At 03:58 10/16/00 , Garth Wood wrote:
>
>Depends where you are. In most Commonwealth countries (or more accurately,
>countries which derive their legal tradition from English Common Law), if
>it's in public, TRULY in public, you can photograph it. Period. People
>have tried to argue in a variety of contexts that they have some "right" to
>images of their selves in public, but in general, Canadian courts (as just
>one example) haven't bought that argument for any but already-famous
>individuals, who can reasonably expect to make some monetary gain from their
>personal image. Everybody else can go pound sand, since their images aren't
>normally considered of monetary value.
>
>I've had dipwads actually approach me in public, stating that, because there
>was a possibility that their image might have been captured by me, I owed
>them money. I have told them, politely but firmly, to get lost or face my
>lawyer.
>
>The only time you should back down is when you're threatened with physical
>violence and there are no witnesses to ameliorate the jackass' behaviour.
>That's happened to me precisely once, and only because I wasn't using my
>head at the time.
>
>Garth
Pretty much the same in the U.S., which has its legal roots in English
Common Law, and the Constitutional First Amendment on top of that. If it
is a truly Public Place, or in a venue in which photography is to be
expected (especially places like public parks), then people cannot complain
or demand money (Garth, dipwad is a good name for thems that does). I've
never been approached or complained to about it. If you're going to do
something in which the person is quite prominent or intended to be the
subject itself, sometimes it helps to ask. I've also found in public parks
that being polite if someone asks what I'm doing and respecting others' use
of the grounds helps immensely. Then again, with most of my shooting, I
try to keep people from being the subject itself, but simply a part of the
venue (as in showing signs of human life).
Private places like Disneyland (because it is privately owned) take on a
slightly different twist. Photography is definitely to be expected, and
for private, personal use, or something of news interest (called a
"breaking story"), then it's as if it's a Public Place. However, if you
intend to sell the work commercially (not the news exception above), then
you had best have the permission of Disney to do so.
Of course, this varies in different places around the world and it behooves
an international traveler to know what the rules are. I wouldn't recommend
street shooting in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait!
-- John
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