united-states copyright real-property new-mexico
Copyright a Land Feature?
<p>This sign is posted on private property in New Mexico, USA at:
35.47212, -106.15719</p>
<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/otiGYCX.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<blockquote>
<p>COPYRIGHT NOTICE Photos and videos taken of Lone Butte Mountain may
not be directly or indirectly published, reproduced, stored, modified,
published, copied, transmitted, sold, projected, redistributed and
used in any way without the permission of the owner, to avoid
copyright infringement.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Issues/Questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Just a comment. Given the poor writing, this sign does not appear to have been written by an attorney.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is it legally valid to copyright a land feature?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Does this make it illegal for me to photograph (and publish) a photo taken while I'm standing on public land (in this case County Road 45)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Same as 2, but supposed I own the land on the other side of the road and take the photo</p>
</li>
<li><p>Supposing that the land owner has no legal right to copyright, is it illegal to post this sign?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Edit:<br />
I showed this to an attorney friend this morning and he said &quot;kind of like trying to copyright air&quot;.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Who knows. It doesn't matter.</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#102" rel="noreferrer">17 USC 102</a> lists the kinds of things protectable by copyright under US law. These are:</p>
</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) literary works;<br />
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;<br />
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;<br />
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;<br />
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;<br />
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;<br />
(7) sound recordings; and<br />
(8) architectural works.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A landscape feature is none of these and is not subject to copyright protection under US law, nor I think under the law of any other country.  The &quot;copyright notice&quot; has no legal effect.</p>
<ol start="3">
<li>17 USC 120 Specifically prohibits copyright being used to prevent the taking of pictures of a building from a public place. In many countries <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_panorama" rel="noreferrer">Freedom of panorama</a> (FOP) specifically permits publication of photos taken from public places. Se also <a href="https://expertphotography.com/freedom-of-panorama-photography/" rel="noreferrer">this article on FOP</a>. FOP is an exception to copyright protection, which applies to copyrighted architectural works and publicly posted works of art, such as sculptures. Since landscape features are not copyrightable at all, FOP does not strictly apply to them, but all the arguments for FOP would apply to them even more strongly.</li>
</ol>
<p>In US Law, particularly under the <em>Fiest vs Rural</em> case, only works with original content, created by a person, are protected by copyright. (Other countries generally have similar limits on copyright.) But a feature of the landscape is not the original creation of any person. (If someone carved the landscape into a designed shape, it might be protect able as a sculpture.)</p>
<p>3 and 4. If it were a building, you could take pictures of it from a public place or a private place where you have a legal right to be, under  17 USC 120 . But since a part of the landscape is not protected by copyright at all, this is not really relevant.</p>
<ol start="5">
<li>No under the US First amendment there is generally a right to say even false things. But if the landowner attempts to enforce this &quot;copyright&quot; it would be considered frivolous and any court proceeding would be promptly tossed out. The sign gives the landowner no rights s/he would not otherwise have.</li>
</ol>

<p>Now wait just a danged minute. Isn't this simply a joke sign? Read what it says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Photos and videos . . . may not be . . . published [etc] . . . without
the permission of the owner. . .</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The sign maker is not referring to the mountain, he/she is referring to the photos. Of course your photos can't be published without your permission. Everybody knows that. The sign is a joke!</p>
<p>The weird guy down the road from my house when I was a kid put up a yellow sign that said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Caution: Monogoggle area!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I got that joke too!</p>
