copyrighting of public space

The Copyrighting of Public Space

Following up on my post discussing the uselessness of Frank Gehry's

"BP Bridge" at Chicago's new Millennium Park, a story in today's

printed version of the Chicago Reader speaks to some other problems

with the park.

This time the issues are not so much with the design, but with its

use. In keeping with the contemporary trends of privatizing public

space, Millennium Park is a copyrighted public space.

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The Reader recounts the experience of photojournalist Warren Wimmer's

attempts to photograph Anish Kapoor's sculpture, Cloud Gate (more

commonly known as "the Bean"). When Wimmer set up his tripod and

camera to shoot the sculpture, security guards stopped him, demanding

that they show him a permit. Wimmer protested, replying that it's

absurd that one needs to pay for a permit to photograph public art in

a city-owned park.

Ben Joravsky, the author of the Reader article, attempted to contact

park officials for an explanation and received a response from Karen

Ryan, press director for the park's project director:

"The copyrights for the enhancements in Millennium Park are owned

by the artist who created them. As such, anyone reproducing the

works, especially for commercial purposes, needs the permission of

that artist."

Hence, Millennium Park--a nascent destination for countless citizens

and tourists that was built with $270 million in city funds--is slowly

emerging as Chicago's most privatized public space. Photographers

beware!

**Update** I've scanned in the original article from the Reader below.

Click on the thumbnails to go to my Flickr page for larger versions.

Reader1 Reader2 Reader3