[OSM-talk] Using photographed evacuation plans for indoor modeling?

[Martin Koppenhoefer]

2011/9/29 Russ Nelson <nelson at crynwr.com>:
> That's the Berne Convention at work. Not every country has signed
> it. And at least in the U.S., you cannot copyright a fact of the
> world. The shape of a building and the walls inside it are not
> copyrightable. An image which depicts them might be, if it contains
> creative elements, but if you use the facts that it depicts, and do
> not redistribute the image itself, you are not infringing the work.


The building itself is the creative work. There is an exception for
buildings when photographed from the outside, but the inside is not
covered by this exception AFAIK. The situation might depend on the
country.

See here for instance:
http://asmp.org/tutorials/photos-public-buildings.html


An “architectural work” is defined as
the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of
expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The
work includes the overall form as well as the arrangement and
composition of spaces and elements in the design, but does not include the
standard individual features

See The Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act

cheers,
Martin