Would it be illegal to 'enhance' any adverts displayed on an illegal billboard?

[editor]

Imagine, if you will, that some dodgy company has erected a very large billboard outside your house without any planning permission whatsoever.

What would be the legal position on 'enhancing' any adverts subsequently posted up on this illegal billboard?

 

[tufty79]

i think it might come under criminal damage (of the billboard), irrespective of whether it's there legally or not..

 

[editor]

Jeez- they're well dodgy fuckers:

In the UK, billboards are controlled as adverts as part of the planning system. To display such an advert is a criminal offence with a fine of up to £2500 per offence (per poster). All of the large UK outdoor advertisers such as CBS Outdoor, JCDecaux, Clear Channel, Titan and Primesight have numerous convictions for such crimes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard

 

[skyscraper101]

Do it.

If they haven't got planning permission, fuck them. And if you're covert enough nobody will know.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Imagine, if you will, that some dodgy company has erected a very large billboard outside your house without any planning permission whatsoever.

What would be the legal position on 'enhancing' any adverts subsequently posted up on this illegal billboard?

report it to the planning department as they will then get fined (or loosen it from the wall and make it fall down...)

 

[editor]

report it to the planning department as they will then get fined (or loosen it from the wall and make it fall down...)

The last illegal one took something like 7 years or summat to get taken down!

What I want is a freak lightning bolt to set fire to the thing.

 

[skyscraper101]

What's it advertising, out of interest?

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

The last illegal one took something like 7 years or summat to get taken down!

What I want is a freak lightning bolt to set fire to the thing.

I have a crowbar you can borrow...

 

[ernestolynch]

Post up your intentions on an internet forum crawling with touts and filth then do the damage!

 

[editor]

What about if someone - not me of course - took to advising any concerned members of the public about the illegality of the billboard by regularly posting up large notices over the adverts advising them of that fact, and included the council planning department contact details?

 

[lizzieloo]

It would be well worth the fine wouldn't it, I'd imagine doing the same legitimately would cost more.

 

[Gromit]

Erect your own illegal billboard directly in front of it.

You aren't touching or damaging their property then. At the same time though no one can see their ads.

 

[editor]

Erect your own illegal billboard directly in front of it.

You aren't touching or damaging their property then. At the same time though no one can see their ads.

You get a £2,500 fine for each illegal advert!

 

[bonathanjishop]

Imagine, if you will, that some dodgy company has erected a very large billboard outside your house without any planning permission whatsoever.

What would be the legal position on 'enhancing' any adverts subsequently posted up on this illegal billboard?

Considering only the Human Rights Act, providing someone doesn't put the Swastika or incite hatred against people with a 'protected characteristic' under the Equality Act 2010 or damage anyone else's reputation then any graffiti should be considered 'freedom of expression' under the Human Rights Act, as it is considered 'free speech' in the US.

As far as I'm aware since the Tories discovered poster advertising there have been no prosecutions against people defacing them! However, there is a lot of other legislation in place, which are incompatible with our rights under the HRA, which are covered in this document:
http://kb.keepbritaintidy.org/criminaldamage/publications/envasb.pdf

If for some reason there was to be graffiti on that poster and no one knew who did it, then as you can see in that document, the council could issue a notice and fine the owner of the billboard if they do nothing about it.

You could argue that putting the billboard up without planning permission is the equivalent of fly-posting and that document says what can be done about that.

Legal advice is worth as much as you pay for it - this is free!

 

[Streathamite]

given that it's very presence is illegal, surely any damage done to it is OK

 

[Clair De Lune]

What about if someone - not me of course - took to advising any concerned members of the public about the illegality of the billboard by regularly posting up large notices over the adverts advising them of that fact, and included the council planning department contact details?

Is this middle aged vandalism?
Draw a big cock on it, you know you want to!

 

[killer b]

sometimes, only a crudely drawn penis will do.

 

[joustmaster]

Come on man. You own a forum full of bored internet people. Post up a picture and I'm sure some people will post up suggestions for defacement, and some will do it.

 

[bonathanjishop]

sometimes, only a crudely drawn penis will do.

Not in Rhondda Cynon Taff - there are such marks on the mural my firm erected in Treforest and no one from the council came to remove them! Puns intended!

 

[ajdown]

My suggestion is to put a bicycle chain around one of the posts of the billboard, and chain it to that big fence that's right behind it*. Some scumbag will see it as a challenge, and nick the billboard.

*theoretically, of course, I couldn't possibly imagine which billboard you might be talking about, that I may have happened to drive past yesterday evening...

 

[BigTom]

What jonathan bishop has said has reminded me of a video of someone graffing over flyposters whilst police looked on and said it was fine as long as he didn't touch the wall. No chance of me finding that link on my phone though.
If you want me to try to find it over the weekend let me know.

 

[killer b]

Not in Rhondda Cynon Taff - there are such marks on the mural my firm erected in Treforest and no from the council came to remove them!

it doesn't take a great mind to work out why.

 

[Wilson]

use a catapult and some clingfilm paint bombs, make sure you dress in black though

 

[jakethesnake]

Or make paint bombs from eggs... get 6 eggs, 'blow' them (save contents for an omelette), fill empty egg shells with paint (use plenty of thinners) using a syringe. Cover holes with a bit of tape. Voila!

 

[spanglechick]

water balloons are better than both, being almost designed for the job.

 

[jakethesnake]

you get a better splat pattern with eggs

 

[lizzieloo]

On Acre Lane years ago was a billboard advertising Father Ted, it had FECK painted right across it in bright red paint.






Maybe you had to be there.

 

[lizzieloo]

you get a better splat pattern with eggs

And they go much futher

 

[bonathanjishop]

you get a better splat pattern with eggs

But you've got to be careful who you do it to!:

 

[pk]

I had that Nescafe advert with that wanker about 20 feet high opposite a place I used to live, so we painted the word WANKER on it in 3 feet high letters. It got taken down the next morning and it never returned.