RE: Coipyright in the Hollywood Sign

It seems doubtful that they could make a copyright claim on the sign since it is a utilitarian object meant to identify a place. Also, fonts are not really protected by copyright in the U.S. Furthermore, because your use is educational, you could potentially claim fair use, which is similar to fair dealing in UK. The city of Hollywood could potentially make a trademark claim, which is becoming increasingly popular for U.S. cities, but your use would be an identifying use rather than one that would trigger trademark in my opinion.

I'm curious as to the circumstances under which you received the request from Hollywood. Did you contact them seeking authorization? It would also be interesting if you could post their request to pay. The wording might be telling.

Sincerely,

Robert Panzer

VAGA (Visual Artists and Galleries Association) 350 Fifth Avenue
Suite 2820
New York, NY 10118
tel: 212 736 6666
fax: 212 736 6767
rpanzer[_at_]vagarights.com
  -----Original Message-----
  From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property [mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org]On Behalf Of R.G.McCracken   Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 11:06 AM   To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property   Subject: [CNI-(C)] Coipyright in the Hollywood Sign

  I'm hoping that US colleagues on the list may be able to help with advice on a recent request to pay licensing fees for use of a photograph of the Hollywood sign.

  My university is a distance teaching university in the UK and we host an open web site on which we place educational and general interest content for access by members of the public. One of the activities featured on the site contains a photograph of the Hollywood sign, taken by one of our own staff.

  We've received a request to pay licensing fees for use of the photograph from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerc, claiming that the sign itself is protected by copyright.

  Is this the case, and does US legislation permit licensing of this kind? Under UK copyright law works of art displayed openly in public places may be photographed freely and a similar photograph in the UK could be used without licence.

  Many thanks

  Richard McCracken

  Head of Intellectual Property

  The Open University Received on Thu Jun 16 2005 - 02:05:30 GMT