Photography of Property/Signed and Nubered Photos

[Islair]

I have a question regarding the photography of property. I have for some time photographed items that have been cast off and left to rust away. Recently I started to make enlargements of these photographs and created a signed and numbered editions from them. Then I started thinking about Model releases for photographing people and wondered if I need a property release for the items that I am shooting. Most of these items I photograph are on private property but I use telephoto. An art director told me that if the photo can be taken from public property, such as the street or a road out front of the property that I dont need a release. Therefore not having to buy permission to photograph. Can someone give me some insight on this? Do I need to get a release to photograph someones property if I get it from the street, and then if I sell the photo do I owe them a percentage?

Any help would be appreciated,
Islair

 

[mad_malteaser]

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question, but I do have a question of my own to add to this. Can the same be said of photographing people's houses from the street? Should I be asking for permission before taking photo's of houses and buildings that I know are privately owned?

 

[Rob]

This question has been asked before by a number of people in several different ways. I think the general consensus was that it depends on your local laws regarding photography and privacy. These vary from country to country and from area to area.

In the UK, there is no direct law restricting the photography of privately owned buildings. However, in recent times, people have been reported to the police as suspicious, and been detained under the Anti-Terrorism Act - and that's only for having a suspicious beard, let alone a camera!

Your best bet is probably to write to your local police station and ask them what they would view as criminal activity.

Rob