The longtime whale mural in downtown Dallas (officially known as WW 82* "Ocean Life") was painted over last month in preparation for a FIFA World Cup related ad/mural. Right now the wall is just solid blue due to a cease and desist.

Original and current condition


The artist who painted the wall, Robert Wyland has now sued FIFA, and the property owner/manager for $25 million under the Visual Artists Rights Act. As I understand it, when an artist creates something for public display they retain the right of attribution and integrity. These are different than ownership or even copyright and are nontransferable. As a result a public work of art cannot be altered or destroyed without the notification and permission.

Wyland is claiming that he was not notified and did not give permission for his work to be painted over, hence the lawsuit.


I gotta say it seems pretty ****ty of the property owner to just paint over this like that. If anything I would think it would have been cheaper just to hang a temporary banner over the side of the wall. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/artist-sues-25-million-dallas-whale-mural-painted-over-world-cup/

I find this whole thing fascinating. Never heard of this law concerning public art.

If this wall was covered, would not the new owner of the building have to be made aware of it when he purchased the building? I know for most property, if there are any kinds of restrictions on its use, those are made abundantly clear when purchasing said property.

FIFA probably offered the owner $5,000 to put the mural there and he said "sure, whatever".

EDIT - news article says property owner was not compensated. Not sure I believe him. Property owner also claims he was told artist had been coordinated with.