Good observation Whaleman.

Copyright laws and "self image" protection laws differ from one location to the next.

I live in the province of Quebec in Canada where photographers have many constraints to deal with. Both Canadian and Provincial copyright laws provide very strict guidelines for the protection of the copyrights of photographic creative production. On top of that, Quebec introduced a couple years ago the concept of "self image rights" which basically gives rights to the subjects of a photography wheter the subject is a person, a pet, or a privately owned (and certain government owned) recognizable location or object.

For instance, you can freely take pictures of people on the street, but you are not allowed to publish these pictures without obtaining the concent of the subject unless the person subject is part of a group and the group is the subject of the picture.

The same applies to objects and locations. If for instance you want to take picture in a Montreal subway station, you are legally bound to obtain approval of the Montreal Transit Society first. Not many people do and I've never heard of anyone being sued over this, but that's something in their back pocket in case they need to fight over protecting their image.

So, whenever shooting abroad, it is important to inquire about specific copyright/self image protection laws. Do not assume that because it works a certain way where you live that it is the same everywhere.