Towrs Copyright
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Copyright Notice
Except where indicated, all photographs and text on the main portion of the Towrs web site are © copyrighted by their photographers and by Artefaqs Corporation.
No images or text from this web site may be used without permission and a licensing fee.
Copyright Policy
While Artefaqs Corporation does not tolerate copyright infringement of any kind, it is not possible to police every image uploaded to the Towrs wiki by our users. If you believe one of your photographs has been inappropriately uploaded to the wiki, please contact editor@towrs.com with details and we will take the appropriate action.
Your Building
Sometimes people think it is illegal for others to take photographs of their building, thinking it is a violation of copyright or trademark law. This is not true.
Under U.S. law, and the laws of many other nations, it is perfectly legal for someone to take a picture of your office building, or your business, or even your home under most circumstances. Here is a sample of some laws which specifically permit the photography of buildings.
United States
U.S.C. 17 1-120: Scope of exclusive rights in architectural works
- (a) Pictorial Representations Permitted. The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.
Japan
Copyright law article 46: Exploitation of an artistic work, etc. located in open places
- It shall be permissible to exploit artistic works permanently located in such open places as mentioned in paragraph (2) of the preceding Article and architectural works by any means not falling within any of the following items:
- (i) multiplication of a sculpture and offering it to the public by transfer of ownership of its copies;
- (ii) imitative reproduction of an architectural work and offering it to the public by transfer of ownership of its copies;
- (iii) reproduction of a work for the purpose of locating it permanently in such open places as mentioned in paragraph (2) of the preceding Article;
- (iv) reproduction of an artistic work exclusively for the purpose of selling its copies and sale of such copies.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China copyright law Chapter 528, section 71: Representation of certain artistic works on public display
- (1) This section applies to
- (a) buildings; and
- (b) sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public.
- (2) The copyright in such a work is not infringed by-
- (a) making a graphic work representing it;
- (b) making a photograph or film of it; or
- (c) broadcasting or including in a cable programme service a visual image of it.
- (3) Nor is the copyright infringed by the issue or making available to the public of copies, or the broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service, of anything whose making was, by virtue of this section, not an infringement of the copyright.
