Alright to make this even more fun: One of the races is in a state park, aka public property. So does that mean that he can't legally stop me from taking and selling photos from that race? Or because he payed to use the land, can he stop me? Keep in mind, the trails are NOT closed to the general public during the race.
I see many variables potentially affecting the legality of taking/selling photos in this situation. Since I'm far from a lawyer, I can't really say much as concerns taking photographs of people at an event or what uses are legal, etc., etc. But I do want to take this opportunity to comment on the topic of the legality of taking photos at a state-owned park for commercial use.
A good deal of my shooting is conducted on state parks, state forests, and state wildlife management areas in Connecticut and, to a much lesser degree, in Vermont and New York and other states on the Eastern Seaboard. I have never heard of a policy in any of the locations I've visited which suggested that any special permit or license was required, or that the state had to be notified in any way, before I could take photographs there. Mind you, I have cumulatively spent hundreds of hours reading DEP webpages for all of the northeastern states and reading innumerable accounts of hiking experiences at locations therein. I suppose things could potentially be done drastically different in some states, but for what it's worth, it is unheard of in Connecticut for a photographer to walk into a state park (tripod or otherwise) and feel that he or she can't take and/or subsequently sell the photos they shoot there with virtually no limitations.
There IS a statute in place (which I've found to exist similarly elsewhere in most states and national parks) which gives rise to the state releasing "Special Use Permits" and "Commerical Licenses", but a review of the actual statute language makes it quite clear that these permits are only necessary under very specific conditions:
- if you require access to areas of the park not ordinarily open to the public
- if you plan to bring along an entire camera crew (for video)
- if you plan to use extensive quantities of extra equipment like elaborate lighting setups and boom mics
- if you plan to employ the use of elaborate or extensive props
- if your presence there presents a clear and present danger to the flora and fauna
However, I would not doubt that carelessly abbreviated versions of this statute (which are found on many pages as a footnote) probably fool many poor souls every year into thinking that the average joe actually needs a permit (costing between $300 and $1000) just to hike into state-owned woods with his D-SLR and a tripod.
So, suffice to say, you could have a $20,000 D-SLR on a bad-ass, hulking tripod... you're entirely within your legal rights to hike and take photographs at a CT state park without any special license or permit. Whether or not you "look" professional is irrelevant... whether or not you'll subsequently sell the photos is also irrelevant. The same holds true for NY state parks to the best of my knowledge... and
every other state-owned park across the northeast that I've visited.
And, quite frankly, contacting the state and asking them is really of little use. It should be understood that very few state employees spend time familiarizing themselves with the details and ins-and-outs of every one of the thousands of statutes. Here's what will happen: state employee
X will just guess and tell you what they think, acting as if their employment by the state means that their interpretation is correct. A committee will not be formed to delve into the law texts and give you a well-thought-out answer... nobody will check with a "State Photography Officer"... all that will happen is that some guy, who happens to be employed by the state, will just tell you what he/she thinks. You might just as well go ask some somebody working down at the gas station or walking down the sidewalk... they are both just about as likely as a random state employee to know the actual text of the statutes that govern photography on state-owned land. What they say to you really holds no legal importance, at all. The
actual text of the statute is the law... not what some state employee tells you off the top of their head.
If you really want to know -100%- that you can take photographs in the state park in New York... get the actual text of the state statutes that covers photography in state parks. That's the only way you'll know for sure what your rights are. 99 times out of 100, I'd put my money on it that it's entirely legal.
All that being said, I'm referring to landscape photography. The whole situation may very well change when you involve people at an event coordinated with the state (and for which the event host would've had to acquire a special use permit from the state, as well as buying state insurance for the event). That may very well grant the event host special rights. Again, read the state statutes and get the word of the law as it is actually written down.
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