Copyright Shenanigans with the Eiffel Tower

Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on September 21, 2005

Recently I was in Paris for the weekend, and I took digital photographs of several tourist attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, by day and by night. On my return, I duly posted them to flickr under a Creative Commons licence, as I do with all my photos. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I didn't actually own the copyright on the nighttime picture of the Eiffel Tower...

It seems that copyright is claimed on the nocturnal image of the tower, but very selectively enforced. There is considerable discussion on a blog by Brian Micklethwait. Interestingly the SNTE makes a distinction between amateur and professional photographers, but not between images licensed for potentially commercial use (as mine are) and those restricted to non-commercial use. I wonder whether such a distinction can stand up incourt? I wonder whether such a distinction is even legal under under EU law.

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		Copyright Shenanigans with the Eiffel Tower Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on September 21, 2005 Recently I was in Paris for the weekend, and I took digital photographs of several tourist attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, by day and by night. On my return, I duly posted them to flickr under a Creative Commons licence, as I do with all my photos. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I didn't actually own the copyright on the nighttime picture of the Eiffel Tower... It seems that copyright is claimed on the nocturnal image of the tower, but very selectively enforced. There is considerable discussion on a blog by Brian Micklethwait. Interestingly the SNTE makes a distinction between amateur and professional photographers, but not between images licensed for potentially commercial use (as mine are) and those restricted to non-commercial use. I wonder whether such a distinction can stand up incourt? I wonder whether such a distinction is even legal under under EU law. Creative Commons \| Intellectual Property \| intellectual property rights Stuart's blog Login or register to post comments 4340 reads
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