flipping usual insane stuff from EU

Now EU wants to BAN your photos of the London Eye and the Angel of the North

TAKING photographs of the London Eye and the Angel of the North could soon be banned if the meddling European Union (EU) gets their way, it has been claimed today.

The EU is threatening to restrict the long-established principle of "freedom of panorama" - which means major landmarks will be blocked from videos and photographs for fear of infringing on the owner's copyright.

A senior French Liberal, Jean-Marie Cavada has suggested amendments to legislation that would mean recognisable views such as the Eiffel Tower, the London Eye or the Angel of the North, would no longer be free to depict.

He has suggested introducing rules, which would force photographers, artists and filmmakers to seek permission and even PAY to be able to film, paint and photograph some of Europe's most iconic landmarks.

The original proposals were submitted by Germany’s Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda to protect freedom of panorama in a report earlier this month.

However the European Parliament's legal committee, while approving most of the report, implemented several amendments – one of these reading, “The commercial use of photographs, video footage or other images of works which are permanently located in physical public places should always be subject to prior authorisation from the authors or any proxy acting for them.”

Tourists will not be able to capture recognisable views such as the Eiffel Tower, the London Eye, Angel of the North, and even the Paddington Bear statue at Paddington Station in London and use them for commerical use.

This is even if the piece of work is not the primary subject of the image, according to website Breitbart London.

UKIP's MEP for London Gerard Batten said: "As so often before when the European Union passes its laws it ignores the law of unintended consequences.

I was a copyright expert for 6 years on a prominent and highly respected photo gallery web site. I was the one that took direction from our team of lawyers. IF you photograph it and don't get caught, they will let it slide as long as it doesn't appear on a public forum - like this, Facebook, etc. If it is only shown as a vacation photo within your family group, they will not bother you. But, as with our amateurs' photo gallery on-line, we often heard from their legal team threatening us if we did not take the photo down because of this law. From experience, I know this is truth. (BTW, that permission is more than some payment. It is very costly, requires application well in advance and they demand to see in what context it will be used.) And our gallery did not sell anything, nor did we allow posting sample brochures, or marketing pieces...