Some good points Onslow, and hard to argue against. One thing though, I can see that a lot of people base their feelings on the "shot from a public place" basis.  In Brinson's article, she states that this "public place" issue only applies to buildings, not to other copyrighted works.. such as paintings and statues.

Your last statement regarding 3d and 2d gave me lots of food for thought, as I can see your point. I personally don't distinguish one artform from the other. A painting is art, as is a sculpture, as is a photograph, etc. etc.  Creating a piece of artwork, from another's artwork, may or may not be ok with the original artist. So it is important that an agreement (permission) is reached between the two parties BEFORE the latter artwork is used in any form.

Just my take on it. Thanks again for the stimulating discussion.