At 05:00 PM 8/15/2005, Cotty wrote:
On 15/8/05, Bob Blakely, discombobulated, unleashed:
>Go to NYC and photograph the NY Stock Exchange building and attempt to use
>the image for commercial purposes without their express written permission.
>Let me know the results.
Mercifully we don't have quite the same system over here in the UK. If I
were to publish this picture
<http://www.cottysnaps.com/snaps/landscapes/images/pic33.html>
as a postcard and sold it through some shops in London, I would not
expect Sir Norman Foster's lawyers to tap me on the shoulder. If there
was a recognisable human face in the shot, different story.
There was once a case of a photographer selling posters of "The Rock And
Roll Hall of Fame" building, in Cleveland, Ohio, who actually won upon
appeal. His posters showed the building from the outside, and were taken
from a public location. The museum sued him, and won an initial injunction
against him, only to have it later overturned by a 2:1 majority vote, in a
higher federal court.
The museum sued, because they claimed their fancy, one-of-a-kind building
had been trademarked, and was to be used exclusively in their own promotion
and merchandising. They claimed that Gentile was diluting their trademark,
and also causing them loss of merchandising profits.
As I said, the higher court didn't agree. Anyone interested in the details
can look up "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame v. Gentile" on Google. ("Gentile"
is the name of the photographer in question.)
Mr. Gentile had to spend huge sums of money to defend himself in this
matter, and I think some professional photography organizations helped him
with that aspect. If this sort of thing were to happen to a person with
less financial resources at their disposal, the outcome could have been
entirely different. Remember, Mr. Gentile lost his initial court proceedings.
take care,
Glen
