I can appreciate Walt Disney World copyrighting their park.  After all, they’re largely responsible for just about every inch of it, from the sculpted bushes to human-engineered lakes and waterways.  Obviously, it’s well established that biotech companies currently have every right to own and patent new forms of life.

But when I was passing through Pebble Beach on the spectacular Monterey Peninsula of California, a friend mentioned that I could NOT photograph nature should it ever be used for some commercial purpose.  In essence, every inch of the natural area, including the coastal ocean frontage, was owned and copyrighted by the Pebble Beach Company — thus my jarring red line through an otherwise brilliant image of nature’s beauty.  Thousands of happy-camera-clicking tourists — many of whom make deposits to enter the grounds or eat at the upscale restaurants in the area — end up capturing images of the famous “Lone Cypress” tree.  Some of these photos, my guess, will end up on Flickr or in Wikipedia.  At that point, anyone can “borrow” them for their own uses, commercial or otherwise.  Funny, since the Pebble Beach Company brochure actually proclaims that the Lone Cypress is one of “California’s most familiar landmarks…inspir[ing] countless artists, photographers and sightseers.”  Just don’t share them with anyone.

So should a company be able to copyright a view of nature for which it was not directly responsible for planting or otherwise creating?

Perhaps the Pebble Beach Company should consider the California Coastal Commission’s report related to public access for an insight less motivated by greed:

“The California Coast is a place of magnificent vistas and seemingly endless beauty. It seems
to define who we are and what this State is all about. Anyone, no matter who he is and
how much or how little he has, can partake of this beauty. The California coast belongs to
us all. It sustains a remarkable variety and abundance of life. It fires the imagination, inspires
creative expression, and offers sanctuary to body and soul.”

So what’s next, charging us for the air we breathe as we pass by a park or preserve (trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, which we then breathe)?

What ever happened to the idea of sharing the commons?  Must everything be reduced to dollars and cents?