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I am developing a parkour game for mobile devices where the player scales famous skyscrapers. . This is a for profit endeavor. The buildings will closely resemble their real-life counterparts. They will be highly accurate and rendered in 3D. Do the owners of these buildings have the right to expect payment for the use of their buildings' likeness and what are the chances that they would pursue the developer of a app? What is the best waay to protect myself from legal action?
Right to publicity doesn't really apply here. Neither does copyright.
Trademark is an issue. Good WSJ article about it here (including a couple of court case citations): http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB897434998149805000
Copyright can be an issue with architecture -- see, e.g., the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act, explained here; however "The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place", which seems ample to protect a depiction in a video game.
The WSJ article is from 1998. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame case mentioned in the article was resolved in favor of the person whose photograph was disputed as a possible trademark violation, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame v. Gentile Prods., 134 F.3d 749, 753 (6th Cir.1998).
The NYSE case produced mixed results, in part because it included state law causes of action. N.Y. Stock Exch. v. N.Y., N.Y. Hotel, LLC, 293 F.3d 550 (2d Cir.2002). A much more recent commentary on trademark issues, albeit for video footage, can be found here.Quote:
[W]hether alleging infringement of a registered trademark, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1), or infringement of an unregistered trademark, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1), it is clear that a plaintiff must show that it has actually used the designation at issue as a trademark, and that the defendant has also used the same or a similar designation as a trademark. See, e.g., Holiday Inns, Inc. v. 800 Reservation, Inc., 86 F.3d 619, 622-23 (6th Cir.1996), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 770, 136 L.Ed.2d 715 (1997); Homeowners Group, Inc. v. Home Marketing Specialists, Inc., 931 F.2d 1100, 1105 (6th Cir.1991). In other words, the plaintiff must establish a likelihood 754*754 that the defendant's designation will be confused with the plaintiff's trademark, such that consumers are mistakenly led to believe that the defendant's goods are produced or sponsored by the plaintiff.
You can't trust the copyright holders not to act, not in matters of infringement. I would speak to an attorney before you release the app.
Copyright is not the issue (at least in the US, and he's not constructing buildings).
I'll fix that for you:
You can't trust the trademark holders not to act.