The moral (rights) of the story

What do you do when infrastructure threatens your art? Arts Law recently assisted the creator of a number of large and well known mosaics in Sydney. The mosaics were fixed to a number of surfaces within a shopping centre. The owners of the shopping centre wished to demolish and rebuild the section where the mosaics were placed.

Arts Law advised the client that under Australian moral rights laws, creators have certain rights with respect to works which are affixed to buildings, including notice and the right to document the work prior to its demolition. Once informed of these rights, the creator of the mosaics was in a better position to negotiate an extension of time before the demolition of the building. In this time, the creator of the mosaic works was able to find an organisation to house the works to save them from being destroyed.