Multimillion Dollar "Moral Rights" Judgment For 5Pointz Graffiti Artists

It's been a few years since we first wrote about the 5Pointz dispute, where graffiti artists first tried to prevent the destruction of their works by the owner of the spray-painted buildings, and then sought money damages for their destruction. Gerald Wolkoff is widely portrayed as the "bad guy" in this story – while he claims that he sought only to redevelop property he owned, his late-night whitewashing infuriated the art community – and he has suffered a string of significant defeats, leading up to this month's multi-million dollar verdict for the artists.

Trademark Dispute

First, Wolkoff attempted unsuccessfully to register 5POINTZ as a trademark for real estate services, which provoked outrage from the artists and their fans. They thought his claim to ownership in the name allegedly coined by the artists themselves was adding insult to injury. It might have been an interesting legal battle, if the artists had tried to assert their trademark rights in