Public Art and Copyright Law: How the Public Nature of Architecture Changes Copyright Protection

The creation of tangible copies from a work of art that is publicly displayed had always been a rare practice, until some recent cases attracted huge media attention. Zaha Hadid’s Wangjing Soho being pirated in Chongqing and the Chinese copy of the UNESCO-protected Austrian town of Halstatt have officially marked the entrance into the age of repeatability for architecture. This article reads this message through the lens of copyright law and introduces the category of “public art” as copyright subject matter. In particular, it examines the underpinning of private and public interests and suggests that, as public art is born to be displayed in public spaces and to “exist” in a single copy, the author–owner–society relationship becomes exceptionally puzzling. It is this last relationship that modifies how architecture is protected under copyright law and how, therein, the balance between private and public interest is struck.