On 22/07/06, Gregory Maxwell gmaxwell@gmail.com wrote:
This is a complex issue involving a lot of handwaving and bullshit.
In germany they have a legal concept called "right of panorama" which appears to be intended to address cases of incidental inclusion (as we'd know them in the US). The idea is that the fact that the populated world is saturated with copyrighted works shouldn't inhibit you from taking pictures in public...
However, when you turn around and use such an image as a direct replacement for the copyrighted work which you, presumably, couldn't use there is no way that you'd be able to claim incidental inclusion in the US. I'm not qualified to say what the decision would be in Germany, but I'd really be surprised if it were any different.
Aren't the images are still stored in Florida so are covered by US law? Why is German law at all considered?
Legally Wikimedia is likely okay because these works would easily be considered fair use... But they aren't free content when used in the capacity... but use adds a whole extra dimension the people would rather ignore.
To be OK don't we have to attach a fair use rational to these photographs?