Comments on: What are Your Rights as a Videographer or Photographer?

By: Derald Freeman

Derald Freeman — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:50:29 +0000

We are talking about friendship, logic, and legal responsibility.

1) Friendship: You are shooting videos and photos with your phone. If other people are doing likewise the host should get all of you to the side and tell you not to post these on the Web unless she says it’s okay. If she doesn’t, she shouldn’t t complain later.

Are these your friends? Do you want to keep them as your friends? Think twice, and be considerate.

2) Logic: People can be sensitive about posted images and videos if they think their actions are not complimentary. You might enjoy seeing yourself on the Web, but if you had some gestures that you never thought about among friends, you might not like it where hundreds of people could view and review the same thing repeatedly and make jokes about it.

If you put them on Facebook or YouTube set permissions as private. Send emails to your friends inviting them to view the videos and photos, but no one else except the party people can view them. Don’t make them public.

3) Legal responsibility: For commercial use, you have to watch out for copyrights and registered trademarks. If you are not sure, don’t. If you are shooting a video of the front of a mall and a security guard comes out and tells you to stop, then stop. Even if you have three minutes of good video, dump it. You don’t have the right to use the video you shot before told to stop.

For personal use, keep the three minutes of good video and just move on. Don’t argue about it. It’s not worth it. There are many other scenic moments to capture.

When shooting pics of celebrities, no permission necessary. They got their publicity and wealth by being exposed to public and being on film. I know, “what’s film”.

By: Robert Kelleher

Robert Kelleher — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:30:31 +0000

Wow!!! Amazing the misinformation here. Please note I did not see the video in question, but I can provide some insight here for US laws. First, photography and videography are not the same. Video records audio as someone noted. The truth is that in most states ONE party to the conversation must give consent, in some states all parties must give consent to the recording. If you are videotaping (I know… what’s tape?), then it is very unlikely that you are a party capable of giving consent.

Now on to the photography and video… which is the same. As a photographer you have the right to all material. Ask yourself some questions. “Was there a reasonable expectation of privacy? Was it private party, or was it open to the public. Were you videotaping in plain view or were you being secretive?

Publishing: If you are publishing in a blog it is very much like any other news outlet. If you intend to use it for commercial purposes that’s when model releases, and/or property releases come into play, since they are entitled to compensation.

Generally if someone says please don’t take/print/publish.. my picture, it is better for all of us photographers, videographers, journalists, artists, etc. that you oblige. Unless there is some very real pressing social issue that needs an expose.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:53:55 +0000

A couple of years ago, I started a thread, called:
“My rebuttal to Lisa’s story”.

I attended a boxing match, and a hockey game broke out!

This thread later degenerated into into a childish debate over “Who has rights?”, but it’s a good thread.

I want you to know, that, as a fellow photographer, I am behind you 100%. You go, girl!

http://forums.techguy.org/civilized-debate/817649-solved-my-rebuttal-l isas-story.html

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 04:17:06 +0000

This was a great article I always wanted to know what was or was not legal to do when taking pictures.

By: Derald

Derald — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:36:02 +0000

I would get permission from the homeowner, but not everybody in the room. Here are my rules.
1st – photographs and videos should have the same rules.
2nd – if a property owner or representative tells you to stop filming the building or contents inside or filming from on the property, you must comply and stop immediately. It is their privilege. Everything filmed up to that point is yours unless they specifically say you cannot use it; then comply.
3rd – the owner of a property might give you permission to take photos only for personal use so it’s might be best to always have an informed consent.
4th – when money is involved from ads or being paid for your work, avoid signs, brand names, and trademarks if at all possible. If you film embarrassing moments of someone and make money from it you could be in trouble.
5th – if filming for a news story, shots of people and celebrities, even in undesirable moments, is simply news and is filmed all the time.
6th – if you were allowed to take the photos, and there were no restriction, they are yours, and so you can do what you want with them even selling them… so rules shouldn’t change when money is involved.
7th – and finally, if someone requests you to take down the photos/video, then comply if at all possible. Why have someone unhappy with you?

By: Chad Howsden

Chad Howsden — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:15:31 +0000

I know that video compared to photography is different in that with video you also record audio. In the U.S. it is illegal to audio record someone without their knowledge and consent. However, capturing someone’s image, whether still or in a video is perfectly legal per the terms mentioned in Krages’ article.

By: isabella mori

isabella mori — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:57:39 +0000

xen, i hear what you’re saying, and it accentuates what i said earlier – that we really don’t have any workable conventions yet for this new medium. interestingly enough, i’d venture to say that privacy, in the form that we use/enjoy it today, is just as artificial as the internet itself. our notion of privacy is based on the idea of hyperindividuality which, when you look at the history of humanity, is a pretty aberrant phenomenon. don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying that we should not protect or cherish our privacy. to the contrary, if we really value our privacy, i suggest we have to take individual responsibility for it and be circumspect in situations where a breach can be expected to occur. and in a party like that – well, it was certainly to be expected!

By: xen

xen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:59:03 +0000

I’ve just read most of the comments and I can honestly and sadly say that the only sensible comment out found here was the one from Brooks.

What has happened to privacy? Is that not respected any more? I really hope that the majority of you understand that what is put online will be accessible for the whole world and what gets online can certain times be hard to remove as sometimes people makes copies of it (if we are going to take it a bit far).

Why is so many of you (at least this is what it seems like) against people having privacy? Just because you managed to work out how to use a camera and post it online doesn’t mean my privacy should suffer. Just because you want to share your life with the whole world doesn’t mean everyone else wants to.

Soon if we don’t start respecting people privacy and people start claiming it back, privacy will sadly be a luxury.

By: Pinoy Blurker » links for 2008-06-21

Pinoy Blurker » links for 2008-06-21 — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:38:27 +0000

[...] MostlyLisa.com: Lisa Bettany. Canada’s Sexy Geek Blog » Blog Archive » What are Your Rights as a… [...]

By: In The Sphere: A Boiling Hot Waterfall | BlueFur.com

In The Sphere: A Boiling Hot Waterfall | BlueFur.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:09:34 +0000

[...] worth a thousand words and videos can be worth so much more. Unfortunately, you could run into some legal ramifications as a video blogger like the recent headache that Mostly Lisa had to endure. What are your rights? [...]