I’ve been getting into photography, and someone suggested taking some in my hometown and selling them on postcards (up till now I’ve just been doing outdoor pictures). If I take a picture of, say, Joe’s Diner and sell it, do I owe Joe some money? Or do I need their permission? I’m assuming government buildings are free-use, but I’m not sure where I got that idea and it may be inaccurate.
Except for buildings that cannot be viewed from a public space, the copyright owner of a post-1990 building (the architect, developer, or building owner) cannot prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the building.
Hmm. “But in order for a trademark owner to stop you from reproducing a photograph of a building, the following would have to be true:
- the building would need to have an identifiable, distinctive appearance
- the building would have to be publicly associated with certain goods or services”
One of the buildings I’ve looked at is the headquarters of the state pharmacy association, which is quite old and has some cool little architectural details. I suppose as long as I crop out the name of the place.
IANAL but I think for a trademark infringement to occur, all 4 points listed have to be true.
So you cannot use a picture of Joe’s Diner to advertise Jake’s Diner, or Pharmacy ABC to advertise Pharmacy XYZ. But using them for postcards should be fine.
One complication to be aware of is if there is significant artwork on the outside of the building. The statue Portlandia is on the front of the Portland (Municipal Services) Building. The artist is big on protecting the copyright. E.g., for the TV show Portlandia, it was seen in the title sequence, then disappeared for a while until they made a deal with the artist and it returned.
I once had a Portlandia t-shirt that I suspect was unauthorized.
You need permission to sell photos of the Eiffel Tower at night.
Everything you need to know about the Eiffel Tower at night
But the situation is different for professionals. The Eiffel Tower’s lighting and sparkling lights are protected by copyright, so professional use of images of the Eiffel Tower at night require prior authorization and may be subject to a fee. Professionals should therefore contact the Eiffel Tower’s management company to learn about conditions for using the images depending on the case.
But of course that is France. Copyright law may vary from place to place.
When I was in the Florida Keys last year I stopped to take some pics of Betsy The Giant Lobster. To my surprise, there was not a single postcard, magnet, sticker or any kind of kitschy souvenir of Betsy to be found in any of the shops on the property. According to the shop owners that I talked to, the artist was very strict when it came to copyright issues and had forbidden anyone to use a likeness of Betsy for commercial purposes.
I wonder if the builders of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas had to get permission to copy it?
Moderator Action
Since this involves real-world legal issues as well as possibly some interpretation and maybe opinion of the laws involved, let’s move this to IMHO (from FQ).
Not the tower itself, the design for which passed into the public domain long ago, if indeed it was ever subject to copyright. However, if the US builders of the replica also wanted to copy the (apparently) copyrighted light display, they would have needed a license. Easier and cheaper for the new developers to just design their own light display.
This thread about Cloud Gate (“the Bean”) in Chicago is probably relevant.