A long-running piece of downtown Pittsburgh restaurant lore has landed in federal court. Local artist James Kanfoush has sued Primanti Bros., claiming the sandwich institution copied a Market Square mural he painted in the late 1990s and hung replicas in other locations without his say-so. The lawsuit argues that Kanfoush still holds copyright in the work and that he also has moral-rights protections tied to the mural.
The suit's basic claims
Kanfoush says he painted the Market Square mural in 1997 and was paid less than $1,000 for the original commission. According to the complaint, he discovered in 2024 that what he describes as replicas of that mural were hanging at Primanti Bros. restaurants in Grove City and Cranberry Township. The filing accuses Primanti Bros. of violating the Visual Artists’ Rights Act and asserts that Kanfoush owns the mural’s copyright, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
What federal law covers
The Visual Artists’ Rights Act, often shortened to VARA, grants a narrow set of moral rights to the creators of certain visual artworks. Those rights focus on attribution and on stopping certain changes that could be seen as harmful to the work. Per the U.S. Copyright Office, VARA applies only to a limited group of works and includes exceptions and waiver provisions. Legal summaries note that the strength of those protections can depend on whether a piece is considered a work of “recognized stature,” and courts also draw a line between reproductions and original site-specific works, a distinction that often becomes central in VARA disputes (see Cornell LII).
Precedent to watch
Prior court decisions show VARA can lead to sizable payouts when juries decide that artworks qualify as having recognized stature. In the closely watched 5Pointz case, artists won after murals were whitewashed and the court awarded significant damages. That Eastern District of New York judgment is frequently cited as a key example of how VARA claims involving murals can succeed in federal court, with attorneys and artists alike pointing to the detailed reasoning in the decision (see the court record on Justia).
Primanti Bros.' response
Primanti Bros. has kept its public response short. In a statement to local television, the company acknowledged the lawsuit and said it respects the incredible effort and dedication it takes to create art. The chain added that it is aware of the complaint and is actively reviewing the matter, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
What comes next
The case is poised to turn on overlapping questions of copyright and moral rights. The court will likely weigh whether Kanfoush’s mural qualifies for VARA protection, whether any written agreement or waiver addressed the right to make and display reproductions, and whether any unapproved copies would also amount to copyright infringement. Primanti Bros., a decades-old Pittsburgh fixture with locations across the region, could find its approach to in-store art under the microscope, and the lawsuit may push restaurants and other businesses to take a closer look at how they commission, license, and reuse artwork on their walls (see Primanti Bros. and federal guidance on artists’ rights).
