Copying a city/buildings?
by Jonathon Stevens · in General Discussion · 06/02/2008 (7:58 am) · 6 replies
I'm curious if anyone has looked into the laws around recreating a city/building/etc? I know copying NAMES (such as the starbucks sign on the side of the starbucks building) isn't legal without permission, but what about the actual BUILDING itself? What about things like Times Square, etc ?
About the author
With a few casual games under his belt as CEO of Last Straw Productions, Jonathon created the increasingly popular Indie MMO Game Developers Conference.
#2
I know the log isn't a sign, I meant you couldn't create a sign that's on a building because it has the logo on it, which is copyright (and often, businesses copyright their entire sign, such as the hollywood sign)
06/02/2008 (8:41 am)
@Steve - is this your opinion or have you seen the laws related to this?I know the log isn't a sign, I meant you couldn't create a sign that's on a building because it has the logo on it, which is copyright (and often, businesses copyright their entire sign, such as the hollywood sign)
#3
06/02/2008 (10:06 am)
There are legal measures for architectural design, depending on the building, designer, and architectural firm. There were a couple of big to-do's about licensing the New York skyline a couple years back. I didn't keep up on what happened with them, though. There was a lot of back-and-forth about public space and design in architecture. 
#4
06/02/2008 (10:17 am)
There was also that whole mess between Sony and the Manchester Cathedral last year.
#5
Yes and that mess made Sony's sales on that game "Resistance: Fall of Man" go up. So it could be thought of as good thing.
edit: :)
06/02/2008 (11:20 am)
@Scott Burns. Yes and that mess made Sony's sales on that game "Resistance: Fall of Man" go up. So it could be thought of as good thing.
edit: :)
#6
End result of all of this: No complainant has a leg to stand on in a court of law.
06/02/2008 (1:33 pm)
Apart from the Mad Bishop of Manchester (The Times (UK) had a great series of articles on it at the time written by their in-house lawyers), Venezuela also complained bitterly about Mercenary 2: World in Flames, and Sao Paulo threatened to sue The Simpsons.End result of all of this: No complainant has a leg to stand on in a court of law.
Associate Steve Acaster
[YorkshireRifles.com]
Hollywood film execs didn't pay a licensing fee to blow up a representation of the White House in Independence Day.
Starbucks isn't a sign though - it's a registered trademark and a logo. Logos and trademarks no, buildings fine.