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JAPANESE IMMERSIVE ART COLLECTIVE SUES CALIFORNIA COMPANY FOR
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

By Shanti Escalante-De Mattei

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SHANTI ESCALANTE-DE MATTEI

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April 28, 2022 4:20pm
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teamLabs exhibit. Court documents

TeamLab, a Japanese collective that produces immersive experiences, is currently
suing the Museum of Dream Space (MODS) for copyright infringement. The Japanese
company’s initial complaint was filed in 2019, and recent court filings released
Monday show MODS’ response.

Immersive exhibits have been raking in money as shows dedicated to Van Gogh,
Leonardo da Vinci, Egon Schiele, and Gustav Klimt tour the world. In the case of
Van Gogh and Da Vinci at least, organizations are taking advantage of public
domain to convert these masters’ paintings into color and light.







TeamLab has found enormous success in a different kind of immersive show that
creates peaceful, colorful environments; it opened a museum in Tokyo in 2018,
while also producing for artistic institutions like Pace Gallery and
multinational conglomerates like Disney. In the first year of opening the
teamLab museum, the collective brought in $50 million from more than 2 million
visitors.




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According to teamLabs’ initial complaint from 2019, teamLab accused MODS of
copying two shows they had produced—Universe of Water Particles, Transcending
Boundaries (2017) that was shown at Pace Gallery in London and Crystal Universe
(2015)—to create MODS shows, Season Dream and Galaxy Dream respectively. MODS
was founded in 2018. TeamLab also accused MODS of using images of teamLab shows
to promote MODS on social media.

Aside from taking down MODS exhibitions and promotional photos, teamLab is
seeking damages for revenue lost. While it can be difficult to judge how many
visitors may have skipped a teamLab show thanks to MODS, the loss of license
fees alone are potentially significant.

“teamLab routinely receives license fees in the range of one million to several
million dollars for six-month licensing periods in connection with exhibitions
of its works,” read the 2019 complaint, meaning that at the very least MODS
might have to pay up for fees in the millions.


TeamLab exhibitions are on the left, MODS exhibitions are on the right. Court
documents

In a response filed by MODS earlier this April, the company’s representation
pushed back on several points. MODS claims that since teamLab does not have
copyright registrations in the United States, they cannot sue. (It should be
noted that both the US and Japan are signatories to the Universal Copyright
Convention, so it’s not likely teamLab would have to file a copyright
registration in the US for their copyright to be valid.)



MODS’ other point questioned what exactly has even been copied.

“Crucially, TL [teamLab] lacks clear and complete evidence of what exactly is
included in the allegedly infringed,” reads MODS’ response. “The elements of the
exhibits that TL claims Defendants copied are either not original to TL, not
protectable, or both. These elements are defined broadly and vaguely, and cover
a multitude of ideas and materials found in earlier installation artworks.”

In the complaints, teamLab alleges that MODS’s exhibitions were “substantially
similar in total concept and feel.”

MODS’ response points out that using hanging LEDs that change color is a “medium
of artistic expression used by many artists,” employed by such artists as Yayoi
Kusama.

Both parties petitioned for summary judgment earlier this month and a hearing is
scheduled for June. If the court does not render a judgment and MODS and teamLab
don’t agree to a settlement, a trial would commence in August.

If the suit goes to trial, the court’s decision could have important
implications for the art world, as teamLab’s suit and MODS’ response call into
question what, if anything, about an immersive installation is legally
copyrightable.

READ MORE ABOUT:

 * immersive installations
 * teamlab


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