Confronted today and questions regarding...

[casil403]

LOL! that is the building! Iggy you crack me up!

[casil403]

Oddly enough now that I think about it there is something to be said about those Critical Mass Cyclists and all the awereness they have raised to make cities more bike friendly... Critical Mass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maybe we should have a Photography Mass once a month coast to coast country to county where photographers and like minded people gather in one place in every city/town and pick public places to shoot openly en mass.
Not a bad idea to bring media awareness to the cause of what our rights are as and how we are having them taken away or bullied. Strength in numbers right?
Any thoughts on the idea?
I know a great building we can do our very first civil disobedience shoot at....

[Iguanasan]

Cool idea... I like the idea of the t-shirt / image "Photography is Not a Crime". A little less confrontational but still makes a statement.

[casil403]

Cool idea... I like the idea of the t-shirt / image "Photography is Not a Crime". A little less confrontational but still makes a statement.

I like it too...I would wear it to the photo mass!
Oddly enough there is a guy whose website is just about that very slogan....
Photography Is Not A Crime

[Grant]

A while back I attended a course on photography and the law. Each province is slightly different but most restrictions are about photographing people.

When it comes to inside buildings if there is no restricted sign then photograph away until someone challenges you once challenged then stop. If you continue shooting after challenged they can charge you with trespassing. You do not have to surrender the images you took before being challenged. The outside of buildings is fair game, shoot away, unless you are on their property and the same rules apply as inside the building. If challenged move off the property and keep on shooting if you want to.

Often people involved will try to intimidate you but it should be noted that trespassing under most cases is not a criminal offense but is a civil matter and the owner of the property has to take you to court. If it is private property and it is not posted once you are told it is private you must leave because from that point on you are trespassing. The one exception, In Nova Scotia, trespassing after dark is a criminal offense and you don’t have to be warned ahead of time, I believe it is to prevent voyeurism.

All this being said I would not push my luck in photographing sensitive installations.

Shooting people is much a different matter and is different from province to province. For example in Nova Scotia you can photograph anyone in public with only a few restrictions while in Quebec you have to have permission to photograph anyone. If memory serves me BC, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland have more restrictive rulings than the rest of Canada with Quebec the most restrictive and favouring individual privacy the most.

[Foots]

Your photos are way better than google's.

[Greg_Nuspel]

I've tried to get the photo club to get in someone to talk about photographers rights, but they haven't found anyone willing to provide 'legal advice'. Maybe we could get a shirt that has the rights printed on it, so if someone comes up to you tell them to read the fine print.

[casil403]

OOOh That is good...I can see it..."photography is not a crime" on the front with logo and the rights on the back....preferably near the bottom so you can tell them to "Read my ass!" kidding.... but really not a bad idea.

LOL.....and thanks Foots!

[casil403]

So again...here I am walking downtown to pick up my matte for the auction for Picture the Cure, camera in hand in case I spot a potential shot as I always do. I am heading down the public sidewalk on 9th ave and 2nd street shooting up at a building making sure to stay on the public sidewalk when rinse repeat...a security geek comes out saying this was private property yada yada yada ...no photos etc....you know the drill.

I just looked at her and said "I am standing on public property and I am not doing anything wrong. She starts in and says I am on private property and I correct her and state that the "public sidewalk is indeed public property where I am standing so I am not doing anything wrong"... .she turns and walks away saying nothing (realizing that I am not going to back down) waving her hand in disgust as she leaves....I took a couple more shots for spite from the public sidewalk and moved on.

Score one for me today.

[Iguanasan]