17 - Street Art, Graffiti, and Indian Copyright Law

Summary

India has a long history of murals although its street art and graffiti scene has begun to develop in a manner which would be immediately recognisable to the West only in recent years, and that too primarily in major urban centres. The impetus appears to be to engage in enjoyable work, to acquire what commissions are possible, to promote traditional arts, and to raise awareness not just about art but also about socio-political issues.

Assuming that the content in question was not socially inflammatory or illegal from the viewpoint of Indian content laws, which are spread across more than thirty statutes, and assuming that the content had not been illegally placed on a ‘high profile’ surface, addressing vandalism, though it is an offence, does not appear to necessarily be accorded a very high priority by the police. On one hand, there exist anecdotal indications that creators are not always the recipients of police beneficence or forbearance while, on the other, there are also cases where the illegal creation of works is not investigated by the police-certainly not of its own accord-which is entirely unsurprising given that its resources are often stretched