Building as Copyright?

So when does a building deserve the same copyright-style protection as a book or movie? Yeah, I don't know. But when Sony made a video game depicting a cathedral in England, holy wow, did the church get mad.

So in this article, the authors discuss a Sony video game that the Church of England originally wanted banned, but now just wants money. Why? Because in this violent video game, it shows the interior of Manchester Cathedral. (Don't you know, they have honored shooting victims there.)

But wait a minute. Hold on. Isn't this building like, old? When did someone need to get permission to use the interior of a public building? And yes, it is somewhat public as it is a "listed building" (more info here and here). Now, if they were showing the interior of my house and listed it as my house, then maybe there might be a point. If the building had just been completed by a famous architect, maybe the architect might have a point. But a 7th Century cathedral? Come on.

Actually, this is a shakedown. The Church of England has been losing parishioners for some time now. Basically, they just want money. (In other situations, this case would be called extortion.)

Now, here is my main point. What shooting victims could have been honored there? Didn't England ban guns like 10 years ago? Who is shot by a gun anymore? Oh wait, you mean the gun ban didn't actually ban guns? It just stopped good people from having a gun to protect themselves against the bad people that still have guns? No, no, you can't mean that. Gun laws are our friend. The good government wants to make sure nobody has a gun. Too bad they forget to stop the bad guys, eh? So, I ask, what gun victims could be honored in this cathedral? Certainly not people who died 10 years or so ago. They can't be the ones the article is mentioning.

(By the way, as this game is about aliens blowing up stuff, should the U.S. government sue the makers of Independence Day for blowing up the White House in that movie? Oh maybe it is too late, statute of limitations and all. Just a thought.)