On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 11:22 PM, P. J. Alling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Part of todays adventure. A low budget movie is shooting in my home > town blocking traffic on half of main street. I was walking along > minding my own business, but actually armed with my trust *ist-Ds and a > collection of appropriate lenses), when I decided I'd take a couple of > pictures to commemorate the event, (and maybe make a couple of bucks > selling the images to one of the local fish wraps), when I this scruffy > individual rushes at me from the "company" and confronts me to tell me > that I can't take any photos for, and I quote "legal reasons". When I > asked him what I was doing wrong, he was a a loss except to explain, > except to repeat his original statement. When I pointed out that the > "set" was on a public road and within full view of the public, with no > expectation of privacy, and that I was allowed to take photographs of > anything I wished under those circumstances, his new tack was to claim > that I couldn't use them for anything. I then pointed out that under > fair use I could use them for non-commercial purposes which included > selling them and my story to a newspaper, or printing them large and > selling them as art. Which left him gasping for breath, (sort of like a > large trout), at which point he went back to his original argument. I > also found it interesting that they had posted a sign that stated in > part the, "... passing beyond this point, indicates your assent to being > in the movie...", which is patently false... Where do they find these > people, and what idiot is giving them legal advice? He managed to make > me furious as well. I'm thinking of going back tomorrow just to piss > them off. > > Lousy photographs to follow. > > -- > You get further with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone. > --Al Capone.
Last time something like that happened to me I was on a subway platform with camera poised - aimed at an incoming train, not at people. A security guard approached me and told me that taking photographs was prohibited by TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) regulation 16. I rather took him by surprise when I replied that I was aware that regulation 16B prohibited the taking of photographs "for commercial purposes" without express written permission of the TTC. (the regulations, which have been incorporated into a City Bylaw are posted near a door on each subway car - and I'd read 'em!) I patiently told him that I'd never sold a photo taken in the subway system and didn't intend to sell what I was taking that day, so in fact I had the right to shoot. He said it made passengers feel uncomfortable to see a guy with a camera and asked again nicely if I could stop shooting. Deciding that (a) he was being nice about it, and (b) he had a gun and I didn't, and (c) in fact I was on private property (okay, it was quasi-public, but that's another discussion for another day) and he could in fact hand me a Notice under the Trespass Act and boot me off the premises for no good reason whatsoever, I chose to save my fight for another day. I smiled and said, "Okay, look, I'm putting my lenscap on and turning off the camera. I certainly don't want to offend anyone or make them feel uncomfortable. Thanks!" And that was that. So that's my story. I like your stoy, though. I'll join the swelling chorus and suggest you take a photo-walk again, in the same area, tomorrow. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
