Moakley v. Eastwick
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
666 N.E.2d 505 (1996)
John Moakley (plaintiff) created a large ceramic-tile mural for a church in 1971, depicting local town history. In 1989, Grace Bible Church Fellowship and its pastor, Maurice Eastwick (defendants), purchased the church, found parts of the mural religiously objectionable, and began removing it, even though the mural's size and construction meant removal would destroy it. Moakley sued for an injunction under Massachusetts's Art Preservation Act, which protected artworks from alteration or destruction for the artist's lifetime plus 50 years and had taken effect in 1985 — 14 years after Moakley created the mural. The trial court ruled the Act, as applied, violated Grace's constitutional rights, and Moakley appealed.
Whether, absent contrary legislative intent, a statute protecting the moral rights of artists in their work applies to works created before the statute's effective date.