Intellectual Property News and Reports

Defendants‐Appellants are developers who destroyed aerosol artwork that Plaintiffs‐Appellees had painted on buildings owned by Defendants‐Appellants. They appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Block, J.) awarding statutory damages to Plaintiffs‐Appellees under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (“VARA”). We hold that 10 the district court correctly determined that temporary artwork may achieve recognized stature so as to be protected from destruction by VARA and that Plaintiffs‐Appellees’ work had achieved that stature. We also hold that the district court did not err in finding Defendants‐Appellants’ violations of VARA to be willful and that the district court’s award of statutory damages was not an abuse of discretion. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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