Can one artist own the rights to black?

Artist Anish Kapoor has been granted the exclusive rights to the "blackest" of black paint-like surface, while an exhibition by National Gallery of Australia shows that the material property is worthy of many artists.
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Vantablack developed by Surrey Nanosystems via Wikimedia Commons

This week news broke that the exclusive rights to the “blackest” of black paint-like surface on the market had been granted to the London-based Indian artist Anish Kapoor.

The pigment was developed by British company, Surrey NanoSystems in 2014 to be used for military equipment, such as stealth jets and satellites.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina