By Simon Black, Sovereign Man

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity.
Man fined almost $7 million for painting his own property

In 2002, the owner of some dilapidated warehouses in New York City decided to make use of the property.

He hired an artist to decorate the warehouses with graffiti, and curate graffiti art from others. Soon it became a bustling art hub, with artists renting out space to do their work.

But after eleven years, the owner decided to demolish the warehouses to make way for luxury apartments.

That’s when the artists sued to protect ‘their’ graffiti.

But the owner of the property went ahead and whitewashed the artwork while the lawsuit was ongoing.

After years of legal battles, the court sided with the artists and demanded the owner pay $6.75 million to the artists whose work he destroyed. And now on appeal, another court affirmed that decision.

Turns out, you don’t have the same property rights when it comes to art.

New York has a Visual Artists Rights Act. It doesn’t matter who owns the art, or the building it’s affixed to. Artists still maintain certain rights to their work, even if it is sold (or they never owned the canvass).

So in New York, you better be careful who you let decorate your property. It may become their property.

Law Case here:
https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/18-498_opn.pdf