Photographic Rights

There have been a lot of people with articles about photographers rights and I was wondering if anyone has a

small booklet, flier that clearly defines the rights of a photographer that can be shown to a security guard/

policeman, rather than having a fight. If you had a paper that stated your rights, you would be far less likely

to be harassed into leaving a museum, park etc.

 

Has anyone made such a document, or have one that they found elsewhere. I would appreciate keeping that in my bag

and I know many others would too.

 

Thanks, Galen

Here's a link to a lawyers site with a PDF file for photographers rights that you can download and print.

 

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

You're making the assumption that the guard/police officer has the slightest interest in what you have printed on a piece of paper. The police, in general, probably don't take kindly to someone trying to point out that they don't know the law. You'll probably get arrested for "arguing with a police officer" or some such statute!

 

The guide is very useful for informing you what your rights are, but I have my doubts about its effectiveness when confronted by the police or other government agents citing undefined "homeland security" concerns.

Far better, Galen, if you know you'll be working in a given jurisdiction, to make a phone call to the public affairs offices for the state/county/municipal law enforcement agencies that work thereabouts. So, when that county cop says, "Excuse me, but a store owner is complaining that you're photographing on the sidewalk in front of his business..." you can say, "Well, I certainly don't want to bother anyone. Just so I could be crystal clear, I actually made a call last Tuesday to your department's public affairs office on this very subject. Sgt. Smithers told me [whatever Sgt. Smithers said]."

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That sort of connectedness is worth a hundred pages of on-hand documentation.

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Private property (with security guards) is an entirely different matter, since that's all about what the property owner has to say about photography on/of that property.

Sometimes another effective tactic if you feel unduly harrassed is to ask for a supervising officer. if you are on private property of course, the property owner's rules and rights prevail.

Keep in mind that the officer/officers (in the US) would not be the the judge/jury. They don't make the final decision

as to the facts or the law in a situation. You could be right (or wrong) in your postion and be cited or arrested if they

have probable cause/reasonable belief that a crime has been committed. Arguing with a police officer isn't a crime.

There are civil and criminal liabilities for the officers and their agencies and cities (etc.) if they abuse their positions.

There are formal complaint processes and legal action can be taken if appropriate. It doesn't all get resolved on the

sidewalk or the street corner. Or in internet forums.