What is this copper-looking wire on my light fixture?
I'm almost certain it is the ground wire. Do not remove it.

If you were to open the light fixture, there should be a screw where one end of the ground wire is attached. Then, mounted in the ceiling is a metal box through which is fed all the electrical wiring. There's a screw on the ceiling box that the other end of the ground wire is attached.




  Thank you. A natural follow-up question to this, since the original intent was to remove the distracting copper wire for aesthetic reasons, is: will the ground wire be less effective if it is painted or somehow covered to match the rest of the fixture? 


Adding paint is essentially adding a layer of insulation to the wire. Since insulated wire still conducts electricity, a painted ground wire will be just as effective (i.e., conductive) as one that lacks an exterior coat of paint. You simply want to ensure that you do not paint over the location where it is attached to the screw on both ends (it needs metal-on-metal contact).