The Legal Beagle

Dusty Miller · Jan 31, 2010

I'd like to see a forum dedicated to the legal side of photography. There's a need to discuss things like photographer's rights and the need for contracts, etc.

skieur · Jan 31, 2010

Even though some photographers could benefit from some general legal concepts related to photography and the variation in practices by pros related to the law, your forum concept would probably be frightening to some site owners and some moderators which is understandable.

skieur

Overread · Jan 31, 2010

The problem is that most people don't actually have a good and wholesome grasp on the legalities of photography -and in an open international forum the laws get all muddled up as people talk about their own country without nessessarily checking the host country of the original thread.
Thus things can get confusing and further more whilst many countires might have similar overall policies the fine details can often have some major differences.

I think that giving general advice and also telling people to pay up and consult a proper lawyer is the correct move to take. One cannot use "But this guy - who said he knew it all - in some forum said that it was ok to do this" in court.

skieur · Feb 1, 2010

Overread said:
I think that giving general advice and also telling people to pay up and consult a proper lawyer is the correct move to take. One cannot use "But this guy - who said he knew it all - in some forum said that it was ok to do this" in court.

Photographers however consult a lawyer related to a specific situation which has a potential to harm them financially. What photographers want from forums is the basic legal concepts related to photography that would prevent them from getting into a situation where they would require a lawyer. This kind of information is already spread throughout the forum in posts and in the article Photography and the Law near the top of the forums, but I suppose some newbies still have questions.

skieur