Photographers keep facing more and more questions and charges for breaking the law, making it important now so more than ever to understand your rights and responsibilities as a photographer. In this article, we’ll go over such rights, as well as Model Releases.
Where and What can I photograph?
The general rule is that you can photograph mostly anything you like as long as it’s in a public place. You do not need to have permission to photograph in public, this include photographing building and parks as well as people that are in public areas.
If you’re on public property you can even photograph private property, for example standing on the street and photographing someone’s garden. If you are on private property you can photograph until someone ask you to stop (a sign prohibiting photography counts as well) and you must obey such a request.
There are exceptions to this rule, for example military installations or other subjects that can be classed as national security. However infrastructures such as bridges are not included in such a list. Another exception is, even in a public space, places like dressing rooms, restrooms or people entering their code at the ATM machine — photographing at these places counts as invading a person’s privacy.
So to summarize, here are some examples of things you can photograph, if you’re in a public space you can photograph adults, children, law enforcement officers, accidents, criminal activities, celebrities, airports and train stations.
What to do when people question you
There is a good chance that somewhere along the way in your photography experience, someone is going to confront you. Everything from regular citizens to security personal and law enforcement officers might question your activity and ask you to stop photographing. They might say it’s for security reason and refer to acts like terrorism, this is not a valid reason for them to ask you to stop what you are doing. As long as you’re in a public space you have the right to photograph.
First of all, act politely and stay as calm as possible. You do not need to explain why you are there or what you are photographing. In most cases you do not need to disclose your identity (depending on your country/state you might need to do so if it’s a law enforcement officer that is requesting).
You do not need to give them your camera/memory card nor do you need to delete the images. Unless they have a court order or are arresting you (again, depending on your location) they have no right to take your equipment.
If you are asked to delete photographs or asked to hand over your equipment ask for their identity and who they work for. Also ask what legal reason they cite for doing this to you. If this happens to you, you might want to consider taking legal action or contact your local newspaper.
How and Where can I use/publish my photographs?
Okay, so you have the right to photograph mostly anything, but are you allowed to do whatever you want with the photographs you took? The short answer is: No, there are rules and laws surrounding how you publish and distribute your photographs.
Once again, I cannot stress this enough, the laws are not the same all around the world so make sure you know what the laws says in your area before you do something you will later regret. A wrong decision can end up costing you a lot of money, not to mention your reputation as a respectable photographer.
In most areas the main difference in your rights is depending on if the photograph is used commercially or not. If your photograph is not commercial, i.e. considered art, you have much more rights to publish and use your photograph. For example, in most countries you are allowed to publish and sell photographs that are considered art without a legal release from the model/person in the photo. This means that you can go around the city photographing people in everyday situations and sell the prints or have a show at a gallery without notifying the people you photograph.
However if you intend to use the photograph in any commercial situation you will need a model release from the model. An important note is that if you sell the photograph to a commercial agency they are responsible for getting the model release from both the model and you as the photographer. If they publish your photograph without a model release you are not to blame — however all serious agencies requires a model release for every photograph they buy.
There is one gray spot though, photographers portfolios. They are used to display your work, just like commercials, but in most countries they are considered art and you do not need a model release to publish a photo on your portfolio.
News photographs, even though they can be used to sell newspapers, do not require a model release to be published and sold.
As you can see this is a rather complex issue, and I haven’t even talked about how different it is from country to country, so it’s important that you check this yourself before doing a job.
Model release
I’ve talked quite a lot about model release, which is a form of a legal document that basically states that you as a photographer holds the rights to the photograph and can do what you want with it. These legal releases can be made very simple or they can be quite detailed; in most cases a simple one will do just fine. Before doing a large-scale job, contacting a lawyer will be well worth the money to avoid any legal problems later on.
I have designed two different samples of model releases, which could be used as a guide to what you might need/want. These samples are not intended for actual use, they are supplied as guides and should be used as such.
The first one is a standard model release to be used when photographing a model for commercial use. It gives the photographer complete rights to the photographs.
The second one is a specific model release for a type of modeling that is becoming more and more common, Time-For-Print. Time-For-Print is the idea that the model gives you his/her time and for that they receive an agreed upon amount of prints for compensation. This is common for models starting out and wanting to build up a portfolio and for photographers doing the same thing. This model release is more flexible and gives options on what compensation the model is expected to receive.
If you’re doing a planned photography session with people; models, weddings, children etc. always have them sign a model release. It’s for your own safety! Do not just throw the paper on the counter and force them to sign it, it’s important that they understand what they are signing and explain what it is. They are signing away their rights to the photograph of themselves or their children; it’s understandably that they might have some questions or concerns so you should be thorough.
I am not a lawyer and this text should not be seen as legal advice. If you need legal advice contact a local lawyer whom have knowledge in this field.
Laws are different from country to country and even state-to-state, so contact a lawyer or local law enforcement office for specific laws in your area. Another good advice is to contact a local newspaper, they often have good knowledge what photography related laws are in place in the area they work in.
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Wow, I’m not a photographer but I found this very useful to know. Especially as I am hoping on buying a camera at some point (hopefully) - Love the addition of a model release form, very good idea. Great post guys!
nice post for the photographer, being a photographer myself this was useful to me and thanks for sharing
Nice post, one thought though, can we assume you’re talking from the perspective of UK/USA laws?
really usefulll stuff…. thanx al ot…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know you need a permit from the city if you want to do a commercial photo shoot in a public place.
I study photographing in the academy too, but I never thought to dig so seriously deep. Great tips, I enjoyed this article, thanks!
Thnaks for the publish, really good and usefull.
Every photographer should have this book.
It contains sample contracts from all kinds … weddings, portraits, model and property releases, and copyright transfers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158115206X
Decent article for people just starting out in photography, and good to bring notice to the legal terms surrounding photography.
This is very useful for those who want to start out in photography seriously! And a very useful information even for those who don’t
just so everyone knows what they’re facing.
very helpful article.thanks for the post
Ronald
thanks … wonderful article
@Peter: I’m not positive, but I don’t think you need any kind of permit for a commercial shoot unless you’re a physical obstacle and/or need a police detail. So if you and your model are on a city sidewalk in front of a building and you’re using natural light, no permit needed. But if it’s you and your model, plus lighting equipment with wires strung to a power supply, and pedestrians can’t get around you without stepping into traffic, you’d need a permit simply so the city and the photographer both have it on record that you’ve had your safety obligations explained to you.
Thx, great article. Good to know for the future…
now i didnt read this (no offense to the writer :/)but i did skim read, because i recently purchased a magazine on photography, and it had this letter sent in by someone who wanted to take a picture of there grandchildren in this theme park, the security stopped him from doing it because he isnt allowed to photograph children :S they also had an article covering this from top to bottom with a long list of do’s and dont’s.
thanks, really useful! I’ve been searching for this information since couple of weeks
Photography is not a crime. Here is a great tutorial on digital rights.
Thanks everybody!
I’ve been out of town and quite busy lately, so I haven’t been able to reply until now, sorry.
@Tom J Nowell: I’m from Sweden myself, but yeah most of the text is based on the US/UK laws. Most laws around the EU are quite similar as well, but I don’t know much about specific photography related laws in places like Asia, Africa or South America.
@Peter: Andrew W gave you a good answer that I think is correct as well. I don’t think you need a permit for a commercial shoot just because you’re in a public place. At least that is not the case here in Sweden, and it’s not something I’ve read on US/UK based photo sites.
@Ryan Hicks: I haven’t read the book myself but it looks like a great resource (and way more detailed than this article was ever intended to be).
Thanks for this. Very usefull article.
A REALLY good read from a lead figure, Bruce Schneier, from the computer security industry:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/the_war_on_phot.html
“Fear aside, there aren’t many legal restrictions on what you can photograph from a public place that’s already in public view. If you’re harassed, it’s almost certainly a law enforcement official, public or private, acting way beyond his authority. There’s nothing in any post-9/11 law that restricts your right to photograph.
This is worth fighting. Search “photographer rights” on Google and download one of the several wallet documents that can help you if you get harassed; I found one for the UK, US, and Australia. Don’t cede your right to photograph in public. Don’t propagate the terrorist photographer story. Remind them that prohibiting photography was something we used to ridicule about the USSR. Eventually sanity will be restored, but it may take a while.”
useful informations,
thanks for sharing
Thanks for this! I’m taking PDM (photography & Digital Media) next year as an elective & I really wanted to know this stuff. Thanks once again.
That clears up alot of questions I had about where and when. Good stuff
Nice