Uploading your holiday snaps of city breaks around Europe to social media websites could become a flashpoint of contentious copyright claims if a new EU proposal is passed. Images featuring the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben may need to be blacked out to sidestep any breaches of individual artists or architects’ creative rights.
The so-called ‘freedom of panorama’, a law in place in many EU states allowing individuals to produce images of architecture in public places, may be curtailed in an effort to unify EU copyright restrictions. France, Belgium, and Italy already have legislation that limits a citizen’s right to upload uncensored images without consent from the creator of the buildings and art installations in shot.
This applies even to educational and non-profit websites, including Wikipedia, the largest encyclopaedia online. The article page for the Atomium, the Brussels landmark erected for the 1958 World’s Fair, features a redacted image of the iconic iron-crystal unit cell blown up 165 billion times.
The Wikipedia article for the Atomium in Brussels [Wikipedia]
On this evening’s The Right Hook, George will be saying cheese and talking copyright infringement with the photographer Tom Lawlor. Tune in live at 4.30pm, or listen back to the show’s podcasts here.
In the meantime, why not take a second look at some of the most famous landmarks around the globe – from a different angle. It's easy to only think of the Taj Mahal or the Pyramids of Giza from the picture-perfect postcard images we all know, taking a look at them in a new way can add a whole lot of perspective. Take a look through our gallery below:
