answer:Google can claim ownership of its images whenever it wants. Imbedded in the closest views is a copyright watermark. However, artists [particularly the American Pop artists] have successfully defended in court the use of popular cultural elements in their work. In cases like these, if the 900-lb gorilla wants to start a legal poker game at $50,000 ante, who wants to take the bet? Robert Rauschenberg was successful enough to take them on. Many aren’t. Several art cases are discussed on this site My favorite reason for justifying it is “fair use by parody”. Actually in the Rauschenberg lawsuit, two artists duked it out.