It’s Hard Out There For a Photographer

The New York Times reported today that the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting is considering new rules that would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a public location for more than a half hour to get a city permit and $1 million worth of liability insurance.

The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment. The public locations that the rules refer to include any city property, including sidewalks.
The film office claims that the rules were not intended to apply to families on vacation or amateur filmmakers or photographers, but the language in the rules makes no distinction between professionals and amateurs.

Aside from the logistic nightmare of enforcing such a broad law in one of the most photographed cities in the world, few of the thousands of photographers potentially effected by the rules will have any idea that the rules exist until they’re caught.

The city is expected to publish a final version of the rules at the end of July, to go into effect a month later.

For more on the crime of photography, read our story earlier this week about a photographer who was stopped in Indianapolis for taking shots that included a public building.
—Kathleen Davis
Assistant Editor

Comments

[Paul O Connor]

For me, the worrying part of it is how vague the proposals seem to be - for me, they could be very much open to interpretation.
- Paul @ http://www.photographyvoter.com