A rot or a question of beauty? The presence of graffiti in an area can divide opinions. Often, graffiti artists can showcase their work on bespoke structures provided by local companies and local governments. However, if you are a graffiti artist and want to make your work available to the public on public or private property, there are various legal regulations that you need to be aware of. Graffiti is sometimes considered an art form by those who make it, but by the public it is often seen as a nuisance, often associated with antisocial behavior and gang culture. It`s also expensive to get rid of: recent estimates put the cost of graffiti cleanup in the UK at over £1 billion. Graffiti can affect us in many ways: we can suffer direct attacks on our personal belongings, such as the walls and fences of our homes, but we can also suffer from the misery of living in a neighborhood that has been plagued by a high prevalence of tagging, which some might call a sign of urban decay. Similarly, we experience graffiti in the wider area when we are on the go, with labels scratched on the windows of buses, bus stops and railway cars (known as Dutch Graffiti), labels and letters on buildings next to railway lines, in underground passages and on the walls of occupied and abandoned commercial buildings. Interestingly, a tiny fraction of this graffiti has found some public support, even if it has been used illegally. * When it comes to graffiti, we talk about “without permission” The Anti-Graffiti Association, which can be found on the Keep Britain Tidy Network website, was created to promote best practice in dealing with graffiti, vandalism and related crimes through a combined approach of research, education and communication. One of the members of this organisation, Anti-Graffiti Systems, manages the National Graffiti Database in partnership with the British Transport Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Crime Prosecution Service. Member organisations are encouraged to include graffiti information in this database to enable successful prosecution of graffiti vandals, costing the nation around £1 billion a year.
The law also prohibits retailers from selling spray paint to persons under the age of 16. To avoid a hefty fine, the retailer must prove that it has taken reasonable steps to confirm the age of the person purchasing it. Since the 1980s, the introduction of hip-hop and electronic music has brought street art to Britain on a large scale. [1] This was further expanded with the introduction of custom spray paint in May, which allowed artists to create even more artistic and experimental graffiti. Remarkably, Banksy is arguably one of the UK`s most famous graffiti artists, but it was teams like DryBreadZ that were first recognised. [1] Examples of British graffiti artists: Banksy, Stik, Inkie and My Dog Sighs. [2] The area around Shoreditch, Brick Lane, and Spitalfields is packed with everything from massive murals to old-school graffiti and tags, so it`s usually a good place to start if you want to search for London`s best street art. According to legal-walls.net, there were 173 legal graffiti spots in the UK, but unfortunately 38 were closed. Graffiti can be a particular problem in city centers. This can give the impression that neighborhoods are dirty and dilapidated. Removal is expensive. Alleys, open spaces, underground tunnels, pedestrian bridges, community property, and public walls and fences are all prone to graffiti.
Some call the street art movement “vandalism,” “destruction of private property,” and even “criminal activity,” while others claim it is an art form of anti-establishment, political protest and expression. But regardless of anyone`s opinion, street art is still technically illegal in the UK and is considered criminal activity, meaning authorities often try to hide works in the city as soon as they surface. If someone is caught graffitiing without the permission of the owner of the canvas, they can be arrested and charged under the Punitive Damages Act, and if convicted, they can be fined or jailed, or both. Whether graffiti is “illegal” or not usually depends on the opinion of the owner of the surface on which it was applied. Some form of graffiti that some would call “street art” was used more often without permission, and then the owner decided to keep it and even took steps to preserve it. In fact, some street art has been sold for several thousand books. In 2003, ASBA introduced the power for local councils to punish perpetrators and help them clean up illegal graffiti. Some forms of street graffiti have sometimes been welcomed by the local community, either because of its verbal or visual message that locals agree with, or because it brightened up an otherwise dull white wall or perhaps painted on a mass of labels. Many local authorities and companies have approved the use of certain walls as “graffiti walls” or have asked street artists to paint murals on walls that have been consistently marked (according to our definition, however, we wouldn`t call this graffiti). In fact, some local authorities, such as Bristol, have even protected some graffiti, giving it the status of public art. If the criminal damage caused by the graffiti exceeds £5,000, the maximum penalty for those aged 18 and over is 10 years in prison and the maximum penalty for those aged 12 to 17 is a detention and training order of up to 24 months. [3] Alternatively, if the damage is less than £5,000, the maximum penalty is 3 months` imprisonment or a total fine of £2,500 for adults.
[3] The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 provides police officers with an alternative remedy by allowing them to impose fines of £50.
