Banksy could be unmasked after his company appears in court battle | UK News

Banksy is possibly the most famous graffiti artist in the world – but his identity has always remained a complete mystery.

The fact the artist’s real name has forever remained elusive has perhaps been one of the most intriguing and alluring aspects of his work.

Appearing on random walls and houses not only across Bristol, Brighton, London and the rest of Britain, but also worldwide, the unique nature of his distinctive stencil works have propelled him to international fame.

A-list celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the late George Michael are among those who have bought Banksy’s paintings for huge sums of cash.

At an auction in 2021, the undercover artist’s Love is in the Bin piece sold for £18.5 million and is one of several which have fetched millions.

Despite his success and decades of concealing his true identity, he could finally be ousted for the first time ever – thanks to a High Court case.

MailOnline claims that Banksy – the pseudonym of Bristol-born, 53-year-old, public school-educated Robin Gunningham – is named as the first defendant in a legal action accusing him of defamation.

Mr Gunningham’s co-defendant is reportedly the company Banksy established, which is playfully named Pest Control Ltd.

Legal action has been initiated by Andrew Gallagher, 56, who is an entrepreneur who began his career in the music industry by putting on raves in the 1990s and later exploited graffiti’s commercial potential.

Neither Mr Gallagher nor his lawyer Aaron Wood, of Brandsmiths, have disclosed any further information about the case.

Mr Wood told MailOnline that details are currently ‘confidential’ and ‘will remain so until Banksy or Pest Control file their acknowledgement of service’. 

He added: ‘For this reason, I’m not at liberty to say any more about the claim.’

Banksy and Pest Control have not commented on the legal action. 

It’s not the first time Mr Gallagher has locked horns with Banksy in the courtroom – his greetings card company Full Colour Black had challenged his trademark back in 2019, claiming that he was not using it.

Banksy then opened up a pop-up shop called Gross Domestic Product in Croydon, south London, in a move to strengthen his position in the dispute.

The artist said at the time: ‘A greetings cards company is contesting the trademark I hold to my art, and attempting to take custody of my name so they can sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally.’

That case risked Banksy’s anonymity being exposed and his counsel strongly argued that revealing his identity would ‘diminish the persona of the artist’.

Full Colour Black rejected Banky’s claims, and in 2020, the EU Intellectual Property Office ruled in favour of Mr Gallgaher’s company. However it was overturned at an appeal in 2022.

Perhaps the most prominent aspect of Banksy’s victory in that particular case was that it allowed his real name to remain unknown.

After the appeal, Lee Curtis, a trademark specialist at the law firm HGF Limited, told The Art Newspaper: ‘This is a significant victory for Banksy, or more accurately Pest Control Office Limited, which enables Banksy to conceal his identity.

‘The fact that [Banksy] may have said on two occasions that “copyright is for losers” should not impact on the validity of his trademark registration.’

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