Seven years after the artist passed away, his estate has filed a lawsuit against the fast food chain, alleging McDonald’s used several of Snow’s signature designs as fake graffiti décor in numerous locations around the world. When we say “signature,” we don’t just mean that this particular work was intimately associated with Snow; we also mean that the design was actually the spray-painted signature for Snow’s pseudonym “SACE.” 
 
 The two images below are taken from the complaint [PDF]. On the left is a Snow original "SACE" signature, and the right features a similar-looking design from the wall at a McDonald's location in London: 
 
 “Inexplicably, Defendants [McDonald's] are using Mr. Snow’s artwork as décor in hundreds of McDonald’s restaurants, and are using his name and signature in a manner suggesting that Mr. The estate of the late artist Dash Snow is fighting to protect his legacy against the dreaded label of “sellout.” Jade Berreau, the late artist’s former girlfriend and current estate manager, is suing McDonald’s for copying Snow’s graffiti tag, and using it to decorate a number of restaurants without permission. On the right is a very similar design as seen in a London McDonald’s: 
 
 This image from the Evening Standard shows that the lookalike graffiti isn’t actual tagging by vandals, but is part of the restaurant’s decor: 
 
 The McDonald's in Brixton has been covered in fake graffiti https://t.co/yoa8qVML96 pic.twitter.com/mWGY1s9biI — Evening Standard (@standardnews) March 4, 2016 
 
 In addition to claiming that the fast food chain violated Snow’s copyright by using his work without permission, the late artist’s estate argues that the value of the rest of his artwork — which has sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, according to the complaint — could be harmed by possibly giving people the impression that the other faux spray paint on the wall was created by Snow. Snow, born Dashiell Snow, “carefully avoided any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism… He has never made his original art available on the internet, in retail stores, or in restaurants,” argues the lawsuit. This is particularly problematic, argues his estate, because Snow “carefully avoided any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism… He has never made his original art available on the internet, in retail stores, or in restaurants.” 
 
 McDonald’s is, per the complaint, “clearly attempting to trade on Mr. Snow’s name and reputation.” His estate points out that the allegedly infringing design is the largest and most prominent part of the McDonald’s wall decor, and the “only element ‘created’ by a famous artist.” 
 
 The estate claims that Snow’s family asked McDonald’s in June 2016 to remove the allegedly offending work, but that the fast food chain has “arrogantly refused to comply.” 
 
 [h/t Page Six] In the McDonald’s in question, the lawsuit claims, the appropriated “SACE” tag is “so prominently placed,” and “was the only element singled out and spotlighted in media coverage surrounding McDonald’s display campaign.” The plaintiff claims that media coverage implied that Snow authorized the use of his work on the walls of the corporate chain.
– McDonald's is being sued for allegedly appropriating the work of a deceased graffiti artist without his estate's permission, Consumerist reports. According to Artnet, Dash Snow, who went by the tag SACE, was known for spray painting high-profile locations like the Brooklyn Bridge and even clothes being worn by homeless people. He died in 2009 at the age of 27. Years later, McDonald's redecorated hundreds of its locations with a graffiti motif, Fox News reports. A lawsuit filed Monday by Snow's former girlfriend and current estate manager, Jade Berreau, accuses McDonald's of using Snow's SACE signature as the major element in that redesign without permission. The lawsuit points out that the SACE-ish tag is not only the largest element of the graffiti-themed decor but also the "only element 'created' by a famous artist." It says Snow "carefully avoided any association with corporate culture and mass-market consumerism," of which McDonald's is the "epitome." The lawsuit claims Berreau originally asked McDonald's to remove the offending tag in June, but it "arrogantly refused to comply." She's now suing the company for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and more. In addition to going against what Snow stood for, the lawsuit claims McDonald's' use of his art could hurt the value of his actual pieces, which have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.