Photography or Video Taping Consent Text Size:

People take their cameras with them to many different places and photograph or videotape lots of people doing different things. Depending on what you videotaped or photographed and where you used your camera, you just might expose yourself to a lawsuit unless you got consent from the people that you taped or photographed.

You can't help but videotape or photograph other people when you take your camera and go out to a crowded place or out by yourself and shoot photographs or movies of some scene that interests you. Be careful, if you intend to sell the videotape to a local television news company or publish it in the local paper. If someone is featured in that shot or footage, that person just might sue you for invasion of privacy unless you obtained their consent.

Videotaping and Photography Laws

Invasion of privacy is a tort or civil wrong and generally means the intentional intrusion into the private life or affairs of another person. If you violate a person's right to privacy and cause injury, then that person is entitled to sue you to recover damages. Photographing or videotaping a person without their knowledge or consent may subject you to a lawsuit for invasion of privacy.

Further, all levels of government have laws concerning videotaping and photography that may increase your liability for civil damages or may even make your videotaping or photography a criminal offense. It's a good idea to consult an attorney on the laws in your area that may limit or restrict your ability to videotape or photograph people, places or things.

Generally, it is perfectly legal to videotape or photograph any person and anything while on public property, except:

• You cannot take pictures of areas that are usually considered private such as bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms, locker rooms, hotel rooms and so on
• Certain public places have banned the use of cameras such as mass transit systems, courthouses, capital buildings, secured government buildings, jails or prisons unless you obtain written permission
• You cannot film or photograph if it interferes with police, fire, medical or emergency operations

There are also restrictions on videotaping and photographing on private property:

• If the private property is open to the public, such as retail stores, private stadiums or tourist areas, filming may be allowed unless there are signs posted that expressly forbid videotaping or photography
• If the private property belongs to someone other than a commercial business, you had better get the property owner's permission

Consent

The best way to protect you from being sued for invasion of privacy is to obtain the subject's permission or consent to be photographed. There are various ways that consent is given:

• Express consent. Getting permission in writing is always the best policy.
• Implied consent. Consent by implication means that the subjects knew you were taking their picture and indicated consent by their reaction, such as posing or waving at the camera or nodding affirmatively after you requested their permission before you took the shot.
• Oral consent. The person voiced his or her consent to be filmed.
• Consent through misrepresentation. This occurs when the subject misunderstands the nature of what is being photographed or how the photograph is being used. For example, a model agrees to disrobe and be photographed for a medical textbook when the photograph is actually marketed as a poster.

Oral or implied consent are supposed to be just as effective as written consent; however, each have their problems when trying to prove the consent in court. The subject may have forgotten that they gave their consent, or they may even lie. Further, the subjects or models may acknowledge that they consented to be photographed but that they did not consent to the publication of the photograph in a newspaper, magazine, television commercial or news broadcast.

For consent to be effective, it must be given by someone who is capable of understanding the nature and consequences associated with the videotaping or photography. If you are photographing minors or mentally disabled individuals, you should get the consent of the parent or guardian.

And, if you intend to have the photograph or videotape published, the best practice is to have the subject sign a release of any right in the use of the photograph or videotape. A signed release indicates tacit approval of the photograph. For example, a photograph of a window that frames a couple in an intimate pose in a bedroom gives the appearance of an invasion of privacy. For that and other obvious reasons, legitimate publishers will require a release before it will buy or market the photograph.

Related Resources on Lawyers.com^sm