Question about Photography Rights

[Rose Bannister]

Hi. I am posting this in a few forums to see what the majority say as this is a rather confusing subject that no matter how much I try to look it up everyone seems to have a different answer. I went to the Royal Lancashire Show and wanted to take some street photography of the people, rides and stalls around the area. However, I am not sure whether it is legal as I had to pay to get in. Does that make it a private area so no images are allowed? I only want to take some images of people and their dogs having fun and stuff and put them on Flickr but is it legal for me to do that as long as I am not getting profit from it? I have heard many things about it but nothing seems finite so I need some more opinions to help make a decision. Thank you ahead of time :3

 

[The_Traveler]

Evidently there is some small controversy about rights in UK
Photographers Rights And The Law In The UK - the law and photography

In this age when everyone has a phone with camera in it and I don't anticipate gangs of police going around striking phones from the hands of innocent citizens, just go ahead and take and post them; your work will be part of the crowds

 

[Designer]

However, I am not sure whether it is legal as I had to pay to get in. Does that make it a private area so no images are allowed?

I have no knowledge of the laws in your country, but in this country it is quite normal for people to take pictures while at an open function such as the one you described.

The major exception to that is when a certain performer or troupe has made an agreement with the manager of the venue to disallow certain types of photography. i.e.; No interchangeable lens cameras, no sound or video recording devices. The reason is quite simply the money. The professional performer wants to limit amateur attempts to undercut their revenue stream.

Now I personally would not attempt to take pictures anywhere near a police action. Poke a camera into the face of a policeman who is trying to control a suspect, and you'll find yourself drawing criticism.

 

[robbins.photo]

Evidently there is some small controversy about rights in UK
Photographers Rights And The Law In The UK - the law and photography

In this age when everyone has a phone with camera in it and I don't anticipate gangs of police going around striking phones from the hands of innocent citizens, just go ahead and take and post them; your work will be part of the crowds

Woohoo!

A chance to finally put on my lawyer hat. hang on.

Nope.. that's my Farmer John hat.

Umm.. crap.. nope, that's my Sherlock Holmes hat

Drat.

Ok, well laws and the enforcement thereof vary widely, so your best bet would probably be to consult someone with actual legal experience in your local area. Now if you'll excuse me, since I found my Sherlock Holmes hat I need to scare up a mystery to solve. Back later.

 

[weepete]

Its perfectly legal.

It's defined as a puplic place if the public have access to it no matter if its free or paid entry or who it's owned by. Of course any venue can decide its rules and some places expressly forbid photography but there is an automatic assumtpion that it is ok given no other information. Indeed even if a place prohibits photography all they can really do is wsrn you to stop and chuck you out if you don't comply. As long as you are not breaking any criminal law anyway.

 

[Rose Bannister]

thank you guys. I really appreciate the help. all of this is so confusing to me. I live in the UK and I am aware the rules are more open here and a bit sketchy and I have never in fact been told off in the past for taking images officially despite actually probably doing it wrongly since I was in my first year at college and knew nothing then. But I DID get told off by 2 normal people and my main excuse was I was allowed to take the images for educational purposes and I believe that is still true but obviously it becomes so much more complex than that when I left college and when I tried to sell them. I only want to have a small business but since I have had people come up to me and be so rude before I get a little scared I will be arrested someday for my carelessness if I don't really try to find out about it first. Even if I do get arrested. I believe hopefully that my evidence that I really didn't understand considering all the stuff on the internet has mislead me then maybe they will let me off lol as for getting told off... (sorry for all the text)

I had this one incident where I was told to experiment with light trails for my college course (this was my first year and I didn't know much yet). So I naturally went to my local busy road only round the corner from my house to practice long exposure to get light trails. Lucky I had a friend there at the time coz this woman parked their car and came stomping towards me and yelling saying I had to right to photograph her car as I could identify the number plates. I explained I couldn't because of the long exposure and showed her the images and told her it was for education. She soon realised it wasn't dodgy and just slopped off.

The other time was very recently and what started me researching and getting a little paranoid as I was happily snapping away at a festival event like the one I mentioned and this was only a few weeks ago and I hadn't taken images since college in months so I actually had forgotten about all that permission stuff to be honest but I wasn't intending on selling them I was just practicing. Then I photographed these beautiful models on a stall which I might of asked by I noticed was unattended so I just snapped away and hoped to ask when he got back. BAD MOVE. I feel awful now but I really wasn't trying to be rude, I just didn't think, but this guy came yelling from a mile away and started saying I was being very disrespectful for not asking and he was thought I was being offensive to his race which wasn't the intention AT ALL! I tried to explain and show him the images and I immediately offered to remove them all in front of him but he was just not budging or even looking at the camera. In the end my friend had to step in again to save me as I just didn't know what to say after that and he wouldn't leave me alone or let me apologise. What do you think? I feel so bad as all my friends say I was very wrong to not ask first but I really didn't mean anything by it and now I can't find the information online to see how to know what to do to stop this from happening again I just feel powerless

 

[weepete]

Yeah, I'm in the UK too by the way

People often don't understand rights especially when it comes to photography. Fact is that if you are in a public place in the UK (like in a street or whatever) you don't have any expectation of privacy and are fair game.

Both of those people who confronted you were wrong and bang out of order by the sound of things.

 

[Designer]

In the end my friend had to step in again to save me as I just didn't know what to say after that and he wouldn't leave me alone or let me apologise. What do you think?

I think you should always have a very large friend along who carries a cricket bat.

 

[Dave442]

I suggest you get to know the laws at best as possible. That is a better defence than trying to use the "didn't know the law" defence.

If you don't mind confrontation then go ahead with the "do it and ask permission later".

Also, any arts and crafts works for sale by other people is generally not a good thing to photograph. I would not want people taking pictures of my pictures.

 

[KmH]

Online is a poor place to be seeking legal advice. The best place to seek legal advice is a qualified attorney's (solicitor) office.

Here in the US, public access to private property like a shopping mall, does not make the private property the same as public property.
However, on private property that has public access the public can have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Many LEOs (Law Enforcement Officer) in the US are grossly overstepping their bounds by harassing people taking photos of them as they do their jobs.
Note that more and more LEOs are being made to wear body cameras, a clear indication that photographing a LEO trying to control a suspect is not prohibited in any way.

Rights not exercised get lost.