications.
The news comes in the middle of summer when many municipalities are already preparing for their carnivals next year. In Santa Cruz, the coincidence with the tenth anniversary of the original poster adds a symbolic touch. Who knows if the chicharrero Town Hall, which never ceded the exploitation rights, will now consider claiming something more than the satisfaction of seeing the work of its designer recognised.
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