Cristina Cati, creator of the Modoro brand, has won a landmark legal battle against the Swedish furniture giant Ikea. One of her illustrations was reproduced without consent and used to decorate a store near Bologna.
The case began during the Christmas holidays of 2021, when a young woman who followed Cati on Instagram visited the Ikea store in Casalecchio di Reno and recognised one of her illustrations on the wall. Assuming it was an official collaboration, she messaged the artist to congratulate her. This was the first time Cati learnt that her work had been used without her knowledge or authorisation. The follower had already sensed something was off; a partnership with a company of Ikea’s scale would surely have been announced. On closer inspection, she noticed Cati’s name was nowhere to be found.
The work in question, Tortellino con ingredienti, had been reproduced and modified by Ikea to decorate the store. Neither use had been authorised.
David versus Goliath court case
Cati, who sells prints, accessories and kitchen furnishings under her Modoro brand, was advised by many to drop the matter. Taking on a multinational of Ikea’s size, they warned, was a battle she could not win. She pressed ahead regardless, assisted by lawyer Lavinia Savini. She was motivated by what she described to ANSA as the need to reflect “on the value of creative work” — the hours, ideas, experimentation, research, and personal artistic language that go into it.
At one point, Ikea attempted an out-of-court settlement, making a monetary offer to close the matter. Cristina Cati rejected it as too low and proceeded to file a lawsuit before the civil division of the Court of Bologna.
The court found in Cati’s favour. The judgment, now final, recognised that the illustration displayed in the Casalecchio store was her “work of genius”. It was, therefore, protected under Italian copyright law. Ikea must now pay her compensation.
For Cati, the financial outcome is secondary to the principle established: that creative work can and must be protected, regardless of who has used it or how large they are.
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