Can i photograph private property

Greendrake Greendrake I'm imagining the person taking photographs using a drone, are you contemplating a different scenario?

Drones would be a whole different story perhaps, especially if they fly over private property? Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. There are a few exceptions Some military installations Some installations operated by the department of energy e.

You can photograph a couple kissing at a bus stop, you probably can't legally point a telephoto lens at their bedroom window through a broken privacy-fence. See The Photographer's Right. Improve this answer. So for your scenarios as given: Yes you can ignore them. Well, but sometimes you aren't on the property and they ask you to stop. It happens. Sometimes they hope you're just that stupid about the law that you agree to their requests. Nothing in the play book says law enforcement cannot lie to you.

Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. Law Stack Exchange is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized advice from a qualified legal practitioner. Communications on Law Stack Exchange are not privileged communications and do not create an attorney-client relationship.

Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Linked 9. Related 9. Hot Network Questions. Question feed. Law Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled. If you do not obey the direction you can be charged with an offence and a court will decide whether the direction was lawful.

If you have doubts as to whether the direction is lawful, a course of action that is open to you follow the direction given by the police and then later make a complaint, using the police complaints procedure or to the independent complaints authority often the Ombudsman office , that the direction was unlawful and should not have been given to you. Setting up a tripod on a busy street and thereby impeding traffic is an example of an action that may amount to public obstruction.

The Summary Offences Act NSW provides that it is an offence to prevent in any manner the free passage of a person, vehicle or vessel in a public place without reasonable excuse. Police have powers to arrest any person obstructing a public thoroughfare, although it is more likely that you would be asked to move on, and only arrested if you disobey.

Photography of landmarks, buildings, monuments There are provisions in the Copyright Act Cth that allow people to take and publish photographs of buildings, models of buildings, sculptures and other works of artistic craftsmanship without infringing copyright. See below for more detail. However, photography is restricted in some areas by local councils or authorities. This applies to any part of the foreshore area that is vested in or managed by the Authority and the public can use, including Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, the Rocks and Luna Park.

Non-compliance can result in a fine. A person who causes annoyance or inconvenience to other persons in a public area must leave the area when requested by a ranger or a police officer, who may remove the person with reasonable force if they fail to do so.

Provided the ranger has warned you that failure to comply with the request is an offence, you can face a fine. Except with the permission of the Opera House Trust, the taking of photographs or video recording for commercial purposes is prohibited in the Opera House or on the forecourt and other public areas around the Opera House. The regulation of photos is primarily directed to commercial photography and disruptive photographic activities.

Similar provisions and penalties exist for Sydney Olympic Park, prohibiting the use for commercial purposes of a camera and causing annoyance or inconvenience to other persons Sydney Olympic Park Regulation Furthermore, an authorised person may confiscate a camera used in contravention of the Regulation if he or she has directed you to stop using it and you continue nonetheless, although force cannot be used.

If your camera is confiscated, you should be issued a receipt indicating the date and time when it was taken. It must be returned to you or delivered to a public pound within 24 hours after confiscation.

If delivered to a public pound, you must be notified in writing of the address. For more details, contact the Sydney Olympic Park. Other penalties and provisions may exist for other areas in other states and territories. The legal power of a Local Authority to regulate photography in streets, parks and beaches can be derived from the Local Government Act of each state and territory; however the treatment of photography is not consistent across each state or territory or between local councils.

You should check with your local council as to whether there are any council ordinances regulating photography in streets and other public places. Where councils do regulate street photography it is usually limited to high impact photography — that involving blocking streets, occupying parking for long periods or constructing a set for still or video photography. For example, you need a permit to commercially photograph any outdoor, publicly-owned space in Waverley Council NSW , including beaches, parks, streets and cemeteries.

The website of the state or territory film and television organisation should be consulted for relevant information regarding film projects working in areas under the control of a local council. Commonwealth government property It is illegal to enter certain property belonging to the government such as railway yards, electrical power stations and military bases.

Trespassing in these areas may lead to arrest and prosecution. For example, under the Defence Special Undertakings Act Cth it is an offence to gain unlawful entry into a "prohibited area" including flying over it , punishable by imprisonment. The Minister can declare any area of land or water "prohibited" if it is necessary for Commonwealth defence.

The same applies for taking a photograph of the area or anything in it. Merely possessing a camera while in a "prohibited area" can also result in imprisonment. It is also illegal to photograph any defence installation in Australia under the Defence Act Cth. Your photos, camera and film can be confiscated and destroyed, and you can face potential fines or imprisonment. You can even be arrested without a warrant. If you are in doubt about a particular location, always check. There have been decisions of courts that have held photographs to be confidential information, such as the surreptitiously obtained photograph of a scene intended to remain confidential until published as the cover of Oasis CD; the wedding photographs of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; and numerous cases related to intimate photographs being published by ex-partners.

See the Arts Law information sheet, Protecting your ideas for a discussion of when a duty to keep information confidential may exist. The defamatory nature of a publication of a photograph may result from the caption which may not be the responsibility of the photography; or the context in which the photograph appears; or the subject matter and how viewers could interpret the photograph.

For example, Andrew Ettinghausen, a well-known rugby league player, mounted a successful defamation case against HQ Magazine when it published a photograph of him in the nude without his permission. The court found that the photograph led him to be ridiculed because it showed his genitals to readers of a magazine with widespread readership.

The court accepted that the publication lowered the public's estimation of Etttinghausen by implying he had authorised the taking and publication of the photograph. So if you have taken a photo of someone on the street for an advertising campaign and it appears that the person is endorsing the product or service when in fact they do not , you may be liable.

While there are no general publicity or personality rights in Australia, a person may have a claim that the use of their photo in a commercial context is a misrepresentation as to their endorsement of the product or service; or a breach of the tort of passing off or misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.

For a more detailed discussion, see the Arts Law information sheets, Unauthorised use of your image and Australian Consumer Law and Creators. Photographs relating to Court proceedings Photography in courts is restricted. The law of contempt of court also generally prohibits the publishing of any material, written or photographic, that is likely to prejudice the course of justice in a matter which is still before the courts.

For example, in Attorney-General for the State of NSW v X the Sydney Morning Herald published an expose on organised crime, claiming that Mr Duong was "the top heroin distributor" and mentioned pending criminal charges against him. The Court of Appeal held that the article amounted to contempt of court because it implied Mr Duong was guilty. Here are a few tips for proactive copyright protection for photographers:.

If you find your work being used in an unauthorized way, you need to request its removal as quickly as possible. Be polite and professional. Send a cease and desist email or letter. Usually, most people who re-use an image they found online are innocent infringers.

But if they're using the image to sell t-shirts or mugs? That's not innocent and you should at a minimum, consult an attorney for guidance on next steps to follow. If you're a beauty and fashion photographer, you'll need contracts with talent, including models or others working on the shoot.

If you're shooting weddings, anniversaries, and bar mitzvahs, your contract can help you spell out your relationship with your clients. You can avoid misunderstandings and build strong relationships using a clearly-written contract. Photo ownership laws indicate that the person who takes a photo owns it, not the subject of the photo. If you're selling your photographs to publications, whether online or print, you must learn which contracts are good for your business, and which ones you should amend or even decline.

Money is important, but your rights to your work should also carry weight when you're evaluating contracts with publishers. You can locate sample contracts and templates through trade organizations like the Professional Photographers of America. Photo release forms are simple contracts between you, the photographer, and photo subjects. There are no specific photography release laws, but the subject signing the release form gives you permission to reprint or use their image.

Even if you're not publishing your photos for money, it's wise to get signed release forms from all the people in your photos. In the U. The laws regarding filming in public protect your ability to do it in a public place.

Filming laws don't protect your ability to make money from someone's recognizable image without their permission in the form of a signed release. Photography law is clear: you can't use someone's image without permission to sell something. If you've heard about a law about posting pictures online without permission, the law refers to commercial use. If you're using an image to market your own photography business, it is commercial use even though you're not being paid directly for the image. If you sell an image for an advertisement, it counts as commercial use.

What if you're paid for a photo by a newspaper or magazine? If it's newsworthy, filming laws specify that it qualifies as non-commercial. Non-commercial use refers to newsworthy images, artistic images, or images used for personal or educational purposes.

Are there filming laws against taking photos without permission? You can take any photo in a public place because there's no expectation of privacy in public, but if you're taking pictures in a private place, you're not entitled to use the photos commercially without permission.