Rewriting the Surface: On Graffiti, the Law, and the Nature of Things

The article believes that the legal field needs to reconsider its approach to the surface of things. Using examples from jurisprudence of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and considering the legal tradition from the Roman Republic to today, the paper inquires why the law has evident problems in dealing with surface-oriented artforms, such as graffiti and postmodern literature. By consulting theorists of the surface, from Hegel over Critical Theory to Postmodernism, it will show that the law is outdated in the sense that it has failed to adapt its understanding of the nature of things. It will furthermore consider how property law and intellectual property law (including copyright) need to be revised in order to bring the law up-to-date with above developments.