The craze for tourists to take selfies in front of landmarks¹ is on the rise, with an estimated one million taken every day around the world. While the law is aimed at commercial photographers, there are fears ordinary holidaymakers could be prosecuted² and face a fine or even a jail sentence.

 

The rise of social media has spawned³ a raft of tourists for whom the ability to instantly publicise their trip is as important as the experience itself. The Eiffel Tower is the most popular spot in the world to take a selfie, ahead of Disney World in Orlando, Florida and the world's tallest building – the Burj Khalifa - in Dubai, according to tourist attraction site AttractionTix, which analysed social media to find mentions of travel hotspots alongside the world selfie. Big Ben is in fourth place, followed by the Empire State Building in New York, Gaudi's iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona and then Disneyland Paris. Rome's Colosseum, the Rockefeller Centre in New York and London Bridge were also in the top ten 'selfie spots'.

 

The UK and other European countries including Spain and Germany, is currently protected by a 'freedom of panorama⁴' provision in copyright law which means people can publish photographs of modern buildings or public art installations without infringing⁵ copyright.

 

If the law is passed, then members of the public will only be able to upload photographs of tourist spots with prior consent from the owner of the copyright. Or photographers may need to black out iconic buildings like the Eiffel Tower in their holiday snaps to avoid breaching⁶ the copyright of individual architects or artists.

 

With an increasing number of tourist hot spots discouraging or even banning selfie sticks, Disneyland has become the latest to announced a total ban: From June 30 selfie sticks will no longer be allowed in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and any other Disney-owned theme parks, water parks, or gaming attractions. A roller coaster at Disney California Adventure park was closed recently for an hour after a passenger brought a selfie stick onboard.

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