> Thus, if you take a photograph of a building built in 1991 and the year is not yet 2111, there is a chance that the architect can claim infringement.
The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.
Thanks for pointing this out. I had run across this before, but I guess I disregarded it as I felt that for many uses, "ordinarily visible from a public place" is vague and would still result in an action where one would be forced to prove that the depicted building is ordinarily visible from a public place in court. I would like to know if a "public place" means exclusively public property or if it means private property onto which the public is welcomed, and whether a pictorial depiction is infringing if the subject is rendered as it would be seen from a "private place", whatever that is, especially if the artist or photographer had not been on that private place personally.
This is an important caveat to architectural copyright, however, so thanks for clarifying.
"Public place" is indeed a vague term. In some statutes, it has a definition that includes publically accessible private property such as common areas of businesses, hospitals, etc. Does it include places where access depends on payment of a fee? How high above the ground do public places extend (thinking of photography drones)?
The architect can claim infringement all they want, they don't have a case. From https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/120 :
The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.