Photographers Rights And The Law In The UK

A brief guide for street photographers.
(by urban75 for Digital Lifestyles, 18th April 2008)

Despite the law being clear on a citizen’s rights to freely take pictures in public places (with a few restrictions) there is growing evidence of the police, police community support officers (PCSOs), security guards and general jobsworths failing to respect the rights of photographers going about their lawful business.

Following on from our recent article on UK photographers protesting about increasing police harassment, this article hopes to underline your rights as a photographer, whether you’re taking snaps on a mobile phone camera or wielding a monster Nikon about.

Some material in this article has been sourced from the excellent – nay, indispensable – UK Photographers Rights website, which offers a downloadable PDF info file and ongoing legal feedback giving advice to photographer’s questions.

We’ve detailed some of the common points below, but bear in mind that this is intended purely as a rough outline of your rights. Some aspects of the law can be complex, changing and open to interpretation – with Scottish law sometimes carrying a different spin on clauses – so we urge you to visit the website for the full details, or seek proper legal advice if you get into trouble.

Street shots
If you’re on a public right of way – such as a public pavement, footpath or public highways – you’re free to take photographs for personal and commercial use so long as you’re not causing an obstruction to other users or falling foul of anti-Terrorism laws or even the Official Secrets Act (frankly, this one is unlikely).

There’s nothing stopping you taking pictures of people in pubic places within reason, but if you start shoving your zoom lens up their nostrils or taking action shots of their every step, there’s a chance you might get a clip around the ear from your aggrieved subject or even face a legal charge of harassment.

Harassment is defined as a ‘course of conduct’ (so it has to happen at least twice) that causes another person ‘alarm or distress’, but we have to say that the bullying and aggressive antics of the paparazzi would suggest that prosecutions are few and far between.

Photographers are free to use their photographs of people taken in public places as they wish – including for commercial gain.

There are no laws against taking photos of children, but someone taking an unhealthy interest can rightly expect to attract unwelcome attention from the authorities (and quite probably passers by) pretty sharpish.

Note: Professional photography is banned in London’s Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square as well as the Royal Parks. If you start breaking out the tripods, glampussy models, arc lights, make up crew, Winnebagos and reflectors, expect a parkie to turn up on the scene pronto demanding a hefty fee. However, be a little more low key with your shooting and you should have no problems.

Photographing Buildings, Football Grounds and Interiors
Property owners have no right to stop people taking photos of their buildings, so long as the photographer is standing in a public place (e.g. the road outside).

However, if you’re standing on private property and the landowner/occupier objects, then they have every right to ask you to stop immediately and ask you to leave if you refuse.

Many museums, art galleries, football grounds, concert venues and similar places ban photography as a condition of entry, so you can hardly complain if you get turfed out after you’ve whipped out your camera.

The same applies to all private property open to the public in general – e.g. offices, shops, even your local chippy – with the owner or occupier having the right to demand that you stop taking photos and get the hell out.

Most shopping centres and malls stand on private land with many gaining a notorious reputation for speedily dispatching stroppy security guards demanding that you stop taking photos. The irony that they’re already busy filming you from every angle via a flotilla of CCTV cameras is generally lost on them.

Tube stations
Seeing as we’ve heard so many instances of people being hassled over this, here’s the low down: non-commercial photography on tube stations is most certainly allowed – and if any busybody tries to tell you different, politely tell them to bury their head in part 10 of rule Sa109 in the Working Reference Manual:

10.1 Passengers can take photographs with small cameras for private purposes, provided flashlights and/or tripods are not used no obstruction or inconvenience is caused to staff and/or passengers.

Trespass
If you start stomping over private property taking photos without permission, you’re committing a trespass, and the same applies to anyone who “interferes” with the property.

The “interference” law is a bit of a daft one and can be used for something as trivial as scrambling up a bit of wall to take a photo over the top or even resting your camera on a fence.

If you’ve been given access to property on the condition that your camera stays firmly in your bag, the second you start snapping you’re no longer entitled to be on the land and are thus guilty of trespass (Scottish law differs in this regard).

Landowners, occupiers, security guards and bouncers etc are allowed to use ‘reasonable force’ to prevent a trespasser entering their property and they can also use reasonable force to eject a trespasser who is refusing to leave their land, but the law is very strict about what constitutes reasonable force.

This means that almost any violent attack would be unreasonable under the law, as would threatening someone with a gun or other weapon.

Property owners or their employees and security staff have no right whatsoever to confiscate or damage a photographer’s camera or insist that images are deleted.

Obstruction, Public Order and Photographing Demos
Under UK law, it’s a criminal offence to obstruct free passage on the highway and this includes footways, bike paths and roads.

If you’re standing on a thoroughfare to grab a photograph and you’re not impeding the movement of traffic or people to any degree, then you’re absolutely within the law, although some protest photographers will be familiar with the Old Bill claiming that you’re ‘causing an obstruction’ in often frivolous circumstances.

It may be a pain, but it’s usually best to move yo’ ass when asked as it’s not uncommon for innocent photographers to be arrested for obstruction at demos – or even get their collars felt for supposedly obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty.

Taking photographs is unlikely to amount to a ‘breach of the peace’ or be seen as ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace’, but if you’re stuck in the thick of a heated demo or street riot, you’ll have to be careful that the police don’t confuse you with the participants and treat you accordingly.

If you’ve a photojournalist card, wear it on a tabard so you can easily show it to the police if challenged, but if you’re a freelancer you might find it harder to convince the cops that you’re not one of the rampaging hordes.

The best advice is to keep your eyes open and to speedily back off when the police start to charge your way.

Note that there is no law preventing you taking photographs of the police at demos, unless there are any overriding security/law enforcement concerns.

People and Privacy
UK laws are fairly vague when it comes to defining what constitutes an invasion of privacy, but while street shots should cause no problem, you might get in hot water if you’re strapping on colossal telephoto lens and zooming in on folks stripping off in their bathrooms – even if you are snapping from a public place.

The key seems to be whether the subject would have a reasonable expectation of privacy – a statement that seems vague enough to keep a team of lawyers gainfully employed for some time.

With some countries having stronger privacy laws, UK snappers looking to commercially exploit images of recognisable people snapped without their consent may find international clients unenthusiastic unless a model release has been obtained.

There’s also a remote chance that photographs of people in public places may be subject to the Data Protection Act, but that’s pretty unlikely if there’s no other identifying information accompanying the image.

Anti Terrorism measures
With the increasing paranoia over security and terrorism, photographers being have been increasingly challenged by police when taking photographs of potentially sensitive subjects like power stations, refineries, bridges and ports.

Photographers taking innocent photos of such places may find themselves being questioned about the nature of the business and the purpose for which they were taken, with the police citing the Official Secrets Act 1911 (that’s pushing it) or the handy catch-all of The Terrorism Act 2000 (Section 44 has been erroneously used several times by PCSOs to take details of photographers deemed to be acting ’suspiciously’).

Unless you’ve crawled into a nuclear bunker and have been caught red handed taking photos of things marked ‘TOP SECRET’ it’s unlikely that you’ve actually broken any laws.

However, if you’re snapping in an area that could be deemed sensitive, it’s generally wisest to calmly answer their questions and put up with them rummaging through your camera bag – but remember they have no right to seize your equipment or demand that memory cards are deleted/confiscated.

For press photographers, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) national police-press guidelines makes their rights clear:

“Members of the media have a duty to take photographs and film incidents and [police officers] have no legal power or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict what they record.”

“It is a matter for their editors to control what is published or broadcast, not the police. Once images are recorded, [the police] have no power to delete or confiscate them without a court order, even if [the police] think they contain damaging or useful evidence.”

The guidelines also warn that any police officer who deletes a photographer’s images could face criminal, civil or disciplinary action.

Your rights on arrest
If you are arrested, keep calm and do not panic. Remember that you have the right to be treated fairly and with respect by the police.

When you are arrested you do not have to say anything to the police. BUT if you are later charged with a crime and you have not mentioned, when questioned, something that you later rely on in court, then this may be taken into account when deciding if you are guilty.

We suggest you respond with:
“I have been advised that I should answer no questions. It is not right that I should have to give a complete case for my self until charges have been made and properly explained and until there are other people around to check that questions put to me are fair and legal. I will say nothing until I am advised to do so by a fully qualified legal advisor.”

There may be good reasons why you do not wish to say anything to the police, and you should not be intimidated into answering questions. Get a solicitor down to see you in the police station as soon as possible.

Remember that it is wise not to discuss the case with the police until you have consulted privately with a solicitor. If the police are about to arrest you or have already arrested you, there is no such thing as a ‘friendly chat’ to sort things out. Anything you say can later be used against you. Think before you talk.

Info and legal advice
Please check out out our legal rights section but bear in mind that this information is provided as a guide and we make no guarantees of its accuracy. Always get proper legal representation if you get into bother with the law.

Your rights on arrest – legal help and useful information
Stop and search powers of Section 44, Terrorism Act 2000
Police complaints – legal help and useful information

Case Studies and related articles
Anger at police statement on ‘covert’ photography
Police order photographer to ‘delete’ pictures
‘Photographers being arrested to seize evidence’ claim at NUJ Photographers’ Conference
Police admit being ‘overzealous’ in Christmas lights fiasco
Birmingham police officer ‘forced press photographer to delete images’
Police ’stop and quiz’ press snapper under Terrorism Act
Street photographers fear for their art amid climate of suspicion

Disclaimer
As we explained at the beginning, this article is just a brief guide to the sometimes-complex matter of your rights as a photography. Interpretations of the law can change over time, so we strongly recommend consulting the UK Photographers Rights website for updates and seeking out proper legal advice if you encounter problems.