Banksy, the law and the image

One of the best known "artists" of our time is Banksy.

He has jealously hidden his identity and we do not know if it is a single individual or a work group.

Yes, he is presented as a “graffiti artist”, painting his stencil figures on the walls (ie preparing guide shapes in the studio to be quickly transferred onto the walls).

His illustrations are of social denunciation and the choice of graffiti is to mark his distance from an "system" of art that he does not share.

In summary, the image he wanted to create in public consideration is that of a street artist who secretly draws his figures and runs away. He rejects trade and the system made up of museums, gallery owners and auction houses.

"Copyright is for losers" wrote in his book, inviting the public to reproduce and use any public work, thus wanting to hit one of the economic pillars of works of art: copyright.

So far the words of Banksy. Let's take a look at the facts.

There is a company called "Pest Control" (a reference to its drawn "mice"), which is responsible for authenticating and certifying Banksy's works such as the one, for example, sold for 1 million pounds at Sotheby's, including the little show of self-destruction (but only halfway) of the work itself.

A nice confirmation for that system that it said it wanted to eliminate.

In line with what Banksy said, exhibitions dedicated to his images, where he has nothing to do with it, began to proliferate, which tell and exhibit copies of his drawings.

Well, "Pest control" has started to sue everyone, stating that it is true that there is no copyright, but that some designs have been registered as trademarks.

For now this cunning does not work much, because the "Pest control" has so far lost all the causes (without entering into the specific legal distinctions).

The real problem for Banksy is choosing whether to defend his coherence and the "graffiti artist" image he has created or to give priority to his pockets.

Sometimes those who are too clever cheat themselves.

Andrea Giuseppe Fadini