Property Trademarks are quite easy to overlook. However, they are very real and should be taken into consideration when selecting location photography.
One of the best examples is the Eiffel Tower. Any shot of it during the day time is fine to publish. During the night-time, the tower is illuminated, and the lighting scheme is copyrighted. But you can't publish photos of the illuminated Eiffel Tower in a for-profit/commercial manner. Editorial use is fine (like for the descriptive purposes of this blog).
Ayers Rock is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia. But there are property rights owned by the indiginous Aboriginee tribes. Some commercial photography is allowed, but you must go through the application process to be allowed to do so.
Here's a short list of property trademarks:
1. Eiffel Tower (with lights on at night)
2. The Louvre in Paris (including the glass pyramids)
3. Ayers Rock in Australia
4. Inside the New York Stock Exchange
5. Any property owned by Disney
6. The Hollywood sign
7. Hollywood walk of stars
8. The Beverly Hills sign
9. The Lone Cypress Tree at Pebble Beach, CA
10. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH
11. Stone Mountain in Georgia
12. The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
13. Chrysler Building in NYC
14. FlatIron Building in NYC
15. TransAmerica building in San Francisco, CA
16. Any specific property on the Las Vegas strip
17. The London Roundel logo for their subways
There are many, many more locations around the world that are property trademarked. It would be difficult to compile a comprehensive list. In general, a graphic designer (or anyone in the field of publishing) should become aware of this legal aspect to protect themselves and their clients. If you have a photo of a specific location, then it might be worth a little bit of research to find out if there is anything in the composition of the photo that is possibly licensed, copyrighted, or trademarked.
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