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Aerial photography copyright question


4 years 6 months ago #660204 by Frederick Images
If you have aerial photos, either from a drone or from taken from a helicopter AND there are homes clearly shown in the photos.  Can you get in trouble if you don't have permission from the home owners?
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4 years 6 months ago #660230 by garyrhook
This has nothing to do with aerial photography.

You haven't supplied a context for the image/video, so perhaps some more detail might be useful?

You don't need permission, or a release, to photograph anything or anyone that is visible from a public location in the US, if you are creating "art". Especially so if a given element isn't a primary focus of an image. Personally identifiable doesn't enter into it, apparently. Here's a recent case .

Commercial use is a completely different issue. I rather hope that Mercedes Benz loses this case , since the murals are fundamental to the mood they are attempting to create. (If that weren't the case, they could have taken the shots anywhere... but they didn't, did they?)

So... it depends.

NB it's not a copyright question, it's a property rights question, and about licensing.
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4 years 6 months ago #660232 by Frederick Images
Gotcha, good information. Thank you I appreciate your help.  I should have clarified, I've taken some photos of urban streets where I can find patterns,  and they look cool.  I've been thinking about selling as prints. 
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4 years 6 months ago #660237 by Frederick Images
WOW I just read that Mercedes one and that is interesting.  We live in a sue happy world!
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4 years 6 months ago - 4 years 6 months ago #660239 by Fess Walker
Damn, that Mercedes mess seems BS to me.  Those backdrops are public art.  Those artist should be lucky they got some free PR.  I hear your point Gary, but for me, honestly I'm swaying on the other side of the fence for this one.  

*Correction, Mercedes should have at least named the artist.  
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4 years 6 months ago #660258 by Wyrick Photography
Sorry Gary, I need to disagree on this:

"Commercial use is a completely different issue. I rather hope that Mercedes Benz loses  this case  , since the murals are fundamental to the mood they are attempting to create. (If that weren't the case, they could have taken the shots anywhere... but they didn't, did they?)"

You are 100% correct, murals create the gritty tone they were after.  However when you consider how many inner city walls are tagged up with murals that are created illegally.  I get it, these could have been done with the cities permission.  However they become part of the buildings sanctioned from what ever permits given by the city and should be considered public domain.
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4 years 6 months ago - 4 years 6 months ago #660308 by garyrhook

Wyrick Photography wrote: Sorry Gary, I need to disagree on this:

"Commercial use is a completely different issue. I rather hope that Mercedes Benz loses  this case  , since the murals are fundamental to the mood they are attempting to create. (If that weren't the case, they could have taken the shots anywhere... but they didn't, did they?)"

You are 100% correct, murals create the gritty tone they were after.  However when you consider how many inner city walls are tagged up with murals that are created illegally.  I get it, these could have been done with the cities permission.  However they become part of the buildings sanctioned from what ever permits given by the city and should be considered public domain.


And here you demonstrate a lack of understanding of copyright.

Copyright is inherent in the creation of a thing. Doesn't matter what it is, or where it is. Yes, defacing property is illegal, but that doesn't undermine copyright. The owner of a property can paint over the work, and that's okay. Coming along and benefitting from someone else's work, without permission or compensation, is not okay. And that's the problem with the MB issue.

By your logic, putting a new piece of art in a public space (a park, e.g.) makes it public domain because it's part of a park. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So, with all due respect, I think it's important to avoid rationalization and conflation, and to critically evaluate the relevant components of the issue. MB is wrong on a number of counts:
  1. Not a permanent part of the architecture: it can be removed/erased/covered.
  2. Partial/blurry: Um, no. Copyright law is very clear that even portions of a work are protected.
  3. Not the centerpieces: No, but a significant element.
  4. Seen from an angle: Um, so what?
It doesn't matter how many murals are created illegally. And if you read the article, you find that these works are hardly illegal, they're intentional. "Could have been done..."? No, you clearly didn't bother to read the article before forming an opinion and drawing a conclusion. The works were commissioned by the city.

Do you not see a problem here? Have you considered learning, evaluating, thinking critically, then espousing?

"You're not titled to your opinion. You're entitled to your informed opinion."  -- Harlan Ellison
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