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