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Because MSCHF lists Hirst’s name on the “Severed Spots” website, Hirst could also claim a VARA violation for using his name in connection with his mutilated artwork. VARA rights allow visual artists to sue in federal court when their art is intentionally distorted or mutilated in a way that is prejudicial to their reputation. should be afforded the same VARA rights a U.S. Therefore, it seems that a UK artist suing for infringement in the U.S. Under the Berne Convention, a domestic copyright holder and a foreign national must have the same protections. Īn additional question is whether the Visual Artists Rights Act (“VARA”) applies to Hirst because he is a non-U.S. Copyright Office before an infringement lawsuit is filed. Additionally, foreign works do not need to be registered with the U.S.

(where MSCHF is based) and where Hirst is a national of a member of the Berne Convention, L-Isoleucine T-Butyl Ester should have U.S. Assuming that Hirst would file a federal suit in the U.S. Hirst is a British artist and L-Isoleucine T-Butyl Ester was created in 2018, presumably in London as that is where Hirst’s studio is. Screengrab from MSCHF’s “Severed Spots” project. Hirst did not bring a legal claim against MSCHF, but the question remains: could he have? The purpose of the piece was to criticize an art market practice whereby investors combine resources to buy artworks and then flip the works to another buyer or group of buyers. Readers of art news may remember drop #20 where MSCHF bought a limited print of a Damien Hirst spot painting, L-Isoleucine T-Butyl Ester, and cut it up, selling the individual 88 spots for $480 apiece. While there is a wide range of legal issues that could apply to the collective’s activities, the focus of this article are two projects that implicate intellectual property law.

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A full list of MSCHFs’ drops, minus the “restricted” ones, is available on their website. Instead of delivering food, the money was donated to a political candidate of the purchaser’s choice that may support anti-corporate policies. Later, MSCHF created a shell restaurant called “ The Blue Donkey” that allowed individuals to order food through Grubhub/Seamless with their corporate perk discount cards in order to make a statement in opposition to big corporations––it was shut down. Another popular release was “ Puff the Squeaky Chicken,” a rubber chicken that functions as a bong and squeaks when smoked.

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The collective’s first product, “ The Persistence of Chaos,” was released in May 2019-a 2008 Windows laptop that ran six pieces of malware and was auctioned for over $1 million.

However, “running away with stuff” is what MSCHF does, according to Whaley. MSCHFs’ works can be regarded as viral pranks or marketing campaigns-some of which have been (or could be) challenged on legal grounds. MSCHF does not advertise on Instagram or Twitter, but rather notifies interested individuals about its “drops” (i.e. The collective, founded and led by Gabriel Whaley, is made up of artists, designers, and product developers whose goal is to “produce social commentary,” push boundaries, make fun of certain industries, and decidedly not to make a profit. MSCHF (pronounced “mischief”) is a startup creative collective based in Brooklyn that produces artworks and designs in various formats including: social media channels, apps, browser plugins, and physical products.

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