12 - Street Art, Graffiti and Copyright: A German Perspective

Summary

Germany has a vivid and thriving street art and graffiti scene. 1 Its beginnings can be traced back to the late 1970ies, early 1980ies when hip hop culture became increasingly popular throughout Europe. 2 The Bavarian capital Munich can be seen as the cradle of graffiti and street art in Germany3 though all large cities, such as Frankfurt, Cologne Stuttgart and Leipzig, are all hubs for street art and host interesting art works and active crews. Berlin, of course, has to be mentioned in this context as Germany’s prime location for street art and graffiti attracting many visitors from around the globe. 4 But also, from a copyright perspective which of course is the focus of this chapter, Berlin’s esteem is also unrivalled to other German cities. Many cases which discuss the copyright aspects of street art relate to the city’s most famous canvas: The Berlin Wall.