Release required for buildings?

[alistairf]

I know this has probably been answered elsewhere before but searching didn't reveal anything...

If I take pictures of buildings and then want to sell them - I have read that you need to obtain a release.Two questions:

1. Who would provide that release - the PR department of a private company or the legal owner of the actual building?

2. What about historic sites, such as cathedrals or castles?

I'm based in the UK if that helps!

Ta muchly

[IndyJeff]

Originally Posted by alistairf

I know this has probably been answered elsewhere before but searching didn't reveal anything...

If I take pictures of buildings and then want to sell them - I have read that you need to obtain a release.Two questions:

1. Who would provide that release - the PR department of a private company or the legal owner of the actual building?

2. What about historic sites, such as cathedrals or castles?

I'm based in the UK if that helps!

Ta muchly

If your looking to sell them then that would constitute a comercial use and I would get a release, regardless.

I would look at the owner of the building first, maybe the company which resides in the building too. Always CYA in a situation like this. It would be better to have 500 signed release forms laying around rather than 1 supeona for a lawsuit against you on your desk.

Once again, castles or cathedrals may be in the public domain but, I would get a signed release from the party which controls the property. Maybe a good way to find out who that is would be to inquire as to whom pays the taxes on the property.

Once you begin to use an image in a commercial way, it can get kind of sticky so always, always CYA and get a signed release from someone of authority.

[Digital Prophet]

I agree with Indy, but oddly enough I am thinking that the person that you may ultimately end up talking to is the Architect of the building. Since he is the signer and seal of the building design it may in fact be his firm whose right to privacy or right to publicity you may be infringing upon.

If that is the case you may be better off since architects that deal with this matters would have a manner to dispense with them as fast as possible (i.e. they let the receptionist copy something and they sign it).

- Digital Prophet -

[IndyJeff]

I wondered about that to DP, good point.

[alistairf]

thanks for the help, not entriely sure how to contact the architect of a medieval cathderal built in the 1300's though!

A bit of detective work is in order I guess

[Jonny]

Just to extend this further...what about land?

Would you need to get a release for landscapes where the image is of private land?

Jon

[gerolamo]

Haven't I read somewhere that the copyright lasts the entire lifespan of the author, plus 50 years?

This would make any 1300 cathedral public domain.

Even Mona Lisa should be free to reproduce.

How about the roman ruins or the Parthenon in Greece?

I'm not an expert in copyright law, it's just a thought...

[jgbeam]

You've got a lot of legwork ahead of you if you plan to shoot the NY skyline and sell the prints.

I haven't tried to sell prints of any buildings that I have been involved with but I use them all the time, without permission, for promoting my services as does every architect and engineer I know. Only once has a building owner prohibited use of an image for promotional purposes and that was specifically for a particular part of the building that is a landmark in the region. He didn't want anyone else capitalizing on that image. It was ok to use general photos of the building that included that component - you just couldn't isolate that element for promotion. Mainly, he didn't want it turned into someone's logo. Architects will be thrilled to have photos of their buildings published as long as they are credited. I'm not aware of any requirement to get permission to sell pictures of buildings. Now if there any people in that shot however......

Jim

[alistairf]

ah yes...people.

so here's another question - if you took a photo that included a whole load of people walking down a street say (shopping scene), so that no individual face was particularly big - would you need a release for every single person there

I just can't believe that its practical to take those sort of shots and sell them!

Cheers for all the advice by the way