Copyright and Privacy issues with Photography

Answer the following questions

1. No part of the Copyright Act prohibits any kind photography. Copyright only applies to the published duplication of original works, such as?books, paintings, dramatic works, prints, drawings, motion pictures, DVDs, audio recordings and so on.



2. Just because "unauthorised" photography has not been generally prohibited, it does not mean it's a free-for-all. Far from it! Which laws still may prohibit the photographing of people in public with in NSW Australia?In NSW anti- voyeurism, defamation and obscenity laws still apply, as do common law doctrines of Nuisance, Trespass, or statutory prohibitions arising out of the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act.



3. If you are on private property can the owner stop you from taking photos?Every time you enter private land, you do so with the common law understanding that you consent to any requirements the property's owner may impose upon you. So if a property's owner (or their agent) tells you to cease taking photographs, for whatever reason, then even if the area is freely accessible to the public, there is nothing you can do about it. A property's owner has full power of veto over what happens on their land.




4. Are malls, market places e considered public spaces? Can you take photos in them without permission?They may be areas freely open to the public and justifiably regarded as the village square or commons of our time, but they are all private land, and so come under the control and regulation of their owners. Which means they can prohibit almost anything they like (including photography) on their land and there is nothing you can do about it.
Once you leave the property however, there is no restriction on taking photographs from outside. They may be able to restrict you while the photos are being taken, but they cannot do anything once the images have been captured (unless of course the photos are defamatory or infringe trademarks, trade secrets etc).

 5. Can you take a photo at a train station?Yes you can, it is not an offence to take a photograph on a train or at a station as they are a public space on public land.



6. Can you take a photo of the Sydney harbour bridge?Technically yes, you can, casual hand held photography for no commercial purpose has no laws or regulations against it, however the use [of] any audio, loudspeaker or broadcasting equipment or camera (whether photographic, cinematic or video), for a commercial purpose, […] is prohibited




7. Can a police officer stop you from taking photographs? an unwilling photo subject may only ask you to stop taking photographs, that is all. No touching, pushing, shoving or grabbing, even police officers must institute legal proceedings (ie. detain or arrest you) if they wish to seize your camera, film or digital files.



8. Is consent a requirement to take a photo in this country?Aside from commerical use or voyeurism issues, consent for photography is not required in this country. It is purely a question of etiquette and taste



9. Can you make commercial use of a person’s likeness with out there consent?you need a signed release for commercial use, but for non-commercial images — nothing.



10. Is an art exhibition considered commercial use?If an art exhibition sells prints or posters or postcards. Non-Commercial — they are not selling anything other than the photo itself. (However it will become a commercial use if the posters are used to entice people to visit the show.)



11. Can you take photos of private land or buildings without a property release form?
Property Releases are not required in Australia to photograph buildings or private land, however issues such as trespassing may arise if you enter onto the private property or land



12. Can straight photography be classed as defamation of character?No it cannot be, as long as the portrayal's are true and real then no defamation can be claimed. Provided you stay clear of re-enactments, digital mayhem or unflattering captions, then it will be extremely difficult to construe unmanipulated photography as defamatory anymore.



13. If you are paid to take a photograph by a third party in public do you own the copyright those shots?
copyright is owned by your employer if the image was taken as part of your job.



14. If you are paid to take photographs of a private birthday party or wedding, do you own the copy right to those shots?
if the photograph was commissioned (by agreement and for money) for a "private or domestic purpose" — such as a family portrait or wedding or birthday party — then the client owns copyright, unless there is agreement to the contrary.



15. After reading NSW Photo Rights Australian street photography legal issues by Andrew Nemeth BSc (Hons) LLB MTeach do you think you could legally take a photo of a person in a public place without their consent and then go on to sell that photo at an art exhibition? What are your thoughts? What would you do?
After reading all the information in regards to photogrpahy laws within Australia, i think that the situation you were in would depend on the actions you took.
If you were to sell the image and make a profit for the image in a public exhibition, i think morally the right thig to do would be to ask consent from the person you were photographing as a common courtesy . Imagine if the person you photographed was to go and see the exhibition only to find a blown up image of themself on the wall for whihc they did not cosent to nor had any prior knowledge of! that situation could get messy.