Photographing public art and architecture in the EU may soon cost you

2015-06-22T18:39:00-04:00

A report proposing major changes to copyright laws in the EU has been adopted by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee (JURI) [...] [An] amendment was adopted that stated "commercial use of recordings of works in public spaces should require express permission from the rightsholders." [German Pirate Party rapporteur Julia] Reda said this "could threaten the work of documentary filmmakers and the legality of commercial photo-sharing platforms."

The EU may soon require stricter permissions be met for any visual representation of public art and architecture. So-called "Freedom of Panorama" refers to a set of provisions in copyright law, that allows someone to create and publish images of a piece of art or architecture that's permanently located in the public space, regardless of its existing copyright provisions. The provisions are adopted to varying degrees in different countries – in the US, only buildings are protected under FOP, and in the EU, FOP provisions depend on whether the image is for commercial use or not, as well as the kind of object being photographed.

But soon, the EU may decide to effectively abolish FOP. On July 9, European Parliament will vote on an amended version of its copyright provisions, that states any/all copyright permissions for a piece of public art or architecture must be met when someone publishes an image of it with any potential commercial use. Learn more about the basis and future of FOP pr...

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Photographing public art and architecture in the EU may soon cost you