Is it legal to create and sell a model of a college building that is considered a landmark? Hate to work on a design then find out later that the effort was wasted. Maybe it's much ado about nothing. Thanks!
All depends upon the college. At worst, you might have to obtain a "license" to sell the models, depending upon how deep the college has gone into protecting their trademark, but usually colleges have only protected their "logo". Even then, you may find some exception in your favor for "buildings built using public funds". Is the building more than 50 years old? It may easily be beyond any "copyright". As long as your model represents the college in a positive manner, I don't know that they'd express any reservations. (grin) Of course, don't try to sell the model AS the building .. like people do with the Brooklyn Bridge. (grin)
To Copyright laws it depends when the building was constructed. However there may be other laws that im not aware of that also protect it. Does copyright protect architecture? Yes. Architectural works became subject to copyright protection on December 1, 1990. The copyright law defines "architectural work" as "the design of a building embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings." Copyright protection extends to any architectural work created on or after December 1, 1990. Also, any architectural works that were unconstructed and embodied in unpublished plans or drawings on that date and were constructed by December 31, 2002, are eligible for protection. Architectural designs embodied in buildings constructed prior to December 1, 1990, are not eligible for copyright protection. See Circular 41, Copyright Claims in Architectural Works Source: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
This advice of course depends by country. And the situation may also depend on whethr you create the model from original plans or by eyeballing what you can see of the building from a public place, then again I am not a lawyer ...