As I’m sure many of you know, the MET police recently began an advertising campaign that seems to target photographers. There has been significant push back on the campaign — which is great — with even a labour MP proposing (via here) a motion to support photographers. There have also been quite a few incidents in the news of photographers being harassed for simply taking pictures.
Examples:
UK Police seize amateur photographer’s film
UK mall bans grandparents for trying to photo their grandkids
A lot of people are probably wondering what your rights are if confronted by an individual for taking pictures, therefore I thought I would be useful to post some links to various sites that have talked about the issue.
In the UK, there is an excellent resource on UK Photographers Rights (including a useful PDF download) at Simon Moran’s site. There is also a handy pocket guide that you can laminate and carry in your wallet (created by Chris Shepherd):
Travelling? Don’t worry I’ve got you covered! US Photography Rights (also has a PDF download), Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
If you have any other country guides, post them in the comments section below.
I have blogged on exactly the same issue today, following an unsavoury incident when I too was detained in a police car simply for taking photographs.
I trust that all photographers will do something to back Mr. Mitchell’s campaign
See this film ‘Freedom to Film’, http://www.worldbytes.org/programmes/013/013_003.html, for more on photographers’ and cinematographers’ rights in the UK