This is one of those truly odd copyright issues, and it’s one reason why you won’t see professional photos – legal ones anyway – of the famous twinkling Eiffel Tower lights.
As explained by petapixel.com, “European Union copyright law states that an artistic work (that could be a photo, video, song, or building) is protected during the lifetime of its creator, plus another 70 years.
Most countries have a “freedom of panorama” law, which allows you to photograph a skyline and include copyrighted buildings in your shot. So while you’d be perfectly okay capturing a photo of Big Ben in London, you just couldn’t go off and build a brand new version in your backyard without infringing copyright.”
Now apparently, the Eiffel Tower itself became public domain in 1993, 70 years after the death of its designer. However, the famous twinkly lights were not installed until 1985, and will have copyright protection for decades to come.
No one has ever gone to court for a night-time Eiffel Tower twinkly lights photo, that could change at any time.
Read the full story HERE.
