The rail enthusiast community here in Sydney has a LOT of trouble with uppity security guards and Transit Cops (some of whom don’t know the law themselves). Many railfans have been asked for their film or even their cameras. I don’t look like a typical anorak-wearing “trainspotter”, so I’ve never been hassled, but a lot of guys have. They have actually taken to carrying with them a printed copy of NSW Parliament Hansard (transcript of proceedings) of the parliamentary sitting day when this was discussed and it was reiterated that photography on railway property is legal.
A woman wrote in to the Sydney Morning Herald saying that she was on a public footpath looking at a striking new skyscraper when a security guard came out of it and moved her along:
“Thank you madam., You’ll have to move on.”
“Wha…? I’m not even taking photos. I’m just admiring the building.”
Are you certain of that? I seem to recall seeing pictures taken of celebrites standing near windows in their homes or in their back yards that were taken with telephoto lenses.
I thought that anything visable from the street was fair game. If you’re dumb enough to strip in front of an open window and someone takes a picture, you don’t have grounds to sue. Or am I mis-remembering?
I know that laws concerning libel and slander are different for celebrities than they are for normal people (celebrities have far fewer avenues for seeking recompensation for that), but I’m not sure how it works for invasions of privacy. It might just be that someone who sells a picture of Britney Spears or whoever while half-naked, you make far more from the sales of the picture than you end up paying in lawsuits.
In any case, if you DO stand in the street taking pictures of a girl dressing in her room, you have to accept the fact that you very well may find youself being beaten half to death by an angry broom-weilding mother.
I work in prisons. In New York, you have the legal right to take pictures of any part of a prison but only from public places like the road. It’s illegal to take any pictures while on prison property without prior approval.
Incidentally, it’s also illegal to take a picture of a prisoner without his permission (except for official business). I ran into this policy once when we had a newspaper reporter get permission to come in and see a new industry shop we had opened. She had received authorization to bring a photographer as well. But of the dozens of prisoners who worked in the shop, only one agreed to let himself be photographed. So they walked around the shop with the one prisoner demonstrating the various equipment, in many cases with guards standing near him, while all the rest of the prisoners huddled out of camera range. Anyone seeing the pictures would have gotten the impression that this good sized factory was being operated solely by one overworked priosner who was under constant surveillance by a team of guards.
Slightly off topic but still relevant (I think) was a recent experience of mine.
A week ago I hit a jackpot on a slot machine at a boat casino near Chicago. While waiting for the staff to sort me out with my winnings my girlfriend tries to snap a picture with her cell phone of me in front of the machine with the jackpot showing. The staff standing there told us no good…photos were not permitted although they’d be happy to send someone around to snap a polaroid of me if I liked.
Not wanting to jeopardize my winnings by pissing off the casino needlessly I shrugged and let it be. I did however ask the security guard standing there why it was really a problem and he shrugged saying as far as he was concerned he saw no problem but it was casino policy.
Granted I was on their property and their rules apply but seriously WTF? It was a slot machine, I won, a single photo of me seemed rather harmless but I guess they have their reasons.
Maybe there is a risk of the other guests being photographed, and then perhaps their picture showing up in the paper when they try to run for the Senate in a conservative southern state?
Good point!
I was aware of what you just said when I made my post. My comment was mostly for color, although I would submit that in a world where the innocent are sometimes put to death for the crimes of others, I would prefer not to be questioned in regards to any felony matters.
What makes one a celebrity, after all? Is “The Star Wars Kid” a celebrity, even though it was against his will? If I were to get some hilarious photos of Raguleader by shooting through the openings in his venetian blinds and make him a celebrity before he tries to sue me, would I likely be in the clear?
Okay, on a more practical level, I guess we’d consider POTUS a celebrity, and probably senators, too. What about state senators? County commissioner? School board member? PTA chairman? How about Old Bob who owns the corner store? Everyone in Hickstown knows him; he’s the richest guy on the block. Where does celebrity start?
Statistically, a slot machine is only supposed to pay out every so often. An enterprising gambler could track which machines beat the curve, how often and for how much money, and focus on playing the machines the frequent jackpot hitters. Casinos, understandably, don’t want this information in anybody’s hands but their own.
I don’t have a cite, but when I was working for a newspaper in South Carolina, we ran a lot of stories on the state’s slot machines (it was legal to have them because of a loophole in the law, which a lot of people were trying to close).
It was there that I learned that the machines had a calibration knob that set how often it could potentially pay off.
I understand that in Vegas, the worst slots to play are in the airport and in your hotel room.
