Street artist battles with GM over its photos of his Z Garage mural

On the top of what is likely Detroit's hippest parking structure, a mural is gaining attention.

The focus on the colorful piece of artwork over the entrance to an elevator shaft, however, has as much to do with the artist's federal lawsuit against General Motors as it does about the impression left by the piece.

The Swiss artist Adrian Falkner is accusing the Detroit automaker of copyright infringement in a GM ad campaign for Cadillac. Falkner, who signs his work "SMASH 137," maintains that the mural on top of the Z Garage, one piece of Dan Gilbert's empire of Bedrock-owned properties downtown, was a centerpiece of an ad campaign in 2016 for the Cadillac XT5.

GM dismisses the claim, which seeks unspecified compensation.

Falkner's suit, filed in January in U.S. District Court in California, claims "defendant's exploitation of plaintiff's work damages his reputation, especially because he has carefully and selectively approached any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism. Indeed, plaintiff is in high demand for commercial work and is diligent in controlling distribution channels of his work."

The suit says the campaign, called "The Art of the Drive," could have reached millions of followers on Cadillac's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts as the company was courting a new demographic of consumers for the XT5 crossover "seeking an association with urban cool."

GM, however, paints a different picture, noting that the image in question was only posted to social media, not used as the centerpiece for a campaign, and was removed after the automaker was contacted about the concern. The photographer who took the image was also not paid, a GM spokesman confirmed. 

“As a part of a program where Cadillac loans cars to a variety of artists to use in their work, Cadillac loaned an up-and-coming photographer a vehicle and the artist shot a variety of images. The photographer provided Cadillac with the images with written permission to use in social media. The image was not part of a larger campaign and was only posted on GM-owned social channels," according to a GM statement.

GM also touted the brand's support for the arts in general, noting that "Cadillac is a frequent and significant supporter of artists, hosting exhibitions frequently. The brand’s active in many other realms supporting artists, designers and creators."

A hearing on the case is scheduled next month.

John Rothchild, an associate professor at Wayne State University Law School, said such cases are not necessarily unique.

"It's not unusual to have a case challenging the use of an image in the background of an advertisement of a television program," he said. "That happens frequently. This is a little bit unusual because it involved graffiti in an outdoor location, but even that is not unique."

Read more:

City of Detroit's new street-art initiative hires artists to fight blight

A street art culture clash as graffiti goes mainstream

One of the claims in the suit is for copyright infringement. Rothchild called that a "very fact-intensive inquiry," which likely hinges on how much of the artwork was shown in the image and whether it was obscured. Falkner contends that the image was taken from an angle that renders the signature "not visible," suggesting that the reason was so it would be more difficult for Falkner to learn about the "infringement." 

Rothchild noted that the case could have repercussions for others, such as for people who photograph buildings. 

"It would be quite a deterrent if he wins to anybody taking a photograph for artistic purposes," Rothchild said. "I think there are ramifications that are broader (than) about whether a car company can shoot an (ad) using his mural in the background."

"Mr. Falkner is a well-known contemporary fine artist with roots in graffiti and street art," said Jeff Gluck of Los Angeles, Falkner's attorney. "This mural in particular is a large-scale painting that he created over a number of days, representative of his body of work at the time."

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.