“In a culture where association with philistines is a death knell,” UK-based graffiti and street artists Cole Smith, Reece Deardon and Harry Matthews have brought a lawsuit against Vivienne Westwood and retailers of the brand for the fashion house’s allegedly unauthorized use of their tags “to lend credibility and an air of urban cool” to its apparel. See Smith v. Vivienne Westwood, Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-01221 (C.D. Cal. Filed 02/12/25). The artists, known professionally as DISA, SNOK and RENNEE, respectively, argue that their tags are, like their name or signature, “deeply personal and determinative of their identity.” In turn, they claim that Vivienne Westwood’s use of their tags falsely represents their endorsement of the fashion house to the consumer and causes “the world to think that they are corporate sellouts, willing to trade their artistic independence, legacy and credibility for a quick buck.”
According to allegations in this and a long string of similar lawsuits by street artists against fashion brands like Moschino, Roberto Cavalli, Guess?, North Face and Puma, the use of graffiti artists’ tags on apparel purportedly generates “huge revenues” for brands based on their supposed affiliation with the artists. Those familiar with the legacy of Vivienne Westwood’s eponymous founder as a punk icon (far from a philistine) might agree that her brand illustrates the profitability of incorporating urban counterculture into retail fashion.
Yet, the extent to which DISA, SNOK and RENNEE may recover their alleged damages as UK-based artists before the US District Court for the Central District of California remains an open question. While these artists may pursue their copyright infringement claims under the Berne Convention without having registered their tags in the United States Copyright Office, they probably are not entitled to recover either statutory damages or attorneys’ fees without US registrations. Additionally, although they may have a viable claim that their tags are copyright management information subject to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 1202) — as other courts in the Central District ruled in the cases against Moschino and Roberto Cavalli — their claims under California’s right of publicity statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 3344) may be somewhat less certain. There is a dearth of precedent for extending the protections of California’s right of publicity statute to out-of-state residents, even if the court, as in the case against Moschino, finds that a graffiti artist’s tag is a name in a literal sense.
Therefore, this case has the potential to better define the legal landscape faced by foreign street artists pursuing copyright infringement in the United States and right of publicity claims in California. Still, the lawsuit is at its infancy and, similar to the cases against other retailers, may settle before being fully litigated on its merits. We will continue to monitor this case and provide updates as it develops.
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