It is NOT illegal to take photos in public!!!

This isn't the first time someone has tried to tell me that it's illegal to take pictures. I was taking a picture of the shitty weather tonight and dude asks me if I have a camera on my phone, and I was like yeah sure, an d he tries to say some shit about how it's illegal and he don't want me to get locked up

It is a public space, the sidewalk is...now if I went in a bank and started taking pictures idk. Some people especially think it is illegal to take pictures in train stations in this city, and people have been hassled before....but it is NOT illegal, it is listed as suspicious activity though, but it's not illegal.

Some people are just clueless, or for whatever reason say this bullshit...w/e, why do they even make cameras then? There are cameras everywhere anyway, on buildings, inside stores, outside stores, inside busses, trains, etc, helicopters in the air with cameras, on light poles...satellites with infrared cameras, c'mon now

I think he thought I was taking "his" picture, which I clearly wasn't but if I was, it still isn't illegal to do so. You have no expectation of privacy walkin' down the sidewalk. I wouldn't walk through the hood takin' pictures of all the flagrant drug dealin' goin on because I have a little bit of sense...idk.

I guess why it irritated me is because you should not be concerned or care in any way what anyone else is doing except you...i see all kinds of strange things goin' on, and much of it is amusing to observe, but other than that I do not really care why or whatever they are doin' it. It's illegal to jaywalk too, but i jaywalk in front of cops all the time...it's actually less suspicious than standing on the corner if there's no traffic an you have the opportunity to jaywalk. Cop would think, "why is he just standing there when there's no cars comin' down the street?"

Oh yea, and there's a database where every phone conversation that ever happened is recorded, and stored forever

Am I right, or is this country now a police state? I think they would like us to think it is.

 

What a bunch of bullshit. The same idiot probably has no problem with surveillance cameras on every street corner and unmanned drones flying over his head.

You should have told him to go fuck himself. Seriously.

 

Great to see how the goverment scares everyone into becoming a paranoid self-proclaimed policeman.

 

how do they think the tabloid industry exists? If paparazzi can stalk celebrities just to get a good picture, I'm pretty sure you can take a picture of a street scene. People be cray.

 

Normally I would not have said anything, as I normally do not even acknowledge most people who I do not know that try to talk to me if I don't like what they're sayin' or it does not benefit me, I just keep walkin. I'm not bein rude, i just don't have time for bullshit most of the time. I used to have a sales job, and had to carry a heavy ass bag that got lighter the more you sold..most people on the street wouldn't look twice at you but I would walk beside them for a couple seconds and try to get them to talk to me, most people would just walk faster, some would say "FUCK YOU" or the like...some actually bought it. 10-15 out of every 300 people would buy. Had to keep a positive attitude no matter what.

Anyways...I told him I'm a photojournalist and that was about it. I shouldn't let it piss me off but I'm still thinkin about it, it just irritates me for some reason. It kinda makes me think he must think I'm stupid or something, ya know, but he's stupid if he thinks I am ;-)

 

When some one tells you its illegal to take pics. in public , tell them to tell that to the stores , banks , fast food places , ect. that have cameras all over .

 

For real, I even looked it up. You have no expectation of privacy in a public space, and the sidewalk is pretty public, not to mention I was takin' a picture of the dark clouds in the sky (there is some bad weather today, apparently there was a tornado recently but it was over the water)...that qualifies as nature, which is pretty public right, no one owns the sky.

I've had store employees tell me to put up the camera when they've seen me takin' pictures of store merch, or even signs inside the store. I guess a store can have whatever policies they want, maybe i shouldn't take pictures of the barcodes but I think if I can see it with my own eyes, then a camera should be able to see it too. If you don't want pictures taken, don't put it where I can see it. If you want privacy, don't go outside.

 

Fuck the police!

 

Tell them you're with the government and law enforcement and protecting them from terrorists. They'll love you.

 

My Dad is a small town doctor and he has this patient who I think has cerebral palsy. She doesn't have any family that visits her so she mostly just has to stay in the nursing facility where she lives. The only store in town is big Wal-Mart and she always wanted to go but she didn't have any money or anything. One Christmas, my dad and some people from his office surprised her and took her to the Wal-Mart and let her get whatever she wanted. They were trying to take some pictures for her and all these people from Wal-Mart came and told him he couldn't take pictures in the store. He told them he was actually giving back to the community because they give so much to him, something Wal-Mart wouldn't know about and that they can fuck off.

 

From reference 39 in a previous post:

"If the conduct goes beyond mere questioning, all states have laws that
make coercion and harassment criminal offenses. The specific elements
vary among the states but in general it is unlawful for anyone to instill a fear
that they may injure you, damage or take your property, or falsely accuse
you of a crime just because you are taking photographs."

 

A gray area might be the exhibition of a copyrighted movie or a live music performance at a public park. The venue is public but the content may be copyrighted.

There are sometimes issues with someone who is out at a public park doing an exhibit and showing an item that he or she has copyrighted. The person may object to a photo or video being taken of the item.

 

What gives you that idea? Are you talking about the OP? Confused.

 

I think he was talking about the guy who told the original poster that it was not ok to take pictures in public, not the original poster himself.

 

So PR is saying that although this chap was not happy with being snapped or warning the OP not to take pictures, he has no issue with surveillance cameras on every street corner and unmanned drones flying over his head?
It's a bit of a leap, don't you think?
That's why I ask: What gives you that idea?
It sounds like a fairly knee-jerk reaction to something that wasn't read properly, perhaps under the influence of Malt liquor.

 

I'm definitely not disagreeing with you about the leap. Maybe the guy is unhappy having his picture taken at all, thus he has serious issues with surveillance cameras and drones.

I didn't think we got knee jerk reactions around here. I thought everything was well deliberated, not dogmatic, and never just being difficult for the sake of being difficult.

 

That's what I thought. Which would suggest the complete opposite opinion than what PR suggested. He might have mean: The guy was unhappy about this, but is quite happy for x, y and z. I dunno. Confused.

I was only talking about one response. I wasn't being 100% fair (or serious). But we can agree It was a bit of a leap.

 

Hmm... the OP was not taking his picture, but thought that perhaps the guy thought he was and thus possibly being his reason for telling him it is "illegal."

Or, more likely, he was a Winston-type character like some people on these boards who simply love authority and act like all laws are sent from on high -- hence the reason I said what I did.

Anyone who gets offended from a person taking pictures from a distance probably would be better off locking themselves indoors. When you are out in public, you are fair game to have your picture taken as long as the person taking the picture is a reasonable distance away. I could see him getting offended if the OP was right up in his face, or even ten feet away, but it doesn't sound like that was the case.

 

I meant Parsons-type character... as in Parsons from Orwell's 1984.