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Aron Flam infringed Bertil Almqvist’s illustration A Swedish Tiger, that’s the opinion of prosecutors and the Emergency Preparedness Museum Foundation, which owns the copyright. Among other things, Flam has a variant of the tiger he heals in his book “This is a Swedish tiger” about the Swedish culture of silence during World War II.
Aron Flam’s advocate, Monique Wadsted, stated during the main hearing that a Swedish tiger is more of a logo and therefore has a “weak scope of protection”. Also, Bertil Almqvist (died 1972) himself never claimed A Swedish Tiger as his work, but it should be considered an art director assignment, she says.
“I would have had no objection”
Almqvist himself used the tiger as a symbol of a culture of silence as a satirist in Aftonbladet in 1954.
– This illustration has become known because it was used by the government and is a symbol of Sweden during this time, but also of censorship and the culture of silence. Bertil Almqvist himself has used it that way. I don’t see that I would have had any objection to another satirist using it to criticize Nazi Germany, says Monique Wadsted.
Aron Flam himself emphasizes during the interrogation that his tiger is his.
– I have not used Bertil Almqvist’s tiger, I make collages, cook them in context, give them a new meaning and create independent works, he says.
Promised to protect the image
Almqvist’s daughter, Christina Billgren, says her father was “very proud” of A Swedish Tiger and had not liked the Flam variant.
– He was quite angry. He wanted his things for himself, he didn’t like people choosing his things. His photo was his photo, he says.
Foundation Emergency Management Museum president and attorney Marie Andrée says it doesn’t matter what Bertil Almqvist thought. The Museum of Emergency Preparedness received the financial right in 2002 and has championed the work ever since.
– I looked for the daughters and accepted that the museum acquired the copyright. They wanted the image to go down in history and be used historically. If the image is distorted, used politically or used where it does not belong, I promised to act and I have kept that promise. That’s why the foundation got the rights, says Marie Andrée.
– When the spread gets that big, a step 22 occurs. If you don’t intervene, the spread continues. If it intervenes, it can be perceived as if it is the copyright holder who is infringing, which has become in this case, says prosecutor David Ludvigsson.
The prosecutor demands a suspended sentence and a fine of 40 days.
