Freedom of Panorama in Italy: Filming and Photography

Last updated: October 2026 — by Avv. Claudia Roggero, Rome Bar since 2003, entertainment and copyright law, DANDI.media.

A UK production company is shooting a commercial in Rome. The service company has secured the location permits from the city, the crew films a striking contemporary building and a sequence at an archaeological site, and the spot goes on air across Europe. A few months later, a letter arrives from the architect’s heirs, and another from the authority that manages the site.

Nobody did anything unusual. They simply followed the rules they knew. In London or Berlin those shots would have been fine. In Italy they needed two clearances that the location permit did not cover.

This guide is for anyone filming or photographing in Italy for commercial use: film and TV productions, advertising agencies, fashion and brand shoots, photographers and stock contributors, travel and hospitality companies building a website.

Three clearances, not one

When you shoot in Italy, a building or a monument can raise three separate questions, answered by three different parties:

Add to these the usual consents for recognisable people and attention to trademarks in shot.

Why UK and German rules do not travel

EU law allows member states to adopt a freedom of panorama exception but does not require it. The result is a patchwork:

• United Kingdom: section 62 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows buildings, sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship permanently in public places to be filmed and exploited commercially. Murals and other two-dimensional works are not covered.
• Germany: section 59 of the Copyright Act allows commercial use of works permanently located on public ways, streets and squares, including murals, but only the exterior of buildings. Temporary works are excluded, as the Federal Court of Justice held for Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Reichstag.
• France: since 2016 the exception covers buildings and sculptures on public roads, but only for natural persons and only for non-commercial use.
• Italy: no exception at all. The author keeps the exclusive right to reproduce the work in any form, including photography and film (Article 13 of the Copyright Act), wherever it is filmed from.

Copyright is territorial. What matters is not only where you shoot, but where the film, the campaign or the photo is released: a spot cleared under UK rules may still need a licence when it airs in Italy. For multi-territory releases, clear according to the strictest country.

Main subject or background

In practice, Italian courts and rightholders distinguish between a work that is the focus of the image and one that simply appears in it. A street scene in Rome with a contemporary sculpture in a corner of the frame is not the same as a shot built around that sculpture.

The questions that move the line are how much of the frame the work occupies, whether it is identifiable as a specific work, and above all whether the image draws its commercial value from it. A building in shot because it was there is a backdrop. A building on the poster, in the title sequence or in a recurring establishing shot is a feature, and needs clearing.

Monuments, museums and archaeological sites

This is the rule that surprises foreign productions most. Under the Cultural Heritage Code (Legislative Decree 42/2004, Articles 107–108), the State and the public bodies that hold cultural assets can authorise their reproduction and charge a fee for commercial use. The rule protects the asset, not the creative work, so it applies even when copyright expired centuries ago. A shot of the Colosseum is in the public domain for copyright purposes, and can still require a concession before it appears in an advertisement or on a product.

• Exteriors: photography from public space for non-commercial purposes is free. Commercial use of the image of a public cultural asset may require a concession, whatever the vantage point.
• Museum interiors and exhibitions: the institution’s own rules apply, and commercial shoots usually require a specific authorisation and a fee for the use of the space.
• Archaeological sites: commercial filming and photography normally require authorisation.
• Non-commercial uses such as study, research, free expression and creative activity without profit are free of fees.

For state museums and sites, minimum fees are set by Ministry of Culture guidelines (Ministerial Decree 161/2023, as amended), and each institution applies its own tariffs; assets owned by municipalities and regions follow the rules of each body. The process is a written request specifying the use, the media and the duration. Allow time for it in the schedule.

Italian institutions do enforce these rights, including against businesses: in 2017 the Court of Florence stopped the use of Michelangelo’s David to sell museum tickets without the Accademia Gallery’s authorisation.

Public domain does not mean free

Copyright lasts until 70 years after the author’s death. Renaissance and Baroque works, and most nineteenth-century architecture, are in the public domain; buildings from the 1950s onwards are generally still protected. But copyright expiry does not end the analysis: the cultural heritage regime still applies to public cultural assets, and in Italy the author’s moral rights have no time limit and can be enforced by heirs. See our guide to the public domain in Italy.

Before the shoot: checklist

1. List the buildings, artworks and sites in frame, location by location.
2. Check copyright status: who is the architect or artist, and when did they die?
3. Check cultural heritage status: is it a monument, museum, archaeological site or other public cultural asset?
4. Decide how each will appear: background, or feature?
5. Request the authorisations from rightholders and heritage bodies, separately from the location permits.
6. Budget the fees and allow time in the schedule.
7. Collect releases from recognisable people.
8. Keep the paperwork for your errors and omissions insurer and your distributors.

Drone filming adds a further layer: flights are governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/947 and the rules of ENAC, the Italian civil aviation authority, and filming from the air does not create any exemption from copyright or heritage rules.

Frequently asked questions

Does Italy have freedom of panorama?
No. Italian law has no exception comparable to those in the UK, Germany or Spain. Commercial reproduction of a building or artwork still in copyright, where it is the main subject, requires the rightholder’s authorisation.

Does a location permit cover filming a protected building?
No. A location permit authorises filming in a place; it does not authorise reproducing a protected building or artwork that stands there. They are separate clearances from separate parties.

Do I need permission to film the Colosseum for an advertisement?
Not for copyright, since ancient monuments are in the public domain. But commercial reproduction of public cultural assets can require a concession and a fee under the Cultural Heritage Code.

If I clear a shot under UK law, can I release it in Italy?
Not necessarily. Copyright is territorial: a shot lawful under the UK exception may still need a licence for release in Italy.

Can I use stock photos of Italian monuments on a commercial website?
The stock licence covers the photographer’s rights, not the concession for commercial use of a public cultural asset, nor the consent of people in the image. Check both before publishing.

Related guides

This guide states the position at the date above. Confirm current provisions before relying on it for a commercial project.

Dandi Law Firm provides legal assistance in several Practice Areas. Check out our Services or contact Us!