The Photographer’s Right
The Photographer’s Right
Bert P. Krages II, Attorney at Law About this Guide Confrontations that impair the constitutional right to make images are becoming more common. To fight the abuse of your right to free expression, you need to know your rights to take photographs and the remedies available if your rights are infringed. The General Rule The general rule in the United States is that anyone may take photographs of whatever they want when they are in a public place or places where they have permission to take photographs. Absent a specific legal prohibition such as a statute or ordinance, you are legally entitled to take photographs. Examples of places that are traditionally considered public are streets, sidewalks, and public parks. Property owners may legally prohibit photography on their premises but have no right to prohibit others from photographing their property from other locations. Whether you need permission from property owners to take photographs while on their premises depends on the circumstances. In most places, you may reasonably assume that taking photographs is allowed and that you do not need explicit permission. However, this is a judgment call and you should request permission when the circumstances suggest that the owner is likely to object. In any case, when a property owner tells you not to take photographs while on the premises, you are legally obligated to honor the request. Some Exceptions to the Rule There are some exceptions to the general rule. A significant one is that commanders of military installations can prohibit photographs of specific areas when they deem it necessary to protect national security. The U.S. Department of Energy can also prohibit photography of designated nuclear facilities although the publicly visible areas of nuclear facilities are usually not designated as such. Members of the public have a very limited scope of privacy rights when they are in public places. Basically, anyone can be photographed without their consent except when they have secluded themselves in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as dressing rooms, restrooms, medical facilities, and inside their homes. Permissible Subjects Despite misconceptions to the contrary, the following subjects can almost always be photographed lawfully from public places:
Who Is Likely to Violate Your Rights Most confrontations are started by security guards and employees of organizations who fear photography. The most common reason given is security but often such persons have no articulated reason. Security is rarely a legitimate reason for restricting photography. Taking a photograph is not a terrorist act nor can a business legitimately assert that taking a photograph of a subject in public view infringes on its trade secrets. On occasion, law enforcement officers may object to photography but most understand that people have the right to take photographs and do not interfere with photographers. They do have the right to keep you away from areas where you may impede their activities or endanger safety. However, they do not have the legal right to prohibit you from taking photographs from other locations. They Have Limited Rights to Bother, Question, or Detain You Although anyone has the right to approach a person in a public place and ask questions, persistent and unwanted conduct done without a legitimate purpose is a crime in many states if it causes serious annoyance. You are under no obligation to explain the purpose of your photography nor do you have to disclose your identity except in states that require it upon request by a law enforcement officer. If the conduct goes beyond mere questioning, all states have laws that make coercion and harassment criminal offenses. The specific elements vary among the states but in general it is unlawful for anyone to instill a fear that they may injure you, damage or take your property, or falsely accuse you of a crime just because you are taking photographs. Private parties have very limited rights to detain you against your will and may be subject to criminal and civil charges should they attempt to do so. Although the laws in most states authorize citizen’s arrests, such authority is very narrow. In general, citizen’s arrests can be made only for felonies or crimes committed in the person’s presence. Failure to abide by these requirements usually means that the person is liable for a tort such as false imprisonment. They Have No Right to Confiscate Your Film Sometimes agents acting for entities such as owners of industrial plants and shopping malls may ask you to hand over your film. Absent a court order, private parties have no right to confiscate your film. Taking your film directly or indirectly by threatening to use force or call a law enforcement agency can constitute criminal offenses such as theft and coercion. It can likewise constitute a civil tort such as conversion. Law enforcement officers may have the authority to seize film when making an arrest but otherwise must obtain a court order. Your Legal Remedies If Harassed If someone has threatened, intimidated, or detained you because you were taking photographs, they may be liable for crimes such as kidnapping, coercion, and theft. In such cases, you should report them to the police. You may also have civil remedies against such persons and their employers. The torts for which you may be entitled to compensation include assault, conversion, false imprisonment, and violation of your constitutional rights. Other Remedies If Harassed If you are disinclined to take legal action, there are still things you can do that contribute to protecting the right to take photographs.
How to Handle Confrontations Most confrontations can be defused by being courteous and respectful. If the party becomes pushy, combative, or unreasonably hostile, consider calling the police. Above all, use good judgment and don’t allow an event to escalate into violence. In the event you are threatened with detention or asked to surrender your film, asking the following questions can help ensure that you will have the evidence to enforce your legal rights: 1. What is the person’s name? 2. Who is their employer? 3. Are you free to leave? If not, how do they intend to stop you if you decide to leave? What legal basis do they assert for the detention? 4. Likewise, if they demand your film, what legal basis do they assert for the confiscation? Disclaimer This is a general education guide about the right to take photographs and is necessarily limited in scope. For more information about the laws that affect photography, I refer you to the second edition of my book, Legal Handbook for Photographers (Amherst Media, 2006). This guide is not intended to be legal advice nor does it create an attorney client relationship. Readers should seek the advice of a competent attorney when they need legal advice regarding a specific situation. http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm ADDENDUM was tipped off my a forumer about copyrights associated with certain buildings. his words: Generally speaking, a photographer does not have the right to post photos of certain structures that are image controlled if....the website is for profit. |
For UK Photographers's rights, a PDF file is downloadable here:
http://www.sirimo.co.uk/ukpr.php * * * Here is a guide for NSW Australia: http://4020.net/words/photorights.php |
Canada
Types of Laws
There are two different kinds of legal situations: There are laws, regulations, statutes, and bylaws, which society dictates are things that you are not allowed to do. The government (being municipal, provincial, or federal), on behalf of society, will enforce these, and punish you with fines, jail time, or community service. The other legal situation is between you and a private citizen or company, and is called Civil Law but may also be referred to as Private Law. Damages and restitution are awarded usually as financial compensation, to the victim. Civil Law Canadian Civil Law generally involves a dispute between you and another private citizen or company. Any private citizen or company can sue any other private citizen or company for almost any reason. Judges will look back to similar cases from the past, and use them as a guide in the ruling. If you do damage to someone, then Civil Law will allow that person to get restitution for the damages. This is a good guideline, but not always the case. In some jurisdictions, for example, in Ontario, if you are charged and convicted of trespassing, the property owner can not sue you for the same reason. If you break the law (federal, provincial, or municipal) and there is a private citizen or company that is a victim, you will be prosecuted by the government on behalf of society, and the private citizen or company may also choose to sue you for the damages you caused. Another scenario is where no damage has occurred, and you can still be sued, this is much more rare. Note that damage may not necessarily be to property, but may also be to public reputation. With Civil Law, there are generally two main issues that you will run into: Slander/Libel/Defamation of Character and Privacy Law. Additionally, "Invasion of Privacy" is also commonly sued for civilly. Slander / Libel / Defamation of Character Libel, simply put, is where you cause damage to another person by writing about them in public. Slander, which applies less here, is the verbal version of Libel (You say something publicly about them). Both are Defamation of Character, usually a direct, "defamatory" attack on a person's reputation in public. If a photograph you take is published, which you have a fundamental right to do, you must be careful not to misrepresent or injure the reputation of those who were photographed. This can be done by editing the photo to alter the situation, or adding an incorrect or misleading caption. Privacy Law The unwritten industry standard for commercial photography dictates that any identifiable person in a photograph should sign a model release. However, in Ontario, the Privacy Act does not protect it's citizens against unwanted commercial use of their image (see Ontario's Privacy Act below). Other provinces may have provisions in their Privacy Acts (or similar regulations or statutes) for allowing a person to control their image, likeness, voice, and other attributes, which does apply to photography. For Quebec, see Quebec's Human Rights Code, for Saskatchewan, see Saskatchewan's Privacy Act. Regardless of province, you may photograph and publish a photo of anyone, with the exception of young offenders, who are newsworthy, doing newsworthy things, or are public figures or celebrities. Federal Law You are guaranteed the right to take photographs You are guaranteed the right to express yourself through photography, and you have the freedom to publish the photos you take. Unless you are relieved of your rights (by being arrested), the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees your right to take photographs of anything you want. However, the Charter only dictates the government's role (ie: the police can't stop you from taking photos, just because they feel like it). The charter does not relieve you of breaking other laws, nor civil law (you vs. another private citizen). It also doesn't dictate what you are allowed to do on someone else's property. Criminal Activities There are way too many things that are just common sense to list here. If you are not aware of the contents of the Criminal Code of Canada, go and read it, it's well worth the time. In summary, don't do things that are against the law, like Breaking & Entering, Fraud, Mischief, Cruelty to Animals, etc. I will go over some of the bits of the Criminal Code below that specifically apply to photography, but you should be aware of what the Criminal Code of Canada covers. Prowl at night In addition to trespassing, which is a provincial law, this federal law covers "prowling" at night on private property. Do not loiter on someone else's property, particularly near a house, at night. Charter of Rights and Freedoms: "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, every Canadian is guaranteed a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, this charter applies only between the government and a private citizen, not between you and another private citizen or company. See Criminal Voyeurism below for the law that protects your privacy, and the privacy of others. Criminal Voyeurism You can not take photos of people who are in circumstances where they believe that they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, for example, a bathroom. This generally extends to include a person inside their own home, or anywhere where they have reason to believe is a private place. Security of Information Act The Security of Information Act is to protect Canada. Stated simply, do not do anything, or possess any photos that could be considered national secrets, interfere with a large number of Canadian's lives, impair or threaten the Canadian Forces, national security or intelligence. Avoid taking a photograph of any of the following, specifically in relation to national secrets, unless you have permission (preferably written) from a ranking official:
Now, this is not to say you can't take a photo of the things listed above, consider public events, like an Air Show, or parade, for example. These laws are to protect the Armed Forces and their supply. However, when the RCMP approaches you after you take a photo of a nondescript building, this may be what they're interested in. Note, that this is treason-level, and for anyone to be prosecuted for this, it requires the Attorney General's direct consent. Realistically, the government will have to prove that you possessed the photo, with intent to (or proof that you did) communicate it to foreign country or "fail to comply with all directions in the disposal of the photo at the direction of a lawful authority". So, if the RCMP asks you to delete a photo with regards to this act, do it. This is the only time that you are required to delete a photo upon request. However, in my personal opinion, if you are being arrested for this offence, keeping the photo as evidence may be a good idea, in order to let the court decide whether that image contained anything worthwhile that you were planning to send that image to a foreign entity. By keeping the photo you are not properly disposing of the photo, which is against the law, however, you are also not tampering with or destroying evidence. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act This Act only applies to the activities of organizations collecting personal information. This may apply to commercial photography (for example, how the information obtained through Model Releases is kept), but not to artistic or personal photography. Youth Criminal Justice Act Previously known as the Young Offenders Act, this act protects minors from public scorn. The child's name, and anything that would identify any youth (such as a photograph of them) is forbidden to be published for any youth who is convicted or charged with an offence under this act. This does not apply if the youth is given an adult sentence. This law won't apply to too many people, unless you happen to capture a photo of a charged or convicted youth. Provincial Statutes and Regulations - Ontario Privacy Act The Privacy Act protects personal information that is submitted to the government from improper use or distribution, and does not apply to photography, with the possible exception of photography done for a Government body. Note that Ontario does not have an Act which grants it's citizens ownership of their image, likeness, voice, or other attributes. Other provinces may have this kind of act, however, the Privacy Act of Ontario does not protect these rights. This does not mean that model releases are not be required, since the model could sue you under Civil law. Trespassing When you are on private property, what you are allowed to do may be limited by the owner of the property, or by someone acting on the owner's behalf, like their security guard. If the property owner puts up signs or tells you not to do something (eg: no trespassing, no photography, keep off grass, etc), then disobeying the signs or verbal instructions is trespassing. If you are asked by the owner to leave the property, you must leave immediately, otherwise you are trespassing. Without signage, the following should be assumed no-trespass:
Even on the above-listed properties, you can enter any property that provides notice (via a sign or verbal) that certain activities are permitted (for those allowed activities only), or any premises that implies permission to approach a door (for approaching the door only, of course). This is the important one: For properties not listed above, when there are no signs, you may enter the premises, and perform any lawful activity you wish, unless told otherwise by the property owner (or someone acting on behalf of the land owner, like a security guard). This is why you are allowed in malls. However, you should always use common sense. For properties that have notice (signed, verbal, etc), you must abide by the notice, but you may still perform any lawful activity on the premises that is not prohibited. However, if you are taking photographs in a mall, or some other privately-owned-but-open-to-the-public property, and their security guards confront you, they can permit or deny you from doing any activity on the premises, just by telling you. Since they are acting on behalf of the owner, they can control what you are allowed to do, where you are allowed to go on the property, or whether you are allowed there at all. If they tell you that photography is not allowed, continuing to take photographs is trespassing. They may also simply ask you to leave, and by not doing so in an orderly fashion, you are trespassing. They can also ban you from the property, in which case, if you come back, your trespassing. Note that this is a law (a provincial statute), so the owner can not "sue you for trespassing", however, they can call the police and have you arrested and charged with trespassing, at which point the government can fine you. Unless you actually damage something, it is unlikely that property owner can sue you under Civil Law. If you are convicted of trespassing, the property owner can not sue you under Civil Law. If you trespass on property and you were previously aware that you are not welcome on the property, through signs or other means (such as being previously banned from the property), the property owner, or security guard, can arrest you ("citizen's arrest" -- although this term is not used in Canada). The police or property owner may use as much force as is reasonably necessary to arrest anyone who has committed a crime. Should you be arrested by someone other than the police, they must hand you over to the police as quickly as reasonably possible. Provincial Statutes and Regulations - Quebec Quebec Human Rights Code In Quebec, the Quebec Human Rights Code grants all humans the right to their private life. For photography, this broadly-worded right allows each individual person in Quebec control over the use of their image (meaning, a photo of them). This was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in a case where a photographer published a photo of an individual in public, without the subject's permission. The image was nothing special, it was taken from a public place of a person in public, and did not injure their reputation. However, the Supreme Court of Canada said that the photographer should not have published the photo without the permission of the person photographed, and ruled in the favor of the subject of the photo. They did note that there are exceptions for newsworthy events, people who are in the public eye, like politicians or celebrities, or if the person was incidental to the photo, and not the main subject(s). Provincial Statutes and Regulations - Saskatchewan The Privacy Act In Saskatchewan, The Privacy Act protects it's citizens against invasion of privacy. This act applies when you violate another person's privacy willfully without a very good reason. Several examples are given, the most applicable to photography is if a photo is used as a way to make money (eg: advertisements), you must have the consent of any identifiable people. There are several exceptions, including photos which are considered to contain public interest, are newsworthy, or are consented to, then the photo is not considered private, and may be published in recognized newspapers, papers containing public news, or certified broadcasters. The remainder of the law allows flexibility, based on reasonable circumstances, the nature of the photo, occasion, type of publication, relationship between photographer and subject, personal conduct, etc. This leaves it up to courts to decide on a case-by-case basis whether privacy was violated. Municipal By-Laws TTC - Toronto, Ontario Toronto has a TTC Bylaw that restricts photography for *commercial* use, without authorization. This mentions nothing of non-commercial photography for private or artistic purposes. Remember that some TTC security staff are "special constables", who are actual police officers, and that a metro transit system can be considered as one of the items under the Security of Information Act above. Also remember that they may also ask you to stop taking photographs or to leave the premises, which would constitute Trespassing if you continued. Ownership of Photos and Copyright Copyright of photos When not under contract or employed to take photos, the photographer is the owner of every photo that they have taken. Even if 2 people take an identical photograph, each photographer will own their own photograph. This includes popular tourist attractions which have their pictures taken several thousand times per day, the photographs may not be terribly unique, but each photo taken is still the property of it's photographer. The term of the copyright is from the time the photo was taken until the remainder of the year you die, plus 50 years. If you are employed, contracted, or are on an apprenticeship, and the photos were taken as part of the job, then the employer, unless agreed otherwise, is owner of the copyright. If a company owns the photo, the term of the copyright is the remainder of the calendar year, plus 50 years. Photography of Buildings and Public Art It is not against copyright law to take a photo of any architectural work, for example, a building, or a permanent piece of public art. People Visible in Photographs The industry standard for commercial photography dictates that any identifiable person in a photograph should sign a model release. However, in Ontario, the Privacy Act does not protect it's residents against unwanted commercial use of their image. Other provinces, notably Quebec, but possibly others, have provisions in their Privacy Acts (or similar regulations or statutes) for allowing a person to control their image or likeness, voice, and other attributes. Note that this does not disallow you from taking photos of them, only what you do with the photos (such as publishing them). If you have tracked down this information for other provinces, please forward it to me for inclusion. Regardless of province, you may photograph and publish a photo of anyone, with the exception of young offenders, as long as the subject is newsworthy, doing newsworthy things, or are public figures or celebrities. Additionally, photos including people who are not the principal subject(s) of the photo, but instead make up the background do not have any say in what you do with the photograph. Recap / Myths dispelled
What should I do when confronted? If you are confronted by a security guard, a private citizen, or a police officer, there will be a conversation. Assuming you have done nothing wrong, most of these conversations will follow similar lines, either: you took a photo of someone or something and they don't appreciate it, or an authority (police officer, security guard, or property owner) believes you are causing trouble, or could cause trouble and wants to assess the situation. Regardless of the situation, there are some things that you can do to help the situation: [LIST]Smile and be jovial. Doesn't hurt, and eases the mood.[LIST]
Do not:
If the situation develops into something more serious: (If you are asked to leave the property, leave, and ask the following information as you are leaving.)
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