Thursday, February 10, 2005
Photographing the Eiffel Tower at Night Deemed Illegal
Posted by Suhit Gupta in "NEWS" @ 03:00 PM
"You need look no further than Mickey Mouse in the US, or Elvis in the UK, to understand how copyright, for better or worst, affects the marketplace. But while Disney resorted to legal means to get more life out Mickey, those that oversee the Eiffel Tower came up with something far more clever. The Eiffel Tower's likeness had long since been part of the public domain, when in 2003, it was abruptly repossessed by the city of Paris. That's the year that the SNTE, the company charged with maintaining the tower, adorned it with a distinctive lighting display, copyrighted the design, and in one feel swoop, reclaimed the nighttime image and likeness of the most popular monument on earth. In short: they changed the actual likeness of the tower, and then copyrighted that. As a result, it's no longer legal to publish current photographs of the Eiffel Tower at night without permission."
In the same vein, apparently the Millenium Park in Chicago is also copyrighted space. Umm, what?! Isn't this taking things too far? Or do you guys agree with these decisions?
In the same vein, apparently the Millenium Park in Chicago is also copyrighted space. Umm, what?! Isn't this taking things too far? Or do you guys agree with these decisions?
