Graffiti IP

Apparently copyright for art works extends to graffiti art, quite independently of the legality of the creation process.

It’s an odd one; copyright prevents the reproduction of art works that are owned by no one. The right of reproduction remains with the creator no matter what.

And there’s no law against the wall owner destroying the graffiti art but there is a law against reproduction by others. That’s a bit skewy.

Now I wonder if the ‘remixes’ I did below are illegal or unlawful in any way?

In these I took some Photoshop cut outs from photos of street graffiti and worked them into some of my own photos.

According to random web info, the artistic use of copyright materials for collage is not explicitly legal even for fair use, and commercial uses are explicitly not allowed, no matter how small amount of a fraction of the original work is used in the collage.

There is a doctrine of de minimis that theoretically protects for minimal copying, but it’s vague and difficult to pin down.

It’s all madness – our IP laws need a complete rethink now that we have all this IT.