Aerial View Maps

Is it ok for my city government to take an aerial photography of my house and use it on their website?

A photographer sold the picture to my city governmennt for a profit.

Public Comments

1. All I can say is "eminent domain"! They can come and take your house away if they want to. So I'm sure they can take a picture of it and post it.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.. no privacy law was broken. Look up on the google earth issue.
4. Yes, they can. this falls into the same category as some stranger taking your picture while you are out in public. No one owns the sky, it is considered public, just like a public street. Pictures can be taken from a public place of an object where no right to privacy is expected. You are not expected to have a right of privacy outside your house. Inside yes, in a public restroom/dressing room - yes. Do more research on the law as it relates to photography and privacy.
5. The short answer is yes. The long answer is if the photo is being used for commercial purposes ie. a real estate commercial then they would need a property release to use a photo of your property. Any image of a person or place can be used by governments or for editorial and journalistic purposes without your permission. The only argument you could have is if someone were to have trespassed on your property to get the shot. Since they didn't you have nothing.
6. Is it ok for you to take a picture of some building in your city and post it on your website? Or a picture of a stranger on the street? Or of an animal in a zoo or in the wild? Or of anything that is not restricted? Yes. What this is really about is you wanting a cut of the money. Whatever amount the money was, it probably wasn't much and you have no entitlement to it.