Comments on: English Heritage claims it owns every single image of Stonehenge, ever

By: Ugly Canuck

Ugly Canuck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A question of commercial use, it seems.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You forget how much it costs to get to see Stonehenge, to take a good photo. Its not free, its extortionate.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m going to interpret “can not” in the notice to mean “it is possible for it to not”

“Please be aware that that it is possible for any images of Stonehenge to not be used for any commercial interest.”

I’m not sure what to do with that ‘must’ though.

By: andyhavens

andyhavens — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I took a picture of Stonehenge in BCE 1223. Can I use that?

By: Ugly Canuck

Ugly Canuck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I do hope that VisitBritain got clearance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO8l8hL0cuw

Nice trike!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I wish you would remember that we are subjects of the Queen in the UK.
It is a consession by the Her Majesties Government that we are allowed to copy some things.

It is just that English Heritage (a QUANGO – part of the Government) have decided that we no longer have the right to duplicate our own photographs of Stonehenge without their permission – particularly if any money is involved.

Actually with all the Government spending cuts they are probably desperate to find alternative revenues – expect more clamp downs.

By: Ugly Canuck

Ugly Canuck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

OOOh I meant nice trike – considering how it could be used for bad things:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304510704575562560486919780.html

In theory, that is.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am an attorney currently seeking class action certification for all zombie and/or ghost druids in an action against English Heritage for copyright infringement and Jesus for tortious interference with pagan awesomeness. If you are a member of this class, please contact me at 555-5555.

By: cmpalmer

cmpalmer — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What about Foamhenge?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmpalmer/160081119/

By: MirelaMonte

MirelaMonte — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That’s not true!

Monsanto owns that!

By: Thad E Ginataom

Thad E Ginataom — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“I own the word “English” so they will be getting a letter soon.”

I am English, so clearly you owe me money for using the word. You’ll be getting a letter soon.

;)

And I too love that “Transvestite had sex with dog in English castle moat” is somehow related, but mentioning it is bound to bring a heap of mail demanding payments to the parties involved.

By: millrick

millrick — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

oh heck,
why don’t we just start licensing all recording devices of any nature (starting with cameras of course). then we’d only have to apply for the appropriate permits to photograph an image or record a sound. after our recordings were passed by the official censors we could share the pictures and sound with whomever has official permission to view them. simple really….

By: Ugly Canuck

Ugly Canuck — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

as with all things official, ’tis easier said, than done, I’m afraid….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I own all rights to the sun…so any image with any natural light whatsoever will be getting a letter from me soon.

By: sdmikev

sdmikev — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Derek Smalls: Can I raise a practical question at this point? Are we gonna do “Stonehenge” tomorrow?

David St. Hubbins: *NO*, we’re not gonna fucking do “Stonehenge”!

By: whatisart

whatisart — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sounds like English Heritage thought they could do a Brussels Atomium. Sheeesh! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomium

By: starfish and coffee

starfish and coffee — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I see… But is there a chance that these new commercial ventures are carried out by third parties? The English Heritage mass e-mail sounds a bit like that new wave of cold callers demanding I pay money for the music I listen to in the office. Their companies always have different names so it seems like there is some kind of commission based enforcement.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Can everyone who has ever taken a photo of the moon please send me a check for $3.50?

I represent a league of people who hold the rights to the moon, and although I can’t provide you any actual indemnification from copyright liability to them, I’m happy to take your money.

By: arshes

arshes — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@ Jon. You are quite correct, however the authority in charge of the area does have jurisdiction over many popular vantage points – and you do need photography equipment to take photos. I am also only referring to commercial images – which the article also refers to.

It does seem, however, that the primary concern of these organisations and photography rights is brand management. They do not want to be perceived as endorsing things that have not been vetted by them.

Additonally, by maintaining restrictive photography permissions, they create an artificial scarcity of commercially available images, and can then demand higher fees for that permission. This gives them an additional income stream, from something that in effect costs nothing.

An example of this brand management strategy can be seen in the letter from the Sydney Opera House’s corporate counsel:
http://www.freedomtodiffer.com/freedom_to_differ/2007/06/photographing_t.html

So, irrespective of whether you’re taking photos from a boat, or from far across the harbour, you will still receive a “takedown” letter in the mail from their friendly attorney.

Cheers,

Mark

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If that were right, then the same should apply to everywhere else in the world.
Come on, that’s utterly ridiculous! how could I possibly be breaking any copyright!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Taking a picture from the roadside, not owned by English Heritage as it’s a public byeway, means they cannot do anything about it.

English Heritage are, in the classic English parlance, a bunch of wankers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

And I thought it took a long time for things to fall into the public domain in the US!

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Okay, some damage has already been done, but we can prevent any further infringement… Tear down that henge!

By: zio_donnie

zio_donnie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@3 no you are not wrong. Actually you have single handendly saved the greek economy. From now on Greece will charge for the use of any photo of the Acropolis and we will expand to photos of all old stuff that tourists like, including cute nannies and donkeys. Also cats and tits on greek beaches. And satyr dongs. Tho’ the dongs are expensive.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have photos of Stonehenge in my facebook. Took it last year. No way I’m taking it down. We drove 4 hours from Aylesbury to get to Stonehenge, to see it and take photos. No where did we see a sign that said not to take photos of Stonehenge.

Me at Stonehenge:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5134562&l=9d2553f5a2&id=540755329

My husband and I at Stonehenge:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5134522&l=d84d1d0200&id=540755329

And LOADS MORE! For me, it’s personal photos that I’m sharing.

It’s like saying, oh, you can’t take photos of Sydney Opera House or the Sydney Bridge.. it’s a bridge gone to far… lol!

From

Cristina-Bozana Wilmot

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

millrick was using sarcasm and not expecting a serious reply.

By: edgore

edgore — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Perhaps they could erect a ring of very large stones around the site in order to prevent people from photographing it from outside of the land they control?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s bad enough that they’ve put it behind a bloody chain link fence, charge admission, and then still don’t let you get within 20 meters of it. Now, they want to own every picture everyone has ever taken of it. Bollocks, I say.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

From Micky.
Its the usual FAKE waffle from the e/h money grabbers.
As for not being able to make money out of my pics of the henge.
They can Get lost.
E/h are NOT looking after Stonehenge they are robbing the people that go there and TOTALLY RUINING the peaceful enjoyment of the place by the public of this country and the tourists that visit.
They cannot seem to understand that treating people as tourists in their OWN country is obnoxious and an insult.
They also seem to have a problem with THINKING they own Stonehenge.

By: foobar

foobar — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If we don’t allow this, prehistoric people will retroactively stop building monuments. Then where will we be?