Banksy and the Art of Property

Remember this bit of Banksy news? Well, it seems like this ol’ Banksy mural may do some good. As some may recall, Banksy’s mural was removed for preservation reasons. Now, the “true owners” of the mural–or better yet, the wall–want the mural back. What’s wrong with that you ask? Well, the City of Detroit has noticed that someone has finally claimed ownership over the eye sore building where the Banksy mural was originally located.

Freep.com puts it quite nicely:

What sweet irony it would be if a greedy grasp for the rights to a graffiti artists’ work forced the Packard’s furtive owners to at last eradicate this gargantuan eyesore! That’s exactly the scenario city officials say could be developing in the wake of Biosource Inc.’s lawsuit to recover an 8-foot section of wall featuring artwork by the internationally renowned British graffiti artist who calls himself Banksy.

“Now that it is clear and publicly acknowledged who the responsbile party is,” [Detroit Buildings and Safety Engineering director Karla] HendersonHenderson told the Associated Press, the city will “hold the property owner responsible for this unsightly and dangerous situation.”

Nice!

Tags: Art Law, detroit, graffiti, painting, sculpture, urban decay, urban planning