Permission to Photograph?

[James Driscoll]

The only person who can prevent you from publishing (notice I said publishing...if you can view it from the street...it is legal to shoot it...after photgraphing two architecture books....the legal dept of the publishing house informed me of this....it is not heresy) a photograph of a building ....is the architect or his/her estate AND only if the building was built and designed in the last 75 years. Ownership of the building...does not give you the "veto" power. But it does give you the power to not allow the photographer to be on your property.

There is a law on the books.....yet as of this writing no law suit has been filed in the USA (similar laws exist in other parts of the world) that grants architects similar rights as photographers....copyright.

In fact....the way the law is written....the architect actually has the right to sue the owner of the building if the owner alters the design of the building without permission. This I would love to see in court....

I have gotten around "attitudes" in several ways....

If your on the street in a major city....get a tripod permit.

If you are on the street with your permit and a "rent a cop" still gives you problems....invite him/her to call the police....and let them explain to the police why they are calling them....usually this scares them....cops don't like "rent a cops" and imagine calling the police to tell them that somebody is standing on public property WITH a permit taking a photograph....if they do show up....it will an hour later and you will be finished.

The permit is a wonderful thing....nobody can stop you. I was shooting a job in NYC a few years ago...and the Secret Service tried to get me to stop.....because the president was a block away. After seeing the permit....they stood around for five minutes scratching their heads....and then left.

Another method....is to bring someone with you. Since almost nobody understands how a view camera works....you have your friend do the talking to Mr. Rubber Gun....while you finish your shot. Devious....but it works. Than you say "Sorry...we didn't know." and leave.

If the person isn't acting like an a-hole....be nice. I once took shot...and the guard told me to leave in the most amusing way. He asked if he could be my assistant. He asked....because he informed me that if he got caught letting me take the photo....he would be out of a job. I asked for 5 minutes....and he pretended to be telling me to leave....and let me get my shot.

Police have acted the same way....asked me to leave. I asked for 5 minutes to finish....and they said "we will take a twenty minute walk....if your still here when we get back....."

Just be nice.

[Donal Taylor]

Some extrcts from:

Circular 92 Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in T?tle 17 of the United States Code:

An “architectural work” is the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The work includes the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements in the design, but does not include individual standard features.³

§ 120 · Scope of exclusive rights in architectural works (a) Pictorial Representations Permitted.—The copyright in an architectural work that has been constructed does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of pictures, paintings, photographs, or other pictorial representations of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.

(For James): (b) Alterations to and Destruction of Buildings.—Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(2), the owners of a building embodying an architectural work may, without the consent of the author or copyright owner of the architectural work, make or authorize the making of alterations to such building, and destroy or authorize the destruction of such building.

[ronald moravec]

for Michael Alpert. Yes I was definately on their private property. This was all pre 9/11 though. I didn`t think anybody would mind as it was a beautiful fall day and all I was photographing was the center of the building , entrance way, and some flowers. I thought the place was deserted and it was except for some guards. If it was a work day, there would have been cars all over the place and the picture ruined.

[James Driscoll]

Mark...that is very interesting....now I have to dig out the article (I believe it was in PDN in 2000 or 2001) that was written in warning to photographers about the copyright of architectural work....it was in that article that I read the "alteration" clause.....

[Morey Kitzman]

On a recent trip to Naples, Italy I went to the Piscina Mirabilis near Bacoli, outside of Naples. This is a huge underground storage facility for water built by the ancient Romans. It looks like a large cathedral with vaults and shafts of light. Anyway I arrived to find some engineers in the process of doing some work. They mistook me for a colleague of the head engineer and allowed me to enter. Once I had my tripod set up and ready to shoot a nice shaft of light, the head engineer arrived and asked me what I was doing here. To make a long story short, you need permission from the government to photograph national monuments. I was a few seconds away from nice shot, but had to pack up and leave. I will return next year with a permit in hand.

[Andre Noble]

5 dreadlock goons tried to stop me from shooting a drum group with a 35mm sports lens this past weekend, despite that we were all out on the Venice beach in California. They tried to intimidate me physically into leaving with encircling me and posing with a tough "street" attitude. With a crazed look in my eye, I told them to "^%$^ off". Finally they left when I made the suggestion that I was legally carrying a concealed weapon in my Kinesis sports lens bag (it's large, black and looks very much like something the one of the toys the L.A.P.D. is equiped with). I know this is extreme, but as I told one of the , photography is my passion, not profession.

A few months ago a city supervisor in Bev. Hills tried to tell me that I wasn't allowed to photograph a city bldg. despite being on public property. My response was to leave, then I walked right to the Police department where I began a paper trail about the incident, and eventually wrote back to the Supervisor's supervisor. In two weeks, I got an official apology on city letterhead seen you can see here.

[ronald lamarsh]

To answer many questions yes i was on their property as there wasn't any public area that would provide a suitable image. I tried being nice and even begging but to the positive the PR people were very nice and responded to my e-mails promptly. If anyone is interested there is a rather stunning piece of architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright called wingspread at is ok to photograph as long as you show up with the tour group.

[Frank Petronio]

It helps to bring along a few postcards or samples of your work; to offer them a proof print or two; or to volunteer to photograph the people on sight.

[Don Miller]

I'm of the "ask forgiveness, not permission" school. If you are in a situation where you may be watched, don't set up the camera until necessay and don't point the camera at the subject until you are ready to go under the drop cloth.

I'll spotmeter the subject along with looking in other directions. I decide on my metering and framing and then the camera comes out. I set up the camera and lens pointing away from the subject. Typically a landowner or security gaurd won't start walking out to you until they're sure what your doing.

I'm not talking about photographing the Pentagon here. But I've grown tired of having discussions with landowners about my right to shoot a fence line and trees from public land.

It can also help to define to oneself what is ethical photography. For example, I will photograph someones barn as the main subject without permission, but not a home. I won't trespass. For me making these definitions allows to me to be relax when working and "stand up" when challenged.

Don

[Erik Sherman]

I suspect that part of the problem is not a capricious whim, but the potential of having an easily identified building, and the business that owns it, associated with something that could cast the building in a bad light. Commercial photographers must take care not to allow a trademarked logo into an image without the owner's permission. You need property releases as much as you need model releases. It's actually an extension of concerns that have come up with photographs of people - even models who have signed a release have on a few occasions successfully sued for a use of their images that associated them with concepts or characteristics that they found highly offensive. They probably assumed that anyone with LF equipment was a professional who was planning to use the shot in a commercial context.