Anti-Freedom of Panorama Proposal Rejected by EU
Good news for photographers in Europe: freedom of panorama will live on to see another day — in most countries, at least. Today the European Parliament voted on a controversial proposal that threatened to restrict the photography of copyrighted buildings and sculptures from public places. An overwhelming majority of MEPs voted against the plan.
Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake is confirming that a key paragraph was removed to preserve the freedom of panorama. At the same time, an amendment that attempted to extend the freedom of panorama to all EU countries wasn’t passed, meaning certain EU countries will still be able to restrict the use of photos showing copyrighted structures in public places:
On her website, German MEP Julia Reda writes that the news means that “most Europeans will continue to be able to post selfies online and view photos of famous buildings on Wikipedia unencumbered by copyright.”
“We must now continue to fight for an extension of important copyright exceptions such as this one to all member states,” Reda writes.
Image credits: Header photo by Kham Tran and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
