Originally posted by *isteve In most Western countries (except France) it is legal to photograph people in a public place without their permission and even to use the image for editorial use. It is not legal to use their likeness in association with promotion of a brand, political viewpoint etc. without their permission which is why stock photos with people require model releases.
Of course you should be aware of that, but I dont think this is what he meant. In most places its perfectly legal to shoot people in the street with or without their consent.
Sorry, are you an expert on conflict resolution? You have a funny way of showing it.
Sorry, but I believe you are wrong just as
gooshin is on this subject; I don't think your assumption that this is legal is not supported in fact. You might well be confusing the common law and statutory rights of public and private individuals, not to mention the country-specific bodies of law on fair use and misappropriation, privacy, etc.
I am not a lawyer, and I don't pretend to know what law applies and under what conditions, and I certainly don't have a corner of information and fact in this area. Still and all, statements of law like yours and
gooshin's that this behavior is
a priori legal, and using subject specific website ideally populated by persons with extensive photographic experience, to shovel out a load of possible misinformation under the guise of "fact" is way out of line. Think about what you're saying, that you have the legal right to photograph everybody, under all conditions in all public places; you can't mean that. I don't believe that "right" exists in Europe, or Canada or the US. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, but it's going to take more than you and others stating things as fact just because you believe them to be factual.
All we have to do is agree to clearly index opinions as opinions rather than facts. Then we're being fair and reasonable; might still be incorrect, but at least it gives fair warning to everyone.
And as for the second comment, yeah, I guess I could be considered an "expert", if such a thing exists (that's your term, remember, not mine) by dint of a graduate degree in Speech Communication, post graduate research in organizational communication, college instruction in just this specific subject and others. That doesn't make me right, or the sole font of truth, but it does make more opinion more informed than some other folks,
Brian