Antonio De’ Curtis aka Totò has become a brand. In 2023, the Turin court gave the heirs the opportunity to block clandestine uses of the actor’s name and his famous poem ‘A level, which tells how when faced with death we are all the same. «It’s a question of respect for my grandfather. We come across everywhere, in the most unexpected places, his name and photos of him used without the slightest respect for the right to image”, he says to Morning niece Elena De Curtis. Which you had warnings delivered through a law firm to commercial establishments in Turin, Latina and Porto Ascoli. For the names: Casa Totò, Totò and Peppino, A Livella. And for the images, paintings, poems “that cover the walls, reproduced on paper placemats, websites, social pages”.
‘A Level and ‘O copyright
The lawyers of Totò’s heirs have written to many. Some have changed signs and restaurant names. Or from websites, takeaway cartons, menus, business cards and receipts. In Turin the court also established a penalty of 200 euros for each violation or non-compliance from the date of notification of the measures. In other cases we are moving towards a court summons. In February 2023, the A casa di Totò pizzeria in Turin suspended all activities aimed at «creating a brand and a format of restaurants and pizzerias recalling the name and image of Totò, given the confirmed existence on the national territory of various activities that illicitly used the pseudonym and image of Antonio De Curtis”, reads the ordinance.
Totò and Peppino
Then it’s the turn of the Totò e Peppino pizzeria in Porto d’Ascoli. The owner explained to customers that precisely because of the complaints from Totò’s family, the court forced him to change his name. Same fate for a commercial business in Latina. “Regulation at this point is strictly necessary,” says the family. Otherwise one cause after another will come.
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Tags: Totò registered trademark clubs restaurants pizzerias change names
