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Photography and the Law
This articles is about your legal rights as a photographer. Although it mainly looks at the common question of street photography, we also look at a few other issues.
The article is specific to UK law, although we hope to consult with others and check what the situation is in some other countries. I've been told that the rules in the USA are similar to the UK, so if anyone in the legal profession can tell us otherwise, please do.
Your Rights To Take Photos
If you ever hear anyone tell you that "there is no law against taking photographs", then they are wrong. The law outlines some situations where taking photographs is prohibited, although there are many situations where it will depend on the circumstances.
Private Property
The owner of any private property has a right to impose whatever restrictions he/she wants whilst you are on their property. Entering private propery without permission constitutes trespassing. If a person has permission to enter a property on the condition that they do not take photographs, but then ignores that condition, they become a trespasser as soon as they take the photo. The property owner then has the right to ask you to leave.
Trespassing is generally not a criminal offence although a person can be sued for damages by the property owner (in Scotland, physical damage must have occurred before you can sue). It is a criminal offence to traspass on certain properties (usually ones deemed dangerous) such as railways and military bases.
Visiting London
If you are a commercial photographer and are thinking of going into London, there are a few places you can't take pictures:
- Trafalgar Square
- Parliament Square
- the Royal Parks
As are tourist, you are permitted, but you are not allowed to take pictures in connection with any business unless you have written permission from the Greater London Authority and paid them an extortionate amount of money.
Photographing People in a Public Place
When in a public place, you are generally allowed to take pictures of people however there are two things that can make this illegal:
- harassment
- invasion of privacy
What constitutes harassment or invasion of privacy is not so easy to define. Someone could not claim they were being harassed just because you took their photograph, however if you carry on after they ask you to stop, or in any way cause them distress, then this is harassment.
Taking a picture of someone in a public place is also not an invasion of privacy. However if the person is in a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, then they would have a good case against the photographer. For example taking a picture of someone in their home through a window would be an invasion of privacy even though the photographer might be in a public place (i.e. on the street).
Use of photographs taken in a public place
So you've taken a picture of someone in a public place, not harassed them or invaded their privacy. What can you do with the picture?
Actually pretty much anything you want, including using it commercially. In some countries, individuals have rights over the use of recognisable images of them, however this does not apply in the UK. In this situation, you would need a model release form signed by everyone who is recognisable in the image.
As many photo libraries attempt to sell their images internationally, they will also expect model release forms.
Potentially, a photo of a person may also fall under The Data Protection Act (a law which controls use of personal data from which the individual might be identified). Although a photograph is not normally considered 'data', a digital image is data in the purest sense, and an individual can be identified from it. There are exceptions in the Act to cover artistic material so maybe a photo would be exempt, but I don't think I'd like to go to court and put this to the test.
Tripods
A photographer can be arrested for causing an obstruction in a public place - although it is unlikely a police officer would arrest you without first asking you to move.
National Security
With the worry of terrorist attacks, there are certain places where a police officer is now more likely going to stop and question you. The two legal acts which may give them just cause to do so are the Official Secrets Act 1911, and the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Official Secrets Act makes it an offence to take pictures in a variety of places which might be deemed useful to the 'enemy'. These include:
- military establishments
- many buildings/locations belonging to the Crown (factories, dockyards, ships etc.)
- ammunition / weapons storage buildings
- anywhere declared prohibited by the Secretary of State
- any location belonging to the Civil Aviation Authority
The Terrorism Act gives the police powers to stop and search anyone taking pictures containing information likely to be useful to a terrorist. Sometimes the police go a little over the top on this - a picture of a dustbin could be useful to a terrorist if they decide to pack it with a few kilos of explosive. The easiest bet is to co-operate and probably just delete the images from your camera if asked. Of course you may decide to stand your ground if you know you are right - the choice is yours.
Copyright
This should be common sense really - if you photograph something that is copyrighted, then you are most likely infringing this copyright. It is an infringement of copyright to take a photograph of a photograph (unless you own the copyright of said photograph) - however it is not an infringement of copyright to go out and take a picture of a landmark that has been taken many times before (if it was then surely every picture of Buckingham Palace or Stonehenge would be a copyright infringement).
If you set out to exactly recreate a photo in every detail, then this is a grey area. I suspect this would be a copyright infringement.
For more info on copyright infringement, you'd do better to find a website dedicated to this, and not a photography one.
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