What the end of freedom of panorama could mean for classic car drivers ...
Classic cars are popular photo motifs. Perhaps you have already photographed your own (or someone else's old) car in front of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Ferris wheel in the Prater in Vienna or the Pompidou Center? Or in front of another illustrious or simply photogenic building in the background? No problem, you could do this with impunity in the past, because the so-called "freedom of panorama" allowed you to take pictures of buildings that were actually protected by copyright without the need for an additional license agreement between the photographer and the architect (or the architect's heirs) (comprehensive explanations can be found on Wikipedia ).
Yes, of course, you say, that goes without saying, the opposite would be downright irrational and unrealistic. Well, the EU may decide to end this freedom of panorama on July 9, 2015. In the upcoming copyright reform, the different interpretations of freedom of panorama in the EU countries are to be harmonized. However, it will not be based on the liberal interpretation that Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Norway or Switzerland (as a non-EU country) have, but on a very restrictive version that is currently the norm in France or Italy. According to the new provision applicable to EU countries (amendment 421), the commercial use of photographs, video material or other images of works that are permanently placed in physical public places would always be subject to the prior consent of the authors or other authorized representatives.
And anyone who now thinks that hardly any vacation photos are used commercially should now consider that most social networks such as Instagram or Facebook are, of course, commercial projects and the photographers or publishing parties would be liable to a warning under the new provision. For journalism (whether in print or online), for organizers of classic car events or for us as Zwischengas makers, the new provision would cause a lot of inconvenience and it is to be feared that nasty warning battles could begin.
We can still hope that the European Parliament will see sense and interpret freedom of panorama more openly
The issue is more serious than you might think. There are even websites "Pro Freedom of Panorama", for example here. And an online petition about it.
