Street Artist Takes on British Airways in Mural Copyright Dispute

A German-born street artist has taken on British Airways (BA) after the airline posted a billboard in Shoreditch, London featuring street art.

Claudia Walde, also known as MadC, has claimed her “Chance Street Mural” was used without her permission in the billboard.

Painted in 2013, the mural covers a two-storey building and features a colourful abstract design.

She’s instructed a lawyer in Paris to deal with the alleged infringement.

“I paint several murals every year and am exhibited in galleries around the globe. I make a living of my art, so of course I need to be paid for my work,” said MadC.

She added that in this case, payment isn’t the primary reason for taking legal action against the airline.

“If I let companies use my work without permission their clients might think I agree with their products or services. But this might not be the case and my personal opinions might be different from the brands and my reputation might be damaged,” she said.

A BA spokesperson said: “We were pleased to display some images from Shoreditch as part of a recent campaign. We’re glad Clear Channel is working to resolve this issue.”

Clear Channel, the creator of the advert, said it had licensed a number of images for use in the campaign.

“All the images used in the campaign were procured in good faith from reputable image libraries, and we are therefore surprised that such images may have contained the works of a number of artists without their consent,” it said.

Clear Channel invited the artists in question to contact it directly to resolve this matter.

They claimed that the fast-food chain had used murals without permission in a Dutch advertising campaign, to promote its “New York Bagel Supreme” burger.

Source: WIPR

Editor: Camila (camila@iprdaily.com)