copyright internet property
Took a picture of a bus stop showing a poster of a well known soccer player
<p>Is it OK to post a picture I took of a bus stop I saw displaying a poster of a well known soccer player? Since then, I've seen it in many bus stops throughout the city.
Want to post it on my website. Can I do it without having to ask for permission to show it? Do I then have the ownership rights to the picture?</p>

<h2>Is your picture of the bus stop or the poster?</h2>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/australia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-australia-tooltip-container">australia</a></p>
<p>It is not a breach of copyright to <em>incidentally</em> capture copyright material in a photograph. It is a breach to substantially reproduce that copyrighted material.</p>

<p><strong>Details of copyright law depend on the country.</strong></p>
<p>Imagine Alice goes to a museum and takes a photo of a work of art. In many countries, she could not use that photo without the permission of the artist and/or the museum.</p>
<p>Alice now goes outside the museum and takes a photo of the building. Possibly the same here, the architecture is protected just like the artwork inside.</p>
<p>Now Bob visits the same country. Bob takes a selfie in front of the skyline of the city, showing the museum and other parts of the scenery. In some countries, it would be recognized that Bob's main intent is to take a picture of himself, with the architecture in the background. So that is different from Alice's case.</p>
<p>Charlie takes the picture at the bus stop you mention. There are now two or three things to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Who holds the copyright of the poster? Possibly a photographer or an advertising agency.</li>
<li>Does the sports star have any rights regarding his likeness? Here the rules depend on the country. It might matter how much the star is a public figure, and if the image does constitute a 'legitimate' news event.<br />
<strong>Possibly the star has signed a 'model release' for a very specific scope and payment. This release could not be circumvented by taking a picture of the picture.</strong></li>
<li>Could Charlie's picture be called a <em>reproduction</em> of the original poster, or is the poster clearly in the background.</li>
</ul>

<h2>An advertisement on the street is part of Panoramafreiheit in <a href="/questions/tagged/germany" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-germany-tooltip-container">germany</a></h2>
<p>German courts had to decide, if the decor of a ship, which moves around, is an exception to copyright - and that even ads on a bus fall under this. As a result, ads on a bus stop <em>also</em> qualify for the exception. <a href="http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&amp;Art=en&amp;Datum=Aktuell&amp;nr=78115&amp;linked=pm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">In the judgment of the 27. April 2017 &quot;I ZR 247/15 - AIDA Kussmund&quot; the highest german court decided:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Der u.a. für das Urheberrecht zuständige I. Zivilsenat des Bundesgerichtshofs hat heute entschieden, dass sich die sogenannte Panoramafreiheit auf Kunstwerke erstreckt, die nicht ortsfest sind.</p>
<p>Ein Werk befindet sich im Sinne dieser Vorschrift [<a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/urhg/__59.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§ 59 Abs. 1 Satz 1 UrhG</a>] an öffentlichen Wegen, Straßen oder Plätzen, wenn es von Orten aus, die unter freiem Himmel liegen und für jedermann frei zugänglich sind, wahrgenommen werden kann. Diese Voraussetzung ist auch dann erfüllt, wenn ein Werk nicht ortsfest ist und sich nacheinander an verschiedenen öffentlichen Orten befindet. <strong>Ein Werk befindet sich bleibend an solchen Orten, wenn es aus Sicht der Allgemeinheit dazu bestimmt ist, für längere Dauer dort zu sein.</strong></p>
<p>Die Panoramafreiheit erfasst daher beispielsweise Werke an Fahrzeugen, die bestimmungsgemäß im öffentlichen Straßenverkehr eingesetzt werden. Dabei kann es sich etwa um Werbung auf Omnibussen oder Straßenbahnen handeln, die den Anforderungen an Werke der angewandten Kunst genügt. Das Fotografieren und Filmen im öffentlichen Raum würde zu weitgehend eingeschränkt, wenn die Aufnahme solcher Fahrzeuge urheberrechtliche Ansprüche auslösen könnte. Künstler, die Werke für einen solchen Verwendungszweck schaffen, müssen es daher hinnehmen, dass ihre Werke an diesen öffentlichen Orten ohne ihre Einwilligung fotografiert oder gefilmt werden.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The I. Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice, which is responsible for copyright law, has today ruled that the so-called freedom of panorama extends to works of art that are not fixed in place.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>According to [the relevant] provision, a work is considered to be located in public paths, streets, or squares if it can be perceived from places that are outdoors and freely accessible to everyone. This condition is also fulfilled if a work is not fixed in place and is located successively in different public locations. <strong>A work is considered to be permanently located at such places if, from the perspective of the public, it is intended to be there for an extended period.</strong></p>
<p>Therefore, the freedom of panorama also applies to works, for example, on vehicles that are intended for use in public road traffic. This could include advertisements on buses or trams that meet the requirements of works of applied art. If the photographing and filming of such vehicles could trigger copyright claims, it would overly restrict photography and filming in public spaces. Artists who create works for such purposes must, therefore, accept that their works may be photographed or filmed at these public places without their consent.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ship's exterior was deemed to be under Panoramafreiheit, and thus an exception to copyright, just as much as any other building facade, the decor of vehicles and rolling as well as standing pieces of advertisement.</p>
<p>under German law, you can have exploitation and copyrights in <strong>your</strong> picture, but you do not gain any in the underlying work that you depicted in your picture.</p>
