Murals, graffiti, and public art

Large town mural. Leadville, Colorado, 2013

Is it legal to make direct photographs of public art (as in the above image)? Of course it is! Snap away…post on Facebook…show your friends…post on your blog…make prints for artistic purposes…even make a coffee table book of the graffiti styles of Moscow, Idaho if you like…BUT, if you intend to use those images for commercial purposes–say, to advertise your business, or to sell greeting cards and make money–and the images are simply straight pictures of the original art–then you are most likely violating the copyright of the original artist. This includes all kinds of public art: sculpture, paintings, murals, graffiti, mosaics, and so on.

And this also includes the obnoxious (to you, maybe) but colorful graffiti spraypainted on the sides of railroad freight cars, even if there is no obvious (to you) signature or date.

Now this can get a bit less clear if you use the public art as only one element of your photographic composition–that is, if there is more going on in your image than a simple photographic reproduction of the original artwork (not the case in the example image I have posted above, by the way).

If your work goes beyond simple copying and creates something new you are probably OK. (For a really interesting example of this, check out Marcel Duchamp’s Mona Lisa with a mustache called “L.H.O.O.Q.” at THIS LINK.)

Your best bet if in doubt: consult a lawyer who specializes in copyright law.