Claudia Cardinale, advocate of EU copyright rules, dies

Brussels – The Leopard, 8 1/2, The Conspirators, Once Upon a Time in the West: Once upon a time, there was Claudia Cardinale — the iconic face of a historic era of cinema, in which the Italian actress was always a leading presence. She passed away at the age of 87, after a long illness, and at the end of a life that had kept her in the limelight, not only in movies. In 1999, Claudia Cardinale was the protagonist of a campaign for European rules, valid for everyone and everywhere, in the new Europe of the new world, the one free of barriers and curtains, to protect artists and art. A European law on copyright, aimed at protecting intellectual property, was demanded through a petition (Artists Unite For Strong Copyright) presented in the European Parliament.

It was in Strasbourg that Cardinale, along with the other signatories, appeared before the EU institutions on 9 February 1999 to bring attention to an issue affecting an entire category: copyright. Currently, EU copyright law consists of 13 directives and two regulations. However, at that moment in history, in the distant year of 1999, the European Copyright Union was still under construction. You have, at the level of legislation, a 1993 directive on “certain laws” on cable reproduction, and a 1996 directive on database protection – that’s it.

It is this missing Europe that drives Cardinale and other actors to unite and anticipate in some respects the Citizens’ Initiative, which will only be introduced in 2009 with the Lisbon Treaty. The initiative at that time is not an end in itself, as she and other representatives hold a press conference to support greater copyright protection for artists. 

Claudia Cardinale’s mobilisation probably plays a key role, given her “influence” as a diva: films with Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, roles with stars from Hollywood, of which she became a star herself, make Claudia Cardinale a world-famous figure. Her presence in the European Parliament puts the European institution at the centre of the world, and twelve-star politics on a whole new path.