Is the European Parliament going to destroy "Freedom of Panorama"?

[polonus]

Freedom of panorama under threat also on the Internet?

Read about the news here: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2015/06/freedom-of-panorama-what-is-going-on-at.html
Petition page: https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-save-the-freedom-of-photography-savefop-europarl-en
Showing certain objects in a photograph on facebook could already be problematic (copyright infringement) and so freedom of panorama could be seriously hampered. Various lobbyists are against freedom of panorama for obvious reasons.

polonus

[essexboy]

Do not get me on the subject of the EU, it is the biggest waste of space in the world 

[polonus]

Hi essexboy,

I know but you do not want anyone with a smartphone camera turned into a potential criminal when this law comes into effect. This when a copyrighted object like a sculpture for example is somewhere in that picture (a thumbnail picture is excluded).

polonus

[DavidR]

Do not get me on the subject of the EU, it is the biggest waste of space in the world 

The sooner we get a referendum and get the hell out the better and get away from these petty bureaucrats the bloody better.

[bob3160]

If this passes, expect our Great Leader in Washington DC to follow suit.
I happen to love taking panorama pictures in many of the places I visit and would feel
stupid if that were not allowed.
It's a s bad as taking away your freedom of speech and expression...   

[DavidR]

If this passes, expect our Great Leader in Washington DC to follow suit.
I happen to love taking panorama pictures in many of the places I visit and would feel
stupid if that were not allowed.
It's a s bad as taking away your freedom of speech and expression...   

I shudder to thing what will happen to youtube if this were to spread as virtually everything could claim copyright.

These bureaucrats obviously have little to do (sack the bloody lot of them) to go hunting these bonkers ideas to turn into laws.

[polonus]

Yes, you would say, haven't they got anything better to do using our tax money? 
No DavidR, Utube and Google have the right standards to not be on their target list.
This is aimed at you and me, the individual user as big corporations are off the hook by design.
What if you have a travel guide website. You may be in trouble.
Why bring in bad French and Italian regulations where freedowm of  panorama never existed.
You can take a picture of Eiffel tower at daytime, there is no copyright on that old building,
but do not try to do it at night because the illumination guys will claim rights you might infringe.

polonus

[bob3160]

You also really don't have any control of how a panorama you took is picked up by others.
Here's just one example:
https://www.google.com/maps/views/view/116622969170071590263/gphoto/5965819492390646306?hl=es-419&gl=us&heading=155&pitch=90&fovy=75
I posted this on my Google Street view account. The picture is universal. My Google account is English language.

[polonus]

Hi bob3160,

Just that I saw your car out there, else it could have been any "hacienda" for that matter.
Beautiful wild surroundings, a bit dry to my liking, but very pristine, you are a lucky guy. 

Damian

[polonus]

Also may come to haunt Wikipedia: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Panorama_in_Europe_in_2015

If the restrictive text accepted by the Legal Affairs Committee is adopted in the course of the upcoming EU legislative procedure on copyright reform, hundreds of thousands of images on Wikipedia would no longer be free and thus would no longer belong in Wikipedia

Commercial and non-commercial are legally not clearly defined and such a distinction on the internet is sometimes impossible to make.

Which countries in the EU currently have Freedom of Panorama?
Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark*, Finland*, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (* = only for buildings, not for public art)
Which countries in the EU currently don't have Freedom of Panorama?
Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, and Luxembourg.
Which countries in the EU currently have Freedom of Panorama for non-commercial use only?
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia.

So if this is accepted we will all land at for instance the Bulgarian situation for all of the EU.
The anti-sentiments against such an arbitrary (& undemocratic) regulation are very much UK fed/felt: https://medium.com/vantage/freedom-of-panorama-is-under-attack-6cc5353b4f65

polonus