Learn the Law

[tegan]

No matter how many times, this comes up, I keep hearing about enthusiasts getting themselves into trouble by NOT asserting their rights.

1. You can take photos almost anywhere with the common sense exceptions
of washrooms, change rooms, courts in session, and top secret
installations.

2. You can take photos of anyone in a public place and that is defined as
accessible to the public and can be private property.

3. Police cannot stop or detain a person without probable cause and taking
pictures is not illegal, so they cannot legally stop you.

4. No security or police can ask for or seize your camera equipment without
a court order or arrest and you cannot be arrested for taking pictures.

5. Security or police cannot search your camera bag or ask for your memory
card and no one can ask you to delete pictures.

6. If you are taking photos on private property such as a mall, a security
guard may indicate that photos are not allowed. He may ask you to
leave and escort you from the property. If you do not comply, then
technically you are trespassing and could be charged, but you still
retain your photos and equipment.

It is a little late, after you handed your camera equipment over to some security guard who had no right to demand it and you are stuck trying to track it down and get it back, to realize that you were dumb to hand it over in the first place.

Tegan

[Marko]

This is an important post tegan, thanks for posting it.

For most of us reading this (and from our logs we know that primarily our visitors come from Canada, the USA, Australia and Western Europe) we are lucky in that we live democracies with very strong personal protections.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LAWS IN YOUR DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY BUT...Generally - If someone (even the police unless they have a warrant or arrest you as tegan stated) wants or demands your film, camera or flashcards all you need to do is SAY NO! It is up to the authorities to take you to court....and that can take months even years...and during that time you can find out what your rights are.

Grabbing anything from you can be considered theft or even ASSAULT in some cases.

[kiley9806]

ok, so i have a question that runs along these lines... you mentioned taking pics on public places such as a mall - what are the thoughts/rules on taking pictures while on the roadside or ditch of barns, landscapes, animals, etc.? if you arent on the persons private property, what are the guidelines to follow? can i get out of my vehicle and stay off property lines? is it safe (using basic common sense in judgement) to go up to places & persons and request permission? i wouldnt want to get in trouble, but have a hard time passing up on good photo opps... whats your opinions or habits?

[AcadieLibre]

If your on public property if you can see it you can photograph it. Unless it is some secure place such as a prison or sensitive military area, etc., then you just get a really good telephoto lol, just kidding not like I would do something like that :D . Also realize it is one thing to photo structures you can see, if it is a person on Private property and they are somewhere they should expect privacy it is not a good idea to photograph them, stick with structures and you should be good.

[tegan]

ok, so i have a question that runs along these lines... you mentioned taking pics on public places such as a mall - what are the thoughts/rules on taking pictures while on the roadside or ditch of barns, landscapes, animals, etc.? if you arent on the persons private property, what are the guidelines to follow? can i get out of my vehicle and stay off property lines? is it safe (using basic common sense in judgement) to go up to places & persons and request permission? i wouldnt want to get in trouble, but have a hard time passing up on good photo opps... whats your opinions or habits?

You can take photos of barns, landscapes, animals etc from public property and in some cases even from private property, if you have not climbed a fence to do it.

As to asking permission, I remember being on a street and ending up having to pass a homeless person. She pulled a knife and threatened me. Bottom line is that asking permission could lead to unexpected dangers, particularly if someone has had a few, or is mentally unbalanced.

Tegan