Banksy urged to steal in the Guess brand stores, who stole his copyright

On his social media account, Banksy called on nearly 12 million followers to steal something from the Guess store as the brand stole one of his work. "Attention all shoplifters", the artist's message was quoted by the Daily Mail. “Please go to Guess on Regent Street. They profited from my work by taking it without asking, so there is nothing wrong with you doing the same with their clothes". Most of the followers supported the artist, some promised to visit the store.

In November, Guess released a collection featuring Banksy's famous Flower Thrower graffiti, taking advantage of the fact that in 2020, after a two-year legal battle with Full Color Black, the artist lost the copyright to the image. During the process, Banksy refused to reveal his identity to the judges - in response, they refused to recognize him as the copyright owner of the image.

A year later, the artist lost three more trademarks - Radar Rat, Laugh Now and Girl With Umbrella. While Banksy remains anonymous, bona fide brands like HUAWEI and Eleven Paris license images from him that they want to use in their merchandise.

The artist recently visited Ukraine anonymously, leaving seven of his works on ruined buildings in Irpin, Gorenka and other towns and villages.