Is uploading a night photo of the Eiffel Tower illegal? Management company clarifies: It's all rumors

▲The Eiffel Tower in Paris is one of the world’s most beloved famous attractions. (Photo / from Wikimedia Commons)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Recently, there were reports that the nighttime view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is subject to portrait rights, and anyone who posts it online could face legal action. The management company of the Eiffel Tower recently responded, calling it an “unfounded rumor.”As long as it’s not for commercial use, individual tourists taking and sharing photos are completely exempt from copyright restrictions.

The Eiffel Tower operating management company pointed out that it is regrettable that several media articles regarding the copyright of the tower’s nighttime view are based on unfounded rumors.The illuminated landscape of the Eiffel Tower is indeed protected by copyright, but “only professional and commercial uses require prior application to the management company,” and may also involve fees.

However, general personal use of nighttime images, such as sharing on social media platforms like Facebook, is completely free of copyright restrictions and does not require any prior application. The management company is happy to see tourists share both daytime and nighttime views of the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889. Seventy years after the death of its architect, Gustave Eiffel, in 1993, the copyright naturally expired, making the daytime view of the tower public property.

However, the nighttime lighting was first turned on in 1989, created by designer Pierre Bideau. The copyright belongs to the Eiffel Tower operating management company and has been recognized by the court as an original “visual creation,” thus receiving protection. (News source: Central News Agency)