Interestingly, this last weekend, the city of Troy NY had a river/arts festival. Dozens of literal sidewalk artists were drawing on the sidewalks in chalk and oil, while grosses of passersby gleefully photographed. I was tempted to issue a citizen's arrest, for fear some of this infringing iconography might find its way onto the Internet and upset someone important. I restrained myself, smug in the knowledge, though, that they were criminals, each one of them.

More seriously, the photographer must pretty much rely on fair use as an exemption. The analysis will, of course, depend on the uses to which my photograph is put. If I were to scan such a photo, crop it down to show exactly the original work on the sidewalk, and then bandy it about in some ostentatious and commercial way, I'd be in trouble. If its ultimate destination is a slide carousel used for home viewing, this is probably fair. Unfortunately, this is not for the photographer, but for the courts to decide.