I don't think you will need permission to use the imnages as long as they are art and the property is not used to promote or endorse the sail.  A nice skyline like image is fine.

I was asked to leave the Wells Fargo Bank property once while taking photos of the building in LA.  I moved onto the public sidewalk about 5 feet away.  The armed guard looked vexed and glared at me for the next half hour while I took all the images I wanted.

I was ,aking some photos of a house in Pasadene once.  A woman came running and yelling from the house to tell me she had called the police and I had better be gone when they arrived.  Well, the police did arrive a few minutes later.  The policeman asked me wht I was doing.  Then he stood between me and the woman for the next 10 minutes, asking questions until I was done.  He asked me; "Are you done?"  I said yes.  He then in a very authoritative voice said; "You better move along now."  I did, and everything was fine.

I could be wrong and would recommend a call to an attorney, but it seems to me that a photo that "includes" the listed items, not "of" the listed items may be a touchy spot.  Some of the listed items would likely require the photographer to be on the property, and thus not usable.  But a New York skyline w/Chrysler Building taken from a public spot seems unlikely.  Similar to street scene with a car that happened to have a Mustang or Rolls Royce logo.  Such images could probably be shown to not be exploiting the good commercail name of Ford or Rolls.

"... the photographer still had to undergo a major legal hassle."

That can be a problem.  It isn't too hard for the corporation with a bored legal department to out-resource the average photographer.  You could be right but not have enough money to prove it.  Attorney fees can add up fast.  If you get one to take you on a continegency fee, you will have to have a case worth plenty.  That takes a lot of post cards.

RE: that list... So now I can't even photograph a freakin' car? What if I owned a Porshce (haha, as if...)? Could I not take a picture of it?

I suspect because the "little guy" often doesn't bother voting.

And when he does he doesn't take time to educated himself about the issues and just votes along with the commercials and "loud mouth guys".


It's our government if we want it.

Hi,

I just want to ask anybody the following question:

I want to make pictures of downtowns of American cities as landmarks of USA and then I am going to use it in commercial purposes, for instance, to make and sell calendars and postal cards.

Should I get a permition for that from any offices or I have to not warry about it?

If yes, could anybody recommend me any lawyer to protect my business or where I could get the right information on this matter ?

I live in Toronto, Canada and I am going to make business in Russia.

Thank you very much for your time of reading my question.

Igor

Igor,

You should be aware that a number of buildings and properties in the U.S. are copyrighted (or otherwise have terms of use for photographic purposes).  This may affect your ability to use images of them for commercial purposes.  A partial list can be found here, and includes such such landmarks as the Chrysler Building in New York, the Hollywood Sign, any of the Disney parks, the Hollywood Walk of Stars and Chinese Theater in Hollywood, the Mississippi, Delta Queen and Natchez paddle steamers, and the Lone Cypress tree at Pebble Beach, CA.

Disney, in particular, is very aggressive about protecting their copyrights and trademarks.  You may be able to license some of these for commercial use, but you would have to take that up with the rights holder.

Best,

Paul

There was a case not too long ago where a photographer used a photograph he made that included the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland for commercial purposes (postcards or something suchlike. The Hall Of Fame sued him and lost. But there are other cases that have gone the other way, and the photographer still had to undergo a major legal hassle.

Thanks for the list Paul.  I'm absolutely amazed about some of those things on the list.  In particular, I have a poster size photo of the Chrysler Building that I have contemplated selling at some point but it looks as if that's not possible.

How on earth does the exterior of a building such as the Chrysler ever obtain these commercial limitations given that it was built at the end of the 20's?!

Anyone know how you would go about getting permission to sell a photo of the Chrysler, for example?

Graham

Ooh, I remember we covered this in my undergrad Economics seminar. It really is a fairly straightforward formula:

C + Con = AL

Where C = a Corporation with lots of money,
Con = a member of Congress, and
AL = Absurd copyright Legislation

My first million is going toward copyrighting Half Dome!

(The wonderful part is that this formula works for just about every part of the political sphere, not just copyright.)

The once aimed for ideal was that the government was supposed to represent and look after the little guy. Not sure if this was ever realized but more and more I get the feeling that this point of view isn't even on the table anymore. Why is that?  How did we end up here?