The High Court of the U.K. has rejected a final appeal from Icelandic artist ODEE to maintain a website he created to satirize Akureyri, Iceland-based Samherji’s role in the Fishrot scandal.
First brought to public attention in 2019, the Namibian Fishrot scandal involved bribes allegedly paid by Samherji to Namibian officials to access fishing quotas below market values.
ODEE, whose full name is Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, produced “We’re Sorry!” in 2023, which drew on Samherji’s branding to create what he said was a parody website which officially apologized for the company’s alleged wrongdoing.
“I created this fictional apology from Samherji, which I believe is the only thing that could actually settle this black spot in the history of Namibia and Iceland,” ODEE said at the time.
Samherji promptly brought a case against ODEE for using its corporate identity, seeking to have the website removed. In May 2024, then-CEO and company founder Thorsteinn Mar Baldvinsson said that the company had brought the case because it refused to accept “abuse.”
“Our position is that this has nothing to do with art or freedom of expression but that we have a right and duty to protect that company's brand,” he said.
In November 2024 the U.K. High Court of Justice ruled in favor of Samherji, ordering the artist to remove the website artwork from the internet.
In the most recent appeal, Judge Anthony Mann upheld the previous order that the artist cede control of the website and domain name, which the company sought to repossess. Though the judge said that he agreed that ODEE had not sought to gain financially from the artwork, he did not find the artwork to constitute a legal parody, which would have been protected by Article 10 of the Human Rights Act.
Article 10 defends free expression, but draws a line at expression which is fraudulent or intended to deceive.
In response to the rejected appeal, ODEE told The Art Newspaper that he would take the fight next to the European Court of Human Rights, saying “the fight for free expression goes on.”
Though then-CEO Baldvinsson denied wrongdoing, in 2023, an Icelandic newspaper unearthed evidence that Baldvinsson had been in close contact, through text message, with Jóhannes Stefánsson, the company’s former director of Namibian operations, who ultimately became the Fishrot whistleblower.
The allegations have led to multiple criminal investigations and court actions, including investigations which are ongoing in Iceland, criminal charges against several Namibian officials, and a wrongful dismissal lawsuit on the part of fishers.
