Compendium of HV20 Solutions

[bluesgeek]

Of course guerilla movies are made all the time without a permit, but they are sometimes caught. A real Hollywood production with multiple trailers, generators, huge lights, etc is pretty hard to hide.

Duke

Thanks, Duke. My inquiry is more along the lines of photographing, filming, or video/audiotaping individuals in a public place without the intent or result of commercial gain ...and the same question ~with~ such intent or result.

[Lee Wilson]

Filming is not illegal per se, but conducting a business on a public street without a permit is. With the HV20/30 you can claim you're a tourist.

It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, city to city, but you look like you're doing a commercial shoot in Los Angeles, up in the valley, or surrounding areas the police are likely to ask you for a permit and/or give you a ticket.

Of course guerilla movies are made all the time without a permit, but they are sometimes caught. A real Hollywood production with multiple trailers, generators, huge lights, etc is pretty hard to hide.

Duke

My point is aimed at your everyday video enthuthiast, hobbiest, tourist, bored salesman, student, stalker - ok maybe not stalker! - and just about anyone who wants to take their video camera and go film outdoors.

There is a common misconception that this is somehow illegal or a permit is required - this misconception extends to law enforcement officers (and security / PCSOs etc).

Your original post appeared to be about the HV20 (and solutions to it's shortcomings) - in this context you point out that you are ok with a HV20 as it will probably fall under the radar of the police whereas a big rig might not - my point is that the law does not have a list of current video equipment and separate laws for camera weights - it's all perfectly legal to pick up your camera (regardless of size) and go and shoot some film.

If you do find yourself being asked by a policeman whether you have a permit (you make a good point when you say: "If you have a big rig, they might.") - politely point out that no permit is needed to take still images or shoot moving images in public.

I do a lot of filming in London and have been out 6-8 hours a day during the last 4 months and must get stopped at least once a week, the police will tell me I cannot film people without their written consent - I point out this is not true ("Photography of individuals is unrestricted where the subject has a reasonable expectation of being photographed")
- I am also told that I cannot film private bussiness, property, land - I point out that this is not true ("In general under the law of the United Kingdom one cannot prevent photography of private property from a public place") and numerous other things I can only guess they make up on the spot.

Your point about doing a commercial shoot is valid, but in all other cases just go out and film.

[Lee Wilson]

Thanks, Duke. My inquiry is more along the lines of photographing, filming, or video/audiotaping individuals in a public place without the intent or result of commercial gain ...and the same question ~with~ such intent or result.

In general it is legal to film anything and anyone on any public land/property, with a few small exceptions.
Filming of private property from within the public domain is also perfectly legal. And of course with permission you are also free to film on private land/property.

Filming in the U.S. Capitol, in courthouses, and in government buildings housing classified information is not allowed.

But there are variations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

[Duke]

There is a common misconception that this is somehow illegal or a permit is required - this misconception extends to law enforcement officers (and security / PCSOs etc).

Your original post appeared to be about the HV20 (and solutions to it's shortcomings) - in this context you point out that you are ok with a HV20 as it will probably fall under the radar of the police whereas a big rig might not - my point is that the law does not have a list of current video equipment and separate laws for camera weights - it's all perfectly legal to pick up your camera (regardless of size) and go and shoot some film.

As you said you've had to explain to police that it's not illegal. My original post was that with the HV20/30 you are under the radar and they're not likely to have them even stop you.

In the follow up I did state that it is not illegal per se to tape in public, but a movie company IS required to have a permit to operate on the street, not to take pictures of the street. However, this is off topic for this thread. Privacy rights, releases and permissions are discussed elsewhere.

Duke

[bluesgeek]

Thanks for pointing out that in the richness of this forum we can find threads on privacy issues.

If I may make a final point about the issue, news gathering is often a commercial enterprise enterprise, and we have all observed theses crews at work taping the public without permit or permission.

[Lee Wilson]

As you said you've had to explain to police that it's not illegal. My original post was that with the HV20/30 you are under the radar and they're not likely to have them even stop you.

What I was attempting to do was to dispel a (growing) common misunderstanding that filming in public is illegal or requires permission from the state, I can imagine some might have misread your warning (that with a HV20 you can slip past the police's attentions) as implying that "you cannot film in public, but with a HV20 you will probably get away with it".

Which I don't think is what you were suggesting, just that you will less likely be hassled and harassed for filming if you use a small inconspicuous camera - and here I agree with you 100%.

In the follow up I did state that it is not illegal per se to tape in public, but a movie company IS required to have a permit to operate on the street, not to take pictures of the street.

Agreed, like I say - your thread appeared to be about the HV20 (and it's shortcomings) and not specifically aimed at commercial movie companies - so it is in this context that I make my comments.

I hope that makes sense !