Identity of Banksy Will it be finally unmasked?
The identity of Banksy Will it finally be exposed in a libel case brought by a UK greeting card company? The company's complaint is the latest in a long-running trademark dispute with the anonymous artist.
British greeting card company Full Color Black and its owner Andrew Gallagher have filed a defamation lawsuit against the anonymous artist Banksy in the High Court over an Instagram post the British artist made in November 2022.
The existence of the lawsuit was first reported by the Daily Mail, which apparently attempted to reveal the artist's name. The publication named Banksy as Robin Gunningham, although no new evidence of his possible identity has been provided and the Daily Mail has acknowledged that his identity has never been confirmed.
“The allegation that we are prosecuting Robin is not accurate,” attorney Aaron Wood said in an email. Wood provided a copy of the complaint to Artnet News and the defendants are listed as “The Artist known as'Banksy'” and Pest Control Office Limited, the body that authenticates your artwork.
The allegation stems from a post that the account Banksy on Instagram reportedly made it on November 18th and has since been deleted. In its complaint, Full Color Black alleged that it “contained defamatory words that referred to, and were understood to refer to, the Claimant.”
The post was made around the same time that the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled in favor of Banksy in the artist's long-running trademark dispute with Full Color Black. The EPIUE ruling reaffirmed a trademark registered in 2018 by Pest Control – for a 2002 stencil of a monkey with a sandwich sign – on appeal, after previously supporting the greeting card company.
Before the decision was annulled, the EPIUE had invalidated the trademark because it had not been applied for in its name. If this decision had been maintained, Banksy he could have been forced to lose his anonymity to maintain the brand.
In its new claim, Full Color Black is asking for at least £1,357,086 in damages and an injunction to stop further alleged defamation.
The Daily Mail related Banksy to a 2008 photo purporting to show the artist in Bermuda surrounded by spray cans and a stencil. The man in the image has been identified as Robin Gunningham, who lives in his hometown of Banksy, Bristol – although the artist denied the photo was of him.
The newspaper suggested that the process could force Banksy to reveal itself in court. However, the probability of Banksy being forced to appear in person or otherwise reveal yourself is low considering your legal name was kept out of court documents.
Source: Artnet News