99 frantzeska papadopoulou skarp kind of forgery, falsification, or counterfeiting is illegal. This is a provision with a long history and a typical example envisioned by the Roman legislator was a seller that tampered with the publicly approved measures of wine, corn or any other thing, or commited a deception with malicious intent. The sentence for such violations would be a fine of double the value of the thing concerned. Lex Cornelia was a detailed market regulation that complemented the local Nurembergian legal framework, according to which falsely labelled products are illegal acts of counterfeiting. It is important to note that this regulation did not protect the actual copying of the products but instead their false labelling. In other words, the actual copying of the image was allowed, while placing false labels on the copied products would be prohibited. According to Koerner who has analysed the public records of the dispute, Dürer’s case was most probably one on “crimen falsi”, meaning that the counterfeiter had in fact proceeded with a “deliberate misrepresentation of material objects”. Allowing such activities to take place would endanger the trust the public endowed on the actual labelling of products originating in the city of Nuremberg.50 Apart from the general legal framework applicable in this case, of interest is the imperial privilege, granted by the Emperor himself and protected the sale of “works in spurious forms” or “images from forged blocks”. According to Ashcroft, dating the privilege at 1511, this must most probably have provided a solid ground upon which Dürer could base his enforcement actions. While the privilege as such confirmed Dürer’s special status as an artist, it does not seem to actually concern the actual case at hand. Dürer’s monogram was not covered by the imperial privilege, but the existence of the monogram enhanced the market value of the prints. The Council does not mention the privilege as such in its ruling, but of course it has taken into consideration the will of the Emperor to protect the artist’s work and products. 47 Pon Lisa, Raphael, Dürer and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print, 2004, pp. 33–37. 48 Ibid, pp. 31–38. 49 Koerner, Joseph, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art 1993, pp. 187– 203. 50 Karol, Peter, Albrecht Dürer’s Enforcement Actions: A Trademark Origin Story, 25Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, 2023, p. 424–456.
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