Art Crimes?: Theoretical Perspectives on Copyright Protection for Illegally-Created Graffiti Art

Jamison M. Davies, Harvard Law School

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This article was originally published in Volume 65 of the Maine Law Review

Abstract

This paper begins by examining whether illegally-created graffiti art is entitled to copyright protection under the current copyright law. Analogies are made to other forms of unwanted expression, fraud and obscenity, and their historical and current copyright status. The remainder of the paper uses graffiti art as a lens through which to examine various theoretical explanations of copyright, both as descriptive theories of production and as normative theories of protection.