Western Railroad Discussion > Graffiti Artist's Rights? Where Is This Country Going?

I can't believe some of this stuff. What is your take on it?

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/09/new-york-graffiti-artist-win-lawsuit-5-pointz

The opinions are already covered here:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4413209

Sorry for the similar post. I haven't had a chance to be on TO for a few days so missed the "post" you referenced.
Seems like it has been covered quite extensively.

Mark

KskidinTx Wrote:
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> Sorry for the similar post. I haven't had a
> chance to be on TO for a few days so missed the
> "post" you referenced.
> Seems like it has been covered quite extensively.
>
>
> Mark

Covered, but not extensively. In the linked thread, here's a notable comment by ChessieSystem:

An important and overlooked fact here, there was some sort of agreement in place between the property owner and 'artists'.
The OP can now be categorized as fake news.

Thanks for mentioning it here on the Western Discussions, as I don't frequent the Eastern Discussions much and might have missed it. So the trial was more about agreements and less about trespassing and vandalism. There are other things that the news don't cover which would bring up more serious questions about where this country is really going...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/17 21:58 by cchan006.

Here's the long and short of it. When the current owner, Jerry Wolkoff, of the building bought said building, he agreed to allow the group of "aerosol arts", '5Pointz', a group of 21 "artists", to practice their habit, however he stated that he would be tearing said building down at some point in time. ("Wolkoff had given the artists permission to use the building as a canvas for “aerosol art” and the building was covered in multicolored murals and tags.")

Apparently what '5Pointz' has had a technical win on is how their work had been covered by the owner just prior to demolition. ("But in 2013, when Wolkoff decided to demolish the building and replace it with apartments, he whitewashed the graffiti art in the dead of night.")

The attorney for '5Pointz' has sugar coated this for the clickbait article, making it seem that the ruling will broaden the allowance of vandalism to take place. The ruling by the jury only covers "artwork" that occurs between two consensual parties, i.e. where a building owner allows and/or pays for said painting to occur. What happens to railcars, buildings and the like, where people vandalize private property, while most likely trespassing is not covered by the ruling. Additionally, though the jury has found in favor of the "artists", the judge has yet to set forth final decision on the case.

I will qualify some of the word choices that I have used, as I, like many, am disturbed by the onslaught of this type of vandalism and its general acceptance. It reflects poorly on us as a nation and society and the lack of respect we have for ourselves and one another. I will admit that even though it is vandalism and a blight on our society as a whole, there are some talented people who are "aerosol artists". Ashville, NC has a warehouse district next to NS' yard that is an approved aerosol artists' canvas space.

That being said, if you personally or professionally contract with an individual(s) to paint your property in such manner, whether you compensate them or not, this qualifies as artwork, and it is understandably protected under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of the Federal government. This is a pretty clear line in the legal sand. If said individual(s) paint private property such as railcars, subway tunnels, abandoned factories, any public (government owned) property, personal property, or any other privately owned property, they do not fall under VARA and should be held responsible for the removal costs of the vandalism and should be sent to jail for a commensurate amount of time, based on local penal code.

Fire away!

Russ

cchan006 Wrote: > ...  Thanks for mentioning it here on the Western Discussions, as I don't frequent the Eastern Discussions much ...

BINGO! Well said, because I'm in the same situation. I just don't have the time to "surf" every forum TO has to offer every day. I never would have seen this interesting discussion were it not for Mark posting it here on the Western forum. I try, but I just don't have the time to go over and visit my Eastern Cousins every single day as I would like to...

Lance/199

I shoot Graffiti 99% of the time.

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That's why I model in the 1930's, when all they had was chalk.

the ruling makes sense....no broad approval for graffiti vandalism. Arlen