Why Photos of the Eiffel Tower at Night are Illegal 

To clarify, just because you can find an image on Google doesn't mean it's legal. This law is very loosly enforced but still is a law.

Prisoner 1: "I robbed a bank" Prisoner 2: "I killed a guy" Prisoner 3:"I took pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night."

Me: Looks at this video Also me: *looks at my profile pic*

This is why people hate copyrights. They started out as a very useful measure for intangible assets but then people abused them and have made a complete mockery out of them.

Lawyer here. You don’t go to jail for copyright infringement. You also don’t go to jail - or get sued - for sharing your holiday photos, it’s only commercial use (sales, advertising etc)

I feel like a cybercriminal now after Googling photos of The Eiffel Tower at night.

Me : what are you in for? Inmate : murdering 2 people what about you Me : taking pictures of Eiffel tower

"It's illegal to create a replica of the Eiffel tower at night" Have you ever watched Ratatouille? You know, that scene where Remi goes up?

Is no one else dying at the random google review about it being too windy? 😂💀 The way he said it so nonchalantly killed me

"Welcome to the Salty Spittoon, how tough are ya?" "I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower." "So?" " *At night.* " "Oh shit come on in."

i love how tame this video is and how increasingly unhinged this channel has gotten over the years

It isn't taking a pic of the tower at night that's illegal. It's taking a pic of the lights working and using that pic for commercial use, without compensating the artist, that's illegal.

Dang, that transition at 02:23 was pretty smooth. Props to the boyscout!

And this is why aliens won't talk to us.

Long story short, the tower itself's copyright has expired, but the lights that turn on at night were only installed in 1985, so their copyright is still active

this is a great illustration as to why humanity is doomed!

I visited France on a school trip in 2000, and they had a sign on the Eifel Tower that said Ans2000. I always thought it made my pictures kind of look tacky, but now I think it's cool.

Girl:i only like bad boys Me:I took a photo of the Eiffel Tower Girl:And? Me:At night...

“Photos of the Eiffel Tower at night are illegal” Litterally everybody that doesn’t live in France : “that sign won’t stop me because I can’t read”

Photographing the Eiffel Tower at night is not illegal at all. Any individual can take photos and share them on social networks. But the situation is different for professionals. The Eiffel Tower’s lighting and sparkling lights are protected by copyright, so professional use of images of the Eiffel Tower at night require prior authorization and may be subject to a fee. Professionals should therefore contact the Eiffel Tower's management company to learn about conditions for using the images depending on the case. - From the official website of eiffel tower.

**Looks at video title** “Oop” **turns off phone to show Lock Screen of the Eiffel Tower picture I took at night**

I never knew buildings were copyrighted!

I’ve probably broken a begillion laws without realizing it

I actually have a copyright lawyer friend and I asked him about this after watching this video. He said yes the Eiffel Tower lights are copyrighted but that only applies for commercial use only any general public person using it for their own personal purposes is perfectly legal.

“So what are you in for?” “I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower” *Inmates slowly back away*

The way copyright is handled is absolutely ridiculous no matter the country. This is one of the more egregious examples.

Jail: Big scary guy: “What are you in here for?” Me: “Oh, taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower at night.” Big scary guy: *Backs away*

This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Well, close. When someone contracts to have a building built, or lights added, they should have a clause in the contract that it can't be copyrighted. A copyright on a building, bite me.

If you visit Antelope Canyon in Arizona, you're allowed to take photos, but must get permission from the Navajo to use those photos commercially.

My wallpaper is illegal?

How to make free money: Step one: Copyright your house Step two: Sue Google maps and google earth for money

This Eiffel Tower at night goes hard feel free to take a picture.

Those laws are nutty. Showing a building in the context of the city it is in should never be a violation of law in my opinion.

Me: takes a picture of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of a solar eclipse.

me: putting my own copyrighted stone on earth all satelites: RIP

Gosh, I love this old style of narration. Before Sam and every other creater decided they had to get super and unnaturally animated in order to keep my attention.

One of the best transitions to name a sponser i've ever watched 😂

“So, why did you go to prison?” “I took a photo of the Eiffel Tower at night.” “Come with me, sir. We need to create a VIP lounge for you.

I sent this video to a friend that's just got to Paris and post her first images there of.. you guess it, Eiffel tower at night.

That was a really smooth way to insert a ad

Shouldn't Ratatouille be banned?

sometimes humans are so extra bruh

Photos of Eiffel Tower at night are illegal. Onimusha 3: Welp, we show it

I remember taking a photo of the countdown to the year 2000 on the tower at night and one of my friends mentioned that it was illegal. #MemoryUnlocked

Bouncer: How tough are ‘ya? Me: I’ve taken photos of the Eiffel Tower. Bouncer: Yeah, so? Me: _at night_ Bouncer: *uh right this way*

It's absurd to copyright buildings. Not because they are not artistic works, but because it's impossible to stop people making picutres of them and uploading them, especially in the era when everyone is carrying a camera in their pocket.

Thanks for sharing that interesting bit of information about the Eiffel Tower!

The... lights? The lighting? That's a copyrighted work? If I'm in France, can I take a picture of someone else's installed lightbulb and get sued then?

As a french I can assure you that no one ever got in trouble for taking pics of the Eiffel tower at night 🤷🏼‍♂️

I did a PowerPoint of the eiffel tower 2 years ago and i had a picture of it in the night AND showed it to my class 😂😂😂😂😂 damn it feels good to be a gangster

Is there a story on how Disney was able to represent Paris in Ratatouille?

Should make a list to travel to the places to see those artistic monuments.

I'm french and never heard of this. Eiffel tower is filmed and photographed every day and every night by thousands of ppl/tourists. Plus with all the crime, the terrorism, and considering how full prisons are and how busy cops are.... there are approximately 0.00000001 chance to get in trouble for that. Only thing you risk doing that at night is being attacked by thugs for your camera.

2:52 I've never heard such upbeat music while being told about someone's death.

I love this video. Thanks for useful information. Very appreciate it.

Time to go right outside the police station in Paris at night and take a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

So every time a copyright runs out, a new artist can go and draw a single new line on a painting and that will extend the copyright in their name until 70 years after their death.

I took a photo of the Eiffel Tower at night and nothing ha- *FBI! OPEN UP!*

Something new on my bucket list.

Watched this video after watching a very recent one... I had to watch the newer one at 75% speed just to understand. Its crazy how this is common among several RU-vidrs I follow.

2055: Ah yes I can finally post this photo of the Eiffel Tower at night on Instagram

Next thing I'm gonna search now is "Eiffel tower at night" lol

“It’s illegal to take video of the Effie Tower at night!” Webdriver Torso : o b s e r v e

Me, who has the eiffel tower wallpaper on my wall at night: *why am I still not in jail*

never heard of that, but great video!

What an ultra smooth transition to the sponsors. I didn't see that coming lol

Beautiful segue into your sponsor bit, dude!

These copyright laws are getting out of hand 💀.

So basically, because bullshit.

Well, that's *dark*

When photographing some thing is outlawed, only outlaws will have cameras

Imagine copyrighting light Eiffel tower: wanna bet?

So does that mean my home is a piece of art and I can sue someone for taking a picture of it and using it for commercial use?

Hey, I love what you do and have watched all your videos. However as a french lawyer, I have to tell it is incorrect. You mentioned that the French copyright law has never been enforced with regard to the Eiffel tower. There is a reason for that. Basically what you explained is correct. French law prohibits commercial use of a copyrighted work without the author's authorisation. Therefore it is illegal to sell pictures of copyrighted material but there is a massive querk. Indeed the French cour de cassation (France hightest court) made it pretty clear that there are some exceptions. First, this law only applies when the copyrighted work is on the foreground. Thus, the photo of an aerial view of Paris is always perfectly fine since non of the work included are the center of the photo. You could open a shop selling photos of an aerial view of Paris and you'd be fine. The second exception, and the most relevant here is that in order for the law to apply, the copyrighted material has to be the topic of the support it is included in. Therefore a video including a picture of the pyramid of the louvre is fine when if are making a point about copyright law in France because the topic of the video is copyright law and the pyramid is just an illustration. However if your job is to sell photos of the Eiffel tower at night or any other copyrighted work without making any other point than "here is a photo of the monument" you will need the author's authorisation. That's why Shutterstock can't have a photo of the Eiffel tower at night. In fact case law on this topic is almost exclusively about postal cards. One easy test you can use to identify whether or not it is legal to show a monument is to imagine that you have photoshopped it out of your work. Then try to see whether or not your work has lost the essential of its value. In the case of a postal card featuring the Eiffel Tower at night, once you've taken away the monument, the card become worthless. Thus it is illegal. Same goes for stock photos, without the tower, it's just an empty night sky. However, this video is essentially the same with or without the Eiffel tower. It's still a video about copyright law in France. Therefore it is legal. You're not the only one to have made this mistake and last time I checked it was still on Wikipedia. In fact this is quite a fascinating story. I have ( or think I still have ) proofs that the Wikipedia article on this topic was used to write articles on other sites that were later added as sources to original Wikipedia article. This is a mechanism that has been studied or at least I have heard of that. I think you should make a video about it.

“Squarespace, you’ve probably heard their pitch before…“ Perhaps the understatement of the century!

But the lights, which are installed in 1985 are there during daytime as well. It's just not running any current through them.

I'm copyrighting the sun

A very, very loosely enforced law

Wait isnt the thumbnail illegal.....?

My asian mom: *Takes more then 50 photos of Eiffel*

i never knew of this at all. super interesting

“Welcome to the gang kid! We’ve got stealing steve, murdering mike and crimes johnson” “What did crimes johnson do?” “He took photos of the eiffel tower at night”

That's the great part about NOT being monetized! I can show whatever I want, it's just considered sharing the art! Enjoy!

Proof copyright laws are dumb

60 years are up: yay now I can take photos of the Eiffel Tower at night! (light breaks and has to be fixed) Oh well now we have to wait another 60 years

Being a little dramatic here.

I like how when i googled eiffel tower literally the 4th photo was at night

Moms: *you dare test my family vacation picture powers?*

In Paris you can buy a postcard with the Eiffel tower at night

Large Prison Dude: So what u here 4 man? Me: I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night... Large Prison Dude: *SHRIEKS LIKE A LITTLE GIRL AND RUNS AWAY IN FEAR AND TERROR*

Most of the people watching the video paused it and did a cyber crime of googling The Eiffel Tower at night😅

Their is a telugu movie called oopiri,the second half is shot entirely in france

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Let's be honest, this is fuckin ridiculous

MrBeast just did a night video at the tower last week.

"Photos of the Eiffel Tower at night are illegal" Tae: **whistling while leaving**

Me thinking stays were joking when they made stray kids delete their photos

Thanks for shedding some *light* on the law

Comparable with a song, that is free as long nobody sings "Happy Birthday"

I’m copyrighting my room so my mother can’t barge in anymore.