Why is it forbidden to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night?

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cmdr_j_bond25

It is perfectly legal to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night, however the publication of those images is illegal for the following reason:

"The Eiffel Tower's likeness had long since been part of the public domain, when in 2003, it was abruptly repossessed by the city of Paris. That's the year that the SNTE, the company charged with maintaining the tower, adorned it with a distinctive lighting display, copyrighted the design, and in one feel swoop, reclaimed the nighttime image and likeness of the most popular monument on earth. In short: they changed the actual likeness of the tower, and then copyrighted that."

le_ffrench

As others have pointed out, what is actually forbidden is NOT taking photos of the Eiffel Tower at night, but publishing them. To be honest, I do not believe that making them public for free will not have any adverse consequence as the SNTE is keen on acting only when there is actual prejudice (ie: the images are used for commercial purposes)

This followed a lawsuit initiated by the SNTE (company in charge of the Eiffel Tower administration) against a photographer who had sold both night and day photos of the tower. He lost the case on the night photos.

saraphen

It is not forbidden. I was there this month, and took pictures.

asmikeocsit

My desk top is a picture of the Eiffel at night.

DramaGuy

They might be trying to keep flash photography from ruining the gestault of the Paris night. Flashs wouldn't help anyway buyt many people don't realize that the flash is only good for a short distance.

Andreji

PUBLISHING. if you're making money off of these pictures, you might as well have to pay some sort of rights to the actual thing.

frog

It is NOT forbidden to photograph the tower, at any time.

anonycat

????

MaryBeth

I think you can take them any time...

Jody SweetG

was it? i didn't know that....

The Archive

It is forbidden because the french use the tower to communicate with teh necormancer kings from the planet Zeulon!

Did you make that question up, I've never heard anything so absurd. Sounds like some frenchies were messing with your mind man!

tweetymay

I gather from you info provided that you want to TAKE pictures, but the info you provided was regarding PUBLISHING photos.

thehutch86

Thats retarded... I was in Mexico taking pictures of Chichen Itza... now that place was smokin' hot

shootingstarfromafar

I'm not sure where you heard that, but you are allowed to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower whenever you want to. At night it is all lit up with sparkling lights, so I'm sure they expect people to take pictures.

skystriker65

it goes to sleep naked

Rillifane

Its not forbidden to TAKE the picture only to exploit it for commercial purposes.

kiscko

dont now

SWIFFER THE WONDER MUTT

Because at night the French run missle test from the silo hidden underneath.

c_ray_mcmanus

Try it, and if you get arrested you'll know it was wrong. Then you can ask the police why it's forbidden.

2 shy

We have taken many beautiful pictures of the Eiffel Tower both day and night. Haven't been arrested yet. Most recent pictures taken in December, never saw a gendarme anywhere taking people's cameras. You can take all the photos you want.

Fairy Codswallop

I think that's the reason yep, the postcard companies probably have the rights to all pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night, or maybe it's because the French are odd :P

peaco1000

Thats garbage. How could they possibly stop people?
You've got too much time on your hands, take a walk outside once in a while.

mikki_d_98

i have no clue where you got that "fact", but it's totally false. i've been there, at night, and took many many photos...therefore, you CAN take pics of the eiffel tower at night

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