Re: [Leica] Private property and buildings

["Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>]

Steven writes:

> ... when out of no where appeared this screaming
> woman informing me that the entire compound is
> copyrighted and no photography is allowed.

I've always found that the more ignorant a person is, the more he or she tends
to scream from the beginning.

United States copyright law _specifically_ exempts architectural works from
copyright protection when they are photographed.  In other words, no copyright
prevents you from photographing a building, in the United States.  Since this is
a fairly recent change to the law, I suspect it was prompted by exactly the sort
of abuse in which this woman appears to have been engaged.

> She was in a uniform of some type identifying her
> as an official representative of the church's
> security force, a toy cop.

I suggest the church screen its security personnel more carefully.  At least a
very vague knowledge of the law might be immensely useful in protecting the
organization from lawsuits and other problems, for example.