Yanenko O.K. Relevant questions of the Russian civil legislation on the protection of rights for graffi ti as works of visual arts

Abstract: The author analyzes the legal status and current scientific points of view on “graffiti” (from Italian graffiato – "scratched"), which is how the street drawings made on the walls, asphalt, and other surfaces (such as train cars, etc.) are being considered. The civil-legal and administrative-legal aspects of this phenomenon are being researched. Examples are offered on the legal regulation of graffiti on the national and regional levels. The article examines the cases of foreign experience on the legal regulation of graffiti. Various forms of graffiti are being reviewed, as well as factual and legal problems associated with this form of art. The historical-legal and theoretical analyses have revealed the need to not only develop the definition of this form of “work of street art”, but to also formulate the criteria of their classification in order to “enact into the framework of law” the creative work of “street” artists. The author has developed a civil legal concept of graffiti and proposes to define it as a work of visual art that is expressed on the objects accessible for public viewing, which does not violate the rights of the objects’ owners, and does not contradict with the public interest and principles of humanity and morals. There is also an opinion that the purpose of graffiti can be justified by public interest (call to patriotic acts, charity, etc.), or have a private character (attracting attention to an object of advertising, etc.). Such graffiti should be considered an object of intellectual work and therefore, their authors should have the corresponding rights.

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