5 ms·

Yes, actually. The US has the Visual Artists Rights Act which means an artist can sue if you destroy their artwork. France has even stronger laws where you can’

• fred_is_fred 3y ago
  The US also has strong don't paint other people's houses laws. If what you say is true, I could graffiti your front door and sue you if you tried to fix it. I don't think that's at all how the law works for us.
• vlz 3y ago
  Ok, but that doesn't seem to apply to "normal" graffiti does it? People remove them all the time, even when they are quite good or interesting.
  • wahnfrieden 3y ago
    we're not actually a very rules based society
    • shjake 3y ago
      Or rather these ‘rules’ would only generally apply anywhere if the mural/graffiti was painted with the consent of the owner
• otherme123 3y ago
  I understood that they want to profit. But people are stealing parts or painting over, so they either have to put security (50k per year) or sell it paying 200k for the removal. They really are asking potential buyers to pay the bill. For what I read about VARA, it applies only if you paid the artist to paint the graffiti, and later you decide to destroy it, as the artist keeps some rights even if you own the art.
• i_am_jl 3y ago
  For what it's worth, I don't think this would be protected in the US. In the US, graffiti artists' rights have only been upheld under VARA if their work was permitted by the property owner. The artists suing the developers who painted over 5 Pointz were successful because their work was created with the consent of the property owners. However, more recently a property management company in California was not held responsible for painting over murals on their building that were painted without the owner's consent: "CCI concedes that the statutory provisions of the VARA “do[] not expressly state that the consent of the building owner is necessary.” Id. Instead, CCI argues that “common sense” implies a requirement that a plaintiff must plead consent of a building owner to establish standing and access the protections of the VARA. Id. The Court agrees with CCI, at least with regards to works of art that cannot be removed from a building without causing their destruction." https://casetext.com/case/canilao-v-city-commercial-invs https://casetext.com/case/canilao-v-city-commercial-invs EDIT: -Chicago +California
• mytailorisrich 3y ago
  Spray painting some's house without their consent is not 'artwork', it's criminal damage.
  • netrus 3y ago
    It can be both.
    • mytailorisrich 3y ago
      In law it's only criminal damage...