On Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:01:27 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>Actually it's a city in Tuscany, and it won't work.
>
>http://www.pixiq.com/article/tuscany...its-landscapes
>
>Instead, they should do it the way Apple does.
>Patent the "look and feel".

Your clock is off

Actually it's a city in Tuscany, and it won't work.

http://www.pixiq.com/article/tuscany...its-landscapes

Instead, they should do it the way Apple does.
Patent the "look and feel".

"Mark Thorson" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> Actually it's a city in Tuscany, and it won't work.
>
> http://www.pixiq.com/article/tuscany...its-landscapes
>
> Instead, they should do it the way Apple does.

The article is misleading, not the least because the author doesn't read
Italian and used Google translate or another.

What they have passed is a law that the image of this tiny village cannot be
used commercially without permission. I should think they have that right
just as your image can't be used without your permission to sell whatever
someone may want to sell. As to how it works, well, it already worked with
Monsanto.

It says in that last paragraph that he could not understand that there will
be no vigilantes stopping photographers, but hind end vigilance to prevent
their being used in ads. Photography for books, magazines, travel brochures
and so forth are OK as long as they are about this village and its surrounds
and the area is recognized in captions. Just as your house cannot be shot
for an ad for Dutch Boy paint unless you allow it, their home can't be
exploited without permission.

On Jul 21, 10:01*pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> Actually it's a city in Tuscany, and it won't work.
>
> http://www.pixiq.com/article/tuscany...its-landscapes
>
> Instead, they should do it the way Apple does.
> Patent the "look and feel".

Not a patent, nor copyright, nor trade dress; this would be an
extension of the right of publicity, which prevents others from
commercializing your name or image without your permission, from
individuals to communities. In our country, even using a robot Vanna
White was barred.

But it should be pretty easy to photoshop a pastiche of hills, etc. to
be vaguely suggestive of that town's landscapes.