Freedom of panorama

Freedom of panorama (which can be shortened as FoP) is a rule within the laws on copyright of some countries of the world. This rule lets the people make and use pictures of large things that are found in public places for a very long time (not those things that are only found in those places for a short time), such as buildings (which are products of the practical art of architecture) and sculptures (which are products of the fine art). The pictures can be drawings, photographs, or videos (which are "pictures that move").

The rule helps those people to use those pictures for free, without the need for approval (by asking for a "license") from the person or persons who made those things, or from someone who owns the copyright on those things, like the children of the makers or the representatives of those makers. It is a difference to the normal rule of copyright, which says that only those makers (or the owners of copyright) can say if they want to have those pictures (of their things) made or not.

The word "freedom of panorama" comes from the German word panoramafreiheit, which exactly means "panorama freedom". The rule started in Germany in 1876.

 Examples 

Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom are examples of countries with freedom of panorama rules. Some countries do not have freedom of panorama rules, such as France and Greece. In these countries with no freedom of panorama rules, their governments do not like anyone using pictures of buildings and sculptures of their countries for free if there is no approval from the makers of those works (like architects and sculptors).

 Germany 
In Germany, the rule of freedom of panorama is:

Section 63 of their copyright law says the person using or sharing the pictures of art needs to give the name of the maker or makers of those things. This is called the rule on attribution.

 United States 
There is a freedom of panorama rule in the United States, but it is only good for the use of the pictures of buildings for free. The rule says that pictures of buildings can be used and shared with anyone for free, with no approval from the architects, if the building is in the public place or can be seen from the public place. The exact sentence of this rule is:

 References 

Category:Photography
Category:Copyright