Who owns the copyright to Google Street View imagery?

Cinema made with Google Maps

Chapter 1

The birth of Street View cinema

Chapter 2

Desktop documentaries and poetic journeys

Chapter 3

The ethics and future of virtual filmmaking

YOUR GOAL

Master of Cinema made with Google Maps

Ch 3 · The ethics and future of virtual filmmaking
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Glossary
fair use (noun)
A legal rule that allows creators to reuse copyrighted material without permission, provided they transform it to comment on, critique, or parody the original. In virtual filmmaking, artists like Jon Rafman, Robert Luxemburg, and Razan AlSalah rely on this concept to reshape commercial Google Maps footage into deeply personal, ethical films about surveillance and exile.
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Sep 11

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choko Google Maps Cinema

We film the world through automated eyes (automated eyes) / Capturing memories before they are erased (before they are erased)

Sep 5

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choko Copyrighting the virtual world

Sep 5

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Copyrighting the virtual world

choko Using Google's proprietary imagery for independent film raises complex legal and artistic copyright questions.

Sep 5

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Virtual filmmakers analyze algorithmic ethics through Google's automated privacy block on a 2016 Cambridge cow.

choko A pixelated snout obscures a cow grazing peacefully along the River Cam.

Sep 11

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Street View Safari
BETA

choko Swipe through virtual streets to discover how artists turn Google Maps into cinematic stories.

Sep 5

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Fun Fact

Accidental blurs: Google's face-blurring algorithm once hilariously blurred the face of a grazing cow in Cambridge, England, to protect its privacy.

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Sep 5

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Glossary
virtual filmmaking (noun)
The process of producing motion pictures within a simulated, computer-generated digital environment. In 2017, Razan AlSalah used Google's mapping tools to virtually return her exiled grandmother to Haifa.

Sep 5

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Gossip

Should Google blur everything by default?

Sep 5

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Quiz

What viral incident occurred in Cambridge, England, involving Google's oversensitive face-blurring algorithm?

Sep 5

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choko The surveillance state as cinema

Sep 5

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Blurring faces and erasing identities

choko Google's automated face-blurring technology creates accidental masks that filmmakers use to artistic effect.

Sep 5

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Quiz

Which legal concept allows artists to use copyrighted Google Maps footage for commentary or parody?

Sep 5

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choko Blurring faces and erasing identities

Sep 5

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Quiz

What is the name of Google's portable camera backpack used to map places cars cannot reach, like hiking trails?

Sep 5

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Quiz

What major ethical concern is raised by filmmakers who curate real-life dramas captured on Street View?

Sep 5

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Quiz

Why do some virtual filmmakers view Google's face-blurring as an artistic tool?

Sep 5

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Quiz

How are future filmmakers expected to use 3D map data in combination with generative AI?

Sep 5

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Quiz

What technology does Google use to automatically protect the privacy of people caught on Street View?

Sep 5

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Quiz

Who legally owns the copyright to the raw panoramic imagery found on Google Street View?

Sep 5