WilmerHale Senior Associate Greg Israelsen will be speaking on a panel entitled “Graffiti, Tattoos and More – Fixation of Work on Property or People: Are They Your Source? An Alternate Look at Copyright Fixation, Rights of Publicity, and Related Issues.” He will be joined on the panel by Adrienne R. Fields of the Artists Rights Society, New York, NY, and Yolanda King of Northern Illinois University College of Law, Dekalb, IL.
From the 5Pointz complex in New York City to body tattoos to television ads, artists are claiming copyright protection over a broader range of work—fixed on a wider variety of media—than ever before. Tattoo artists have asserted claims against video-game and movie studios for realistically depicting their tattoos, even when those studios obtained the consent of the people on whose bodies the tattoos were inked. Graffiti artists have litigated the destruction of their pieces by the property owners on whose buildings or other property the graffiti was created. This program will highlight recent case law developments, as well as the interplay of moral rights, copyrights, and property rights in this quickly changing area of the law.