Talk:Hollywood Sign

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[edit] Vandalism

This article needs a list of all the different times that the sign has been vandalized. BlankVerse ∅ 18:49, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

The Hollywood sign as it appears today
The Hollywood sign as it appears today

I've moved this picture from the article and added another, in my opinion, better picture.

[edit] References

Shrek 2 has "Far Far Away" in similar letters (not sure of capitalization), and Bride and Prejudice has "Khollywood" (not sure of spelling). Should they be listed in references? Andjam 10:33, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Illegal

At a minimum, it is trespassing on private property. I know that there have been arrested for that. If someone painted the sign, instead of just covering over some part of it (which is what has usually been done), that would add defacing private property. Unfortunately the official website has all of their interesting information hidden away in PDF files, so I've downloaded those and will read them later. BlankVerse 00:22, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Imitations

I added a link to Tucumcari, New Mexico because of the large 'T' that sits on a hill and is easily viewable from both aerial maps and from Interstate 40 when driving by.

Actually, single letters in whitewashed stone etc. along the side of a hill (and not elevated from the side of the hill) come from a completely different collegiate tradition, not from the Hollywood sign... AnonMoos 17:02, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

A useless bit of trivia about the Dingle Ireland sign. The sign was erected as part of a protest over the government's decision to change the town's name from Dingle to the Irish language version of An Deangan. Dingle being in a designated Irish language area or Gaelteacht, prohibited the town being called by it's English Language name.

As it was feared that the name change would damage Dingle's tourist industry there were protests over it. So this is the origins of the Dingle sign. ====

[edit] Copy edit, June 2006

Hello. I see that this article has found its way to 'Wikipedia articles needing copy edit'. I am going to undertake the edit for this article. I don't think that much of the structure needs to be changed. However, there are a number of typos and grammatical problems. I may need to do some minor rewriting for consistency of voice. Also the introductory paragraph needs to be expanded. Other than that, I'll try to leave it pretty much intact. The Phantom Blot 19:32, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, that ought to do it. I did end up moving a couple of photos around. This leaves the "In popular culture" section without a photo. Anybody have a copyright OK screenshot from a movie or game? The Phantom Blot 21:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Can't be shown on TV for free?

Is it true, as asserted by Charlie Brooker in his TV show, that you cannot even record a piece to camera with the Hollywood sign in the background unless you pay to use the trademark? Does anyone have a link to official policy on this? Do similar restrictions apply to online use? - CarelessHair 09:03, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

AFAIK It's copyright law and not trademark law that is involved. For derivative work of a copyrighted work (including photos of the work), you need the permission of the copyright holder. I understand that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has been pretty aggressive in enforcing their copyright on the Hollywood Sign (which is something that should be added to the article).
There are a couple of other considerations: There is, for example, a court decision that says that a photo of a public area that includes a copyright sculpture, where the sculpture is just part of the background and not the primary focus of the photo, is not a copyright violation. An image of Hollywood with the sign as a small portion of the background should fit under this court decision.
There is also fair use: All of our photos of the Hollywood Sign are most likely violations of the copyright, except that you could argue that we have a good fair use justification to use at least a couple of them. Any of the photos that do not have a good fair use justification will need to have it added, or the photo should be deleted. BlankVerse 20:24, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is the picture really public domain?

In the article itself says "The sign is now a registered trademark and cannot be used without the permission of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce" If that is the case, then the image really isn't in the public domain, right? Isn't the picture or use of the picture infringing on their registered tradmark? TakingUpSpace 20:41, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

The picture could be declared in the public domain by the photographer, and yet the contents of the picture could include a trademarked subject. Those are two completely separate issues. I doubt it imipnges on Wikipedia... AnonMoos 17:05, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
See my comments in the above section. BlankVerse 20:24, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unreferenced?

I've added the {{Unreferencedsect}} template to the Alterations and Imitations sections because I think that it is much too easy to add info that may be verify without doing original research. BlankVerse 20:24, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

The refimprove template is more appropriate now. -- Gmatsuda (talk) 09:22, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] In popular culture

Does anyone else think this is a bit lengthy? Either move to new article or get rid of the whole section, or at least a lot of it. It's the Hollywood Sign... of course it's been in movies and tv shows. -Indolences 19:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LAND

I came to this page looking for information on what happened to the word "LAND" in the sign. I had heard years ago that it was "HOLLYWOODLAND" and also that the "LAND" part was destroyed in an earthquake. So now I remembered to look for info on that word "LAND". But nothing here? Unless I missed it. VeriGGlater 19:19, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

There is a scene in the film "Chaplin" which features the Hollywood sign with the Land bit at the end —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.198.150.63 (talk) 13 July 2007
So what happened to the word "land"? And why did whomever choose to take it down or not replace it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.53.78.15 (talk) 18 July 2007
Disrepair, The City didnt want to pay to rebuild, so they only replaced the Hollywood Part.--Redspork02 21:04, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
I heard It was used for scrap metal in WWII --24.107.202.65 03:52, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps there should be a list of movies and period TV shows in which the "LAND" was destroyed. For instance, in The Rocketeer, the LAND went with the exploding Zeppelin. --Micahbrwn 17:51, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Around the 1940's, the Hollywood Sign was undergoing a major transition. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce finally came to the rescue of the ailing Sign, removing the letters that spelled “LAND” and repairing the rest, including the recently toppled “H.” As the century hit the halfway mark, a leaner, cleaner Sign was reintroduced in its now-iconic form. --Dillio411 (talk) 20:31, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Height

The introductory paragraph states that the letters are 50 feet high, while in the History section it is stated that while the letters were originally 50 feet high, they were replaced in the 70s with letters that are 45 feet high. 128.86.149.7 20:22, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pic Request

Is there a pic around of the hollywood sign when it spelled "HuLLYWO D" due to deterioration? I tried to google it, but no luck. Jumping cheese 19:41, 21 June 2007 (UTC)