Shared a Night-Time Photo Of The Eiffel Tower? You Are Breaking The Law

One of the most iconic places to visit in France (and in Paris in particular) is the Eiffel tower. And while anyone is free to take its photos by day or night, sharing a photo of the light-show that the tower is engulfed in is pretty much infringing on the copyright of the show.

torrentfreak aims a spot light on this weird copyright situation by explaining that some architecture and some landmarks are copyrighted.

Actually, the Eiffel tower official website states this pretty clearly:

The Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, falls within the public domain.

Daytime views from the Eiffel Tower are rights-free.

However, its various illuminations are subject to author’s rights as well as brand rights. Usage of these images is subject to prior request from the “Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel” (the Eiffel Tower’s operating company, or SETE).

Yup, no sharing. Not even for your wedding album. Not even for social sharing, and definitely not for Instagram.

Of course you can go around this and shoot photos of the tower at night while it is not illuminated and have a 100% black post card of your visit to the Eiffel Tower.

So next you see a newlywed couple taking a night photo next to the tower, you know what to do.

[torrentfreak via gizmodo, image via wikipedia]

P.S. Some of the cities are nicer about their landmarks, Las Vegas for example has no copyright whatsoever on their famous sign.