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[Scott]

Greetings.  I'm hard at work on a guide to the historic buildings in the community where I live.  The book will have several hundred photos of facades and architectural details (e.g., gargoyle).  I think I have a general undertanding of copyrights and trademarks, but as I'm getting closer to publication, I'm getting more nervous!  Two items of concern:

1.  Photographs of buildings.  Almost all photos were taken from public places (sidewalks, roads, parks, etc.)  There are one or two instances when a building wasn't easily viewable from the public place, requiring me to go on the owner's property, but I've tried to get permission in those cases.  Anyway, I have photos of 150 buildings.  Assume that 145 of the facades are viewable in public places.  I do not need permission from 145 owners to include the buildings in my book, do I?  If I'm correct, I'm thinking that the same thing applies to motion pictures ... if a streetscape or cityscape appears in a film, the producers don't need hundreds of permissions, correct?

Second, I'd like to include reproductions of old postcards from my personal collection.  Many are pre-1923, and all are pre-1958.  (I know this because the stamps are 1 and 2 cent ... in 1958 postcard postage was raised).  I don't believe that any postcards have copyright notices.  My goal is to both show how buildings have changed over time, or showcase buildings that have been torn down.  Perhaps 15 or 20 postcards total.

Overall, my book is about history.  The history of the town told through the buildings that witnessed the history.  I don't know that I'll make a dollar on it, but it will be a very educational guide for those interested in architecture and history.  Most larger cities have architectural guidebooks (e.g., "The Buildings of Baltimore") that have hundreds of photos and descriptions of buildings and/or their owners.

Also of note, all but a few of my profiled buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as a contributing building within a historic district.

Any comments or insight is greatly appreciated!

Scott from York, PA

[JSonnabend]

Sounds like an interesting book.

As a threshold matter, building designs are protectable by copyright, and the public display/private property issues are not particularly relevant to the inquiry.

There is case law out there discussing copyrights to architecture in general and buildings in particular, but I'm not familiar enough to comment in any more detail than above.  I strongly urge you to discuss this matter with an attorney prior to publishing the book.  It need not be exensive -- certainly less so than paying for publication and then getting sued.

- Jeff