overview

authority

anxieties

Australia

making

publishing

overseas

journalism

paparazzi

venues

defence

justice

skies

streets

incidents

your image





















related
Guides:

Privacy

Intellectual
Property

Censorship



related
Profile:

Australian
Privacy
Regimes

Adult
Content
Industries

Stalking

     overview

This note considers unauthorised making and publishing of photographs, including non-commercial street photography and video, paparazzi snaps and 'voyeur cam' sites.

It covers -

• authority - questions about the nature of authority and consent, covert surveillance and exploitation
• anxieties - questions about unauthorised photography, online/offline publishing, stranger danger and other issues
• Australia - debate in Australia about unauthorised making and publishing of photographs
• making - Australian law regarding unauthorised making of photographs and videos
• publishing - Australian law regarding unauthorised publishing of photographs and videos
• overseas - UK, US, NZ and other overseas regimes regarding unauthorised photography
• journalism - news, current affairs, video and photography
• paparazzi - authority, collaboration and the dungbeetles of celebrity culture
• venues - photography in retail, office, cultural and educational venues
• defence - photography of military and other government facilities, demonstrations, arrests and other activities
• justice - photography in and about courts and parliaments
• skies - questions about satellite and aerial photography, and about services such as GoogleEarth
• streets - questions about services such as Google Street View
• incidents - selected Australian unauthorised photography incidents and furores.
• your image - questions of personal image management in Australia

The note supplements discussion of privacy principles, personality rights, the Australian privacy regimes, stalking and censorship.

It is complemented by a broader discussion of photography as a communication revolution.

     introduction

Questions regarding unauthorised photography are interesting because they illustrate -

• the evolution of community expectations regarding privacy
• the expression of those expectations in statute and case law
• disagreement about rights of publicity (aka personality rights)
• tensions in attitudes regarding paparazzi and relations between celebrities and "their public"
• the impact of technologies such as the Box Brownie, video cameras and mobile phone cameras
• uptake of genres such as photo- and video-sharing sites and vlogs
• myths regarding restrictions on image-making in public places or of particular subjects, such as children
• disputes about the objectives and practicalities of censorship.

Contrary to claims by some ardent 'information liberationists', in Australia and similar jurisdictions there are restrictions on making and publishing photographs that have not been authorised by the individuals featured in those images. Such restrictions are, however, not comprehensive.

They centre on matters such as

• covert surveillance - photography and video in contexts, such as public toilets, where the subject has a reasonable expectation that he/she will not be observed
• passing off - use of an image in a way that would lead the reasonable viewer of that image to believe that the subject agreed to making/publication and endorsed a particular product or service.

The restrictions do not involve an exhaustive prohibition of making photographs of people in public places or criminalise any photography of minors, contrary to some of the more vehement claims made in newsgroups and offline fora.

The following pages explore some of the issues, in Australia and elsewhere, and consider existing/proposed law. They include a discussion of unauthorised making of videos and of internet publication.

Legal Handbook for Photographers: The Rights and Liabilities of Making Images (New York: Amherst 2006) by Bert Krages





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