Illegal Graffiti Capable Of Copyright Protection

There is a common misconception by some in the artistic community that graffiti is not protected by copyright and so may be freely reproduced as a matter of public right in our modern "sharing economy."

Because graffiti typically appears in public places and is often created through acts of vandalism (e.g., by spray painting on public or private property), it is hard for some to understand why the law would permit vandals to profit from their illegal acts to the detriment of the public interest.

In Canada, Section 5(1) of the Copyright Act states that copyright subsists "in every original...artistic work..." so long as certain conditions are met.

To be protected by copyright, an artistic work must be sufficiently (1) "original" and (2) "fixed" in some permanent way.