Banksy’s Work on Tshirts Controversy
I want to first start by saying I am not going to argue the social or moral reasons why someone should not take another artist’s work and use it without permission as I am sure most readers already understand that, I am going to instead talk about the interesting legal issues this controversy raises.
Banksy is a famous artist known for his street art. Shot Dead in the Head is a clothing company out of Britain which started to sell Banksy’s art on tshirts. As Cottonable has pointed out this company set the price of the work and will donate all royalties to charities. As far as I can tell royalties doesn’t necessarily mean all profit. Not only that but Banksy’s anonymity is a key element in his popularity. I doubt he will come forward to stop this because in doing so he will have to reveal his identity. I do not know if it is possible to maintain copyright ownership of one’s work from a anonymous identity. If anyone knows for sure please leave a comment.
Source: Cottonable
