The war in court between PANArt and HCU has reached a decisive turning point: PANArt has been awarded the copyright and the Hang (C) is therefore legally and officially a work of art with all legal recognition.
The HCU has not yet responded, PANArt has published a post today.
Further details are not yet known. Copyright has been granted in full – the HANG is protected by copyright under Swiss, German and Dutch law.
Update (9 July): The latest HCU newsletter seems to have no appreciation left at all in this regard and talks of appeals and optimistic lawyers regarding the question of whether Handpans infringe copyright at all.
Paniverse Article (opinion, english)
Article: Der Bund , 9.7.24: Hang-Erfinder erringen für ihr Instrument einen Sieg (german)
Matthieu Shellopan: statement (french)
Update (17.7) : PANArt published verdict (PDF)
(Features of the copyrighted shape, Sketch by Felix Rohner, PANArt)
Further Reading:
HCU legal advise and statement about settlement
PAN LAB VIENNA Statement (german)
PAN LAB Vienna current instruments
Confused?
This legal fight story is all new to you? More Backgrounds and Blasts from the Pasts:
- Read the highly readerfriendly “Bloomberg” article from 2021. It sums everything up until 2021. “They Invented The Must-Have Instrument For The Burning Man Set. Now They Want To Kill It Off “
- This little Timeline Post by PAN LAB sums up what happend before the Bloomberg article (german, please use eg a tool like “deepl” for translation)
- This highly recommended BIG Timeline Project (www.handpan-timeline.org) sums up the history – starting with the first Oil Barrel (So: The Steelpanhistory is also there but only in a nutshell!)
- Last but not least and also highly recommended: The history of the Hang (R) as told by PANArt in their own words
Thanks so much for digging deeper and get an more holistic understanding for the highly highly complex history of these superlovely instruments.
If you have questions write to office@pan-lab-vienna.at