Banksy Looses Copyright Claim Due To Anonymity and Comments - May Lead To Revealing Identity

 

In a stark demonstration of needing to be careful what you say and do, the "anonymous" street artist Banksy has lost a copyright battle in the European Union based partly on anonymity, and partly on previous comments made.

The work in question Banksy was concerned about was Laugh Now, a mural of a monkey wearing a sandwich board saying "laugh now but one day we'll be in charge.   Full Colour Black, a company which calls itself a "contemporary Art Licensing company specialising in the commercialisation of world famous street art", appropriated the image for a greeting card with a monkey wearing a sandwich board saying "very little helps".  

Banksy's company Pest Control were unhappy with this, and decided to take action, taking the case to the European Union Intellectual Property Office.  On 19/05/21 the EUIPO ruled against Banksy and Pest Control, citing a number of factors for the decision.

First, the nature of graffiti, it being sprayed in a public place, free to be photographed by the general public and disseminated widely, was a strong argument Full Colour Black made.  Perhaps in isolation this may have been able to be defeated by the now highly commercial nature of Banksy's work, however, Banksy's anonymity also provided a support to the argument that the work was not entitled to protection.  As the court found that by choosing to be anonymous protecting a piece of art would not be possible.  

However, perhaps the strongest argument that Banksy's work should not be protected by intellectual property laws is Banksy's own words.  In Banksy's 2007 book Wall and Piece, Banksy remarked that "copyright is for losers'.  A comment which the court made explicit note of in its judgement, stating that "the street artist explicitly stated that the public is morally and legally free to reproduce, amend and otherwise use and copyright works".

The concern for Banksy following such a ruling is the effect it will have on other works of his.  However, it bears remembering that many have figured out the artists identity, and so the only remaining block to copyright protection is this being confirmed by the artist.  It is our opinion that since Banksy has been minded to take action, and failed to protect copyright anonymously, it will not be long before the enigma is solved and his identity will be revealed to prevent loss of all the works created