Rights as a Photographer

[AcadieLibre]

This is a topic you may also consider for a podcast. I was at a Park in Toronto Friday morning, was hoping for a nice sunrise but ended up an overcast day but made the best of it, but anyway going off topic again lol. I was walking around the area taking photos of an abandoned silo at the Park. A few minutes go by and someone from the Toronto Works department walks over and asks why I am taking photos of the building, I say because I want to. The next words out of his mouth made me laugh, "You need a Permit to take photos of Municipal Buildings". My comment was can you please tell me which law and where I might find a copy to verify this claim ( I KNOW no such law exists). At that point he was dumbfounded and I look at him smiled and went on taking my photos.

The problem is although I know my rights most new photographers don't and maybe more seasoned ones either. This is not the Only instance of one of those encounters. At this point really enjoy doing Architectural and industrial photographs and it was bound to be an issue. It just bothers me that these people go around making claims about laws that really don't exist and if you don't know any better they could really convince you such laws do exist. This is the best I have found on the Internet as pertaining to your rights as photographer in Canada. http://ambientlight.ca/laws.shtml . When taking photos know your rights and don't allow others to tell you about nonsensical laws that don't exist.

[tegan]

The only mistake I saw there was related to employment and the copyright of a photograph.

The employer owns the copyright of a photo taken by an employee, ONLY if the employee was hired or part of his employment role is to take pictures.

So, a teacher, executive, or sales type, for example, who is asked to take photos at some event owns the copyright to their photos because their terms of employment do not relate to taking pictures. The only exception is that if an employee who is not hired as a photographer is paid extra beyond regular salary to take particular photos.

This is logical and there was a court case which unfortunately I don't remember dates etc. but a travelling salesman took top newsworthy photos of an incident that he encountered during his travels. His employer tried to claim the rights to his photos, but the travelling salesman won.

Tegan

[AcadieLibre]

I would suggest using it only as a guide and not case law. Why this statement in the first part of the page.

"Note that this is not legal advice, and I am not a lawyer, this is simply my interpretation of the laws surrounding photography."

Just any one doing photography should have some idea of their rights.

[tegan]

The quote from the Windsor Police Superintendent was very good and quite accurate although the issue of shooting on private property is more complex than indicated.

Tegan