Susan Scafidi was quoted in an Ad Age article about copyright protections for graffiti art. Recently H&M received a cease-and-desist letter from street artist Jason Williams whose graffiti art was included in a recent H&M activewear advertising campaign.
While the public made its opinion known, the question of whether H&M was within its legal rights or not to use Revok’s work is a tricky issue. “There is nothing in the copyright act that says art that is illegally created can’t be subject to copyright, so technically, yes it should be,” Susan Scafidi, director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, told AdAge, “but if you take the vandalism perspective, then it’s understandable why this would rub some the wrong way.”