Talk:Hollywood Sign/Archives/2017

Can't be shown on TV for free?
Is it true, as asserted by Charlie Brooker in his TV show, that you cannot even record a piece to camera with the Hollywood sign in the background unless you pay to use the trademark? Does anyone have a link to official policy on this? Do similar restrictions apply to online use? - CarelessHair 09:03, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * AFAIK It's copyright law and not trademark law that is involved. For derivative work of a copyrighted work (including photos of the work), you need the permission of the copyright holder. I understand that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has been pretty aggressive in enforcing their copyright on the Hollywood Sign (which is something that should be added to the article).


 * There are a couple of other considerations: There is, for example, a court decision that says that a photo of a public area that includes a copyright sculpture, where the sculpture is just part of the background and not the primary focus of the photo, is not a copyright violation. An image of Hollywood with the sign as a small portion of the background should fit under this court decision.


 * There is also fair use: All of our photos of the Hollywood Sign are most likely violations of the copyright, except that you could argue that we have a good fair use justification to use at least a couple of them. Any of the photos that do not have a good fair use justification will need to have it added, or the photo should be deleted. Blank Verse 20:24, 19 December 2006 (UTC)


 * They do claim trademark rights and charge for "commercial use," which includes using its image in television and film. They even seem to take action against people for taking tourist photos and then distributing them on the internet. 72.244.204.134 (talk) 07:05, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Can you be specific about where in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce web site that that is? I can't find it. Page 17 (in the link) seems to have been removed; now the web site says (about page 17) that the "page you requested could not be found". As far as I know, if we are in a public place and we can see it then we can photograph it but I am not an attorney. Sam Tomato (talk) 02:14, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Also note that that Ask MetaFilter page is useless since it does not report a final resolution; comments were disabled before there was a resolution. I am not a lawyer but most citizens of Los Angeles would not want such a huge sign to be visible for so far if people had to pay to take pictures. It would be awful for the tourist business. I sure have never heard of the Hollywood Sign being protected in that manner and I have lived in Los Angeles for about half a century. Sam Tomato (talk) 02:33, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I forgot to mention that Los Angeles could easily make the sign illegal if they wanted to. Oh, and is it even possible for a non-profit organization to get funds from anything other than donations? I think not. Sam Tomato (talk) 02:40, 2 January 2017 (UTC)


 * According to Leo Braudy's book (page 177), use of the Sign to simply establish location (as in the 20th Century Fox introduction sequence) is not a copyright violation. Saf209 (talk) 03:52, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

just in the news
--Kmhkmh (talk) 00:42, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/01/hollyweed-californias-hollywood-sign-changed-in-post-election-prank

Grand Theft Auto
Can someone add a reference in POP CULTURE: GTA V, based in the fictional state of "San Andreas", shows a parody of the sign "Vinewood". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:405:8401:1300:55E0:25C2:1AC5:6AFF (talk) 16:58, 15 January 2017 (UTC)

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External links modified
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