Street artist Hiram Villa, known as “UNONE,” sued Pearson Education for copyright infringement, alleging the company reproduced his unauthorized mural in a book, a strategy guide for one of the Tony Hawk videogames, without permission. The district court initially dismissed the action because Villa had not registered the copyright for his work and declined to address his state law claims. After registering his work with the United States Copyright Office, Villa filed a new complaint. Pearson Education moved to dismiss again, arguing that the mural was not protected by copyright on the grounds that the mural was illegal graffiti and/or because it incorporated words or letters. The district court denied the motion, stating that whether the mural was legal and the mural's creativity are factual questions that cannot be answered on a motion do dismiss. The case later settled, and the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

Editor's Note: Scholars have noted that this decision could be interpreted to imply that unauthorized creation on someone else's property could be a defense to copyright infringement. See Jamison Davies, Art Crimes?: Theoretical Perspectives on Copyright Protection for Illegally-Created Graffiti Art, 65 Me. L. Rev. 27 (2012).(linked below)

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Jamison Davies, Art Crimes?: Theoretical Perspectives on Copyright Protection for Illegally-Created Graffiti Art, 65 Me. L. Rev. 27 (2012).