An article on Mediaguardian (free registration reqd.) talks about Bill Gates’ ownership of Corbis, the world’s second largest picture library. But what’s incredible is the bit about the Eiffel Tower. Depending on the time of day you take a picture: by day it’s public domain, but at night you have to pay the person who put the lights up! And it seems that although you can see the Hollywood sign from all over the place, you might have to pay someone to publish its image. Even if you’re standing in a public street.
If I stray onto private property to get a picture of a building, I can understand that I might have to pay a facility fee, but if I’m on a public road, surely I can publish what I like? In the same way that I can publish pictures of whoever I like that are taken from a public place (that’s how the paparazzi make a living).