Copyright the Eiffel Tower?

Contraband Image!Over at BoingBoing, David Pescowitz noted that taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night is now illegal, as the gents who installed the new stylish lighting system copyrighted the design, and will charge a license fee for any image of it taken after dark.

I think to myself, “that can’t be true”, but sure enough, if you go to The Eiffel Tower FAQ, you are treated to this explanation:

Q : Is the publishing of a photo of the Eiffel Tower permitted?

A : There are no restrictions on publishing a picture of the Tower by day. Photos taken at night when the lights are aglow are subjected to copyright laws, and fees for the right to publish must be paid to the SNTE.

Wow. Amazing. And contrary to what I know of copyright law. Consulting my usual tome that guides me in such situations (Fishman’s The Public Domain), it asserts that copyrights do not protect any building constructed before Dec. 1, 1990. This means that unless a building is trademarked (a separate issue entirely), anyone is allowed to draw or photograph the building, and indeed, construct a replica from such photographs.

But the plot thickens: this applies only to buildings, which is loosely described as “structures that are habitable by humans and intended to be both permanent or stationary”. In particular, things not destined for human occupation aren’t covered. These are covered as “works of sculpture”, and different rules apply to them. Different, and more difficult to parse rules.

Screw ’em, I say. Come sue me.

One thought on “Copyright the Eiffel Tower?

  1. Theo

    The boing boing article says that they “changed the likeness of the tower” and then copyrighted that. I think that could be different from the copyright on the building itself. A lighting design on a building can presumably be a creative work, just like when Christo wraps a building in fabric the new image is clearly his copyright. (I’m sure the eiffel tower does count as a building – restaurants, lifts etc)

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