photographer's rights

I have heard a few stories in response to the "photographer's rights" post -- so I wanted to share some resources for dealing with being harassed. Remember, it is OK for security, police, etc. to ask you what you are doing, we want people to be aware and question people. But you do have the right to photograph, so smile and explain yourself, but you should know your rights.

(1)
http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf

The Photographer’s Right. A Downloadable Flyer Explaining Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography

"The Photographer’s Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the Bust Card and the Know Your Rights pamphlet that used to be available on the ACLU website. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them in your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others, provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author."

Download The Photographer’s Right in PDF format

"As the flyer states, there are not very many legal restrictions on what can be photographed when in public view. Most attempts at restricting photography are done by lower-level security and law enforcement officials acting way beyond their authority. Note that neither the Patriot Act nor the Homeland Security Act have any provisions that restrict photography. Similarly, some businesses have a history of abusing the rights of photographers under the guise of protecting their trade secrets. These claims are almost always meritless because entities are required to keep trade secrets from public view if they want to protect them. "

Bert Krages is an attorney who concentrates on intellectual property and environmental law. He is recognized nationally as an advocate of the right to take photographs in public places, having appeared in media such as National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Popular Photography, Shutterbug, and Wired.

(2) ACLU

http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers

This is a great  resource -- worth reading!!

Know Your Rights: Photographers

Know Your Rights: Photographers

"Taking photographs of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is a constitutional right – and that includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties. Unfortunately, there is a widespread, continuing pattern of law enforcement officers ordering people to stop taking photographs from public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply. "
Learn more »

Your rights as a photographer...
http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers


The ACLU does not believe that restrictions on photography in the public areas of publicly operated airports are constitutional.
If you think your rights have been violated at an airport, let us know >>

(3) Free App


There is an iPhone app called "Photographers Rights" --> carry it to know your rights (in different countries).

"The app explains what can be and can not be done, what is legal and illegal. What are your rights, how should we behave in case to be approached by an police officer and so forth. It also provides common questions in French, Japanese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian that can be played using the iPhone speaker. So a photographer that doesn't understand the language of a specific country, can still ask common questions using the iPhone."

It's available in the iTunes Store, search for Photographers Rights, free


(4) card for your wallet --> http://www.billadler.net/Photographer's_Legal_Rights_Card.pdf