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As Thomas Pynchon once wrote: Some people can’t see the a great work of architecture without thinking “chase scene.”
Such people will be troubled by this BBC Report that the Church of England is planning legal action against Sony, for use of Manchester Cathedral as a background for a video game scene.
Info/Law runs down some U.S. case law on ‘incidental’ or ‘background use of places and things.
The Seattle Trademark Lawyer points to a brief discussion of the Australian take on the general issue of building protection, in the context of photographs of the Sydney Opera House.
Prof Patry wonders what the UK law would be here so I asked world-famous UK lawyer and foremost authority Jane Mutimear , who replies:
” . . . [P]eople who comment on news stories of this nature might find
it worthwhile checking when Manchester Cathedral was built, and remind
themselves as to how long copyright lasts. Even if they can’t remember
the difference lengths for the different types of copyright, they might
remember that the longest term is life plus 70, so it would be safe to
assume that architectual copyright didn’t last forever and then work out
how old the architect would have to have lived for copyright still to
subsist . . . (Unless they think that God is the architect and believe he is not dead)
It’s a passing off issue, if anything, obviously.”

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When I was interviewed for this article in Athletic Management magazine several years ago, about a trademark dispute between a college and a high schooil using the same team name, I had made the point that we were going to see more high school/college name disputes because, unlike twenty years ago where high school athletics were in effect, small, single-site business not in interstate commerce, media such as regional sports TV networks and the Internet were putting high schools into interstate commerce. Thus we would see more overlap between high school, college and even professional team names, and therefire more naming conflicts Upon re-reading this article I see that the author saw fit to leave that insight out, so cancel my subscription.
Today’s NY Times reports on “Marketers Joining the Varsity” noting a surge of marketing dollars into the high school athletics market, which further erodes any ‘branding’ distinction between the high school, collegiate and professional sports markets. One result of this mega-sports licensing market will be more conflicts, and another will be ‘inherited’ dilution, as many Lions, Tigers and Bears will now encounter other teams who have been using the same names as them, some for decades or longer.