{"id":4714,"date":"2016-09-21T09:57:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T09:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplylaw.waydevelopers.com\/england-wales\/wiki\/holiday-photos-law-in-eu\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T16:29:02","slug":"holiday-photos-law-in-eu","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/holiday-photos-law-in-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the EU About to Ban Uploading of Holiday Snaps to Facebook?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a number of reports, the EU is considering passing legislation to stop people publishing pictures of famous buildings. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In most EU countries there is what is known as the \u201cFreedom of Panorama\u201d \u2013 which means that, generally, people are free to take pictures of landscapes and publish them.\u00a0 However, in some countries (including France and Belgium), there is no such principle and therefore the permission of the building owner is needed to publish pictures of these buildings.<\/p>\n

So, is your selfie in front of the London Eye that you\u2019ve put on Instagram about to land you in hot water? \u00a0The short answer appears to be no (but as ever with the law there are shades of grey).<\/p>\n

The background to this is that a review is being undertaken by the European Commission to seek to update Copyright law to make it more fit for purpose in the digital age. \u00a0As part of this review a German MEP suggested that the Freedom of Panorama should be extended as a matter of principle to all EU member states \u00a0\u2013 however, the other members of the committee disagreed and instead proposed a restriction \u2013 hence the headlines. \u00a0However, there are two important observations:<\/p>\n

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  1. This is not law yet \u2013 and is a long way from being such (it would have to be voted through the European Parliament and agreed by a majority of member states); and<\/li>\n
  2. The restriction proposed is on commercial<\/em><\/strong> use of such images \u2013 so personal use should not be impacted (although there may be a grey area if your personal blog generates you revenue through advertising or where the site you upload to can use the photo to generate revenue).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But, what\u2019s the current position under English law?\u00a0 Well, buildings attract copyright for up to 70 years from the death of the creator.\u00a0\u00a0 But by an exemption under the relevant legislation (s.62 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 for those who are interested) \u2013 you can take a photo or film of buildings and publish these without infringing the copyright in the building. \u00a0<\/p>\n

    So can you just click away without fear?\u00a0\u00a0 No \u2013 there are a few things you should bear in mind (especially if you\u2019re using the photo for commercial purposes):<\/p>\n