>Well last night I took a stroll
>through the centre of Surfers Paradise to take some night shots. One pub
>took my eye because it is a new building but made out of sandstone (or
>replica sandstone!). The outside of the building had spot lights (as you
>would see on an old church or similar building) but the inside had these
>groovy purple fluro type lights giving some fantastic silhouette features of
>the patrons inside. So I decided to take a shot of this. Next thing, along
>comes MR BURLY DOORMAN and sends me on my way (I did get a shot in
>first...hope it works out!). MR BURLY DOORMAN said that the building was
>not public property and because the name of the building was on the front it
>was copyright (or something like that).
>
>My understanding is that I was in a public place and because this was not
>for any commercial gain, that I had every right to photograph the outside of
>the building.
>Any comments/feedback are welcome.
>Cheers Adam
Such laws for us (Oz) are less restrictive than in the US - you are in a
public thoroughfare and, while the building is private property, it stands
in the public domain. Fancy naming/display on it is advertising material
and is similarly in the public domain. If the outside is lit up to draw
attention, then this is aknowledgement of the public nature of the
building's image.
This is all quasi-legal bullshit of course, but adequate to use on a
door-gorilla and his supervisor (who you could ask to speak with). They may
have the legitimate concern that their patrons who are visible in the
windows do have a right to privacy while engaged in recreational pursuits
on private property. A polite enquiry as to the name of the security
company who employs him might be handy if you're feeling brave - phone them
to clarify the situation as there may be good reasons behind all this.
All of this is moot if the portal-thug is seeking his own recreation - i.e.
battering the crap out of you. Discretion and politeness and
acknowledgement of his superior strength (and lesser intellect and lack of
a sense of humour) are adviseable unless you can run a damn sight faster
than can I!
AndrewF
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|