Freedom Of Panorama

Creative works, including buildings, sculptures or street art are, as a matter of principle, subject to copyright protection under EU law. However, Article 5(2)(h) of the 2001 Copyright Directive states that Member States may limit copyright for the use of such works located permanently in public places.

This exception, generally referred to as freedom of panorama , allows citizens e.g. to take photographs of public spaces and use such photographs for personal and for commercial purposes, depending how the copyright exception is defined in national law.

However, under current EU law, the freedom of panorama exception is merely optional, which means that Member States can decide to introduce them in their national law (e.g. the UK or Germany) or not (e.g. France or Italy). The exact scope of the freedom of panorama and its availability depends, therefore, on national law and, ultimately, on its interpretation by domestic courts.

The adoption on 9 July 2015 of the EP Own-initiative report on the implementation of the Copyright Directive (Procedure file: 2014/2256(INI); rapporteur, Julia Reda, Greens/EFA, Germany) gave rise to protracted negotiations concerning, inter alia, the EU legal framework relevant to the freedom of panorama exception.

On 23 March 2016, the Commission launched a public consultation on the role of publishers in the copyright value chain and on the ‘panorama exception’ to determine the best approach to such exception. The consultation closed on 15 June 2016.

The following Keysource is a compilation of informative materials presenting the various interests and issues at stake, and the progression of proposals for amendments.