p.2 #1 · War photographer on finding peace and healing in Paris
pmeheut wrote:
As far as I know (and I'm french, lives in France, shoot picture in the street and checked), in France, you can take any picture you want, this is legal.
But when you publish it, then you must respect the right of the person to privacy. It means that if someone is in a crowd and not the main subject, it's ok.
If not, then it depends: you can be sued but you may also win. Years ago, the photographer of a book of candids shot in the subway was relaxed: the court found that no harm was done, the people were not shown in a bad light (pun intended), etc.
Even the "you can shoot without permission" is not absolute: in one case, a famous actor lost but the court said that you can object to your picture being taken. And this is in line with the European law.
Of course, if you are shooting an event as a journalist to inform the public, then you are exempt from these restrictions. But I remember some debate and maybe a complaint about pictures of terrorism victims arguing that their images were a blow to their dignity.
In the end, it comes to "it's complicated" and "if you want to publish, it is better to get permission to do so" but "if you are not a paparazzi, the risk is low".
I for one find this ridiculous: we should be allowed to shoot and publish and people should be allowed to sue if they can demonstrate some real damage done to their life.
The photojournalist sued over those terrorism victims was a friend and former classmate of mine.
I just know that when I tried to take a picture of the crowd watching the Mona Lisa, the museum guard told me I couldnt unless I asked permission of everyone.
I agree wholeheartedly that its all nonsense. Here in Austria you can shoot whomever you want in public, but youre not allowed to publish identifiable images. Even the newspapers adhere to that rule.
p.2 #2 · War photographer on finding peace and healing in Paris
johnvanr wrote:
I just know that when I tried to take a picture of the crowd watching the Mona Lisa, the museum guard told me I couldnt unless I asked permission of everyone.
On the other hand, what are the chances that a museum guard knows the case law especially when it is unclear and changes over the years?
Same thing happened to me: cops telling me I could not shoot them. Because I behave like an asshole in such cases (or an american lawyer), I was kind of detained for 2 hours asking them to show me the law prohibiting me to shoot pictures of cops in duty.
They were not happy nor was my wife because of a wasted afternoon.
But back to you, I do not know when it happened but nowadays, everybody is shooting and filming everybody with their smartphone and "publishing it" in near real-time.
So what the guard said is obviously as stupid as the current french laws.
p.2 #7 · War photographer on finding peace and healing in Paris
Europeans need to worry about much bigger problems at hand than people taking pictures. A few years ago this person in Germany came running to me from several 10s of meters away claiming I had taken his picture. This was in a park. I told him that I was taking pictures of the trees and asked him why did he deliberately come in my shot. After some back and forth he went away.
pmeheut wrote:
On the other hand, what are the chances that a museum guard knows the case law especially when it is unclear and changes over the years?
Same thing happened to me: cops telling me I could not shoot them. Because I behave like an asshole in such cases (or an american lawyer), I was kind of detained for 2 hours asking them to show me the law prohibiting me to shoot pictures of cops in duty.
They were not happy nor was my wife because of a wasted afternoon.
But back to you, I do not know when it happened but nowadays, everybody is shooting and filming everybody with their smartphone and "publishing it" in near real-time.
So what the guard said is obviously as stupid as the current french laws. ...Show more →
