Banksy sues Italian art exhibition for selling unauthorised merchandise

The (mostly) anonymous artist Banksy has put the kibosh on an operation touting unauthorised merchandise in the Italian city of Milan.

The secretive artist recently took a company to court to stop them selling unofficial merchandise at an exhibition of his works and authentic prints at the MUDEC in Milan late last year.

It was towards the end of 2018 that Pest Control, the company Banksy set up to authenticate his works and police his market, sued the organisers of the exhibition A Visual Protest, The Art of Banksy.

The move was to stop the sale of a selection of unofficial merchandise spanning journals, stationery and postcards. Pest Control sued the exhibition organisers for trademark infringement.

Last moth, a judge in Milan ruled in favour of Banksy, stating the unauthorised merchandising constituted trademark infringement, but stopped short of stopping the organisers from using Banksy’s work in promotional materials for the show, deeming it essential to informing the public.