The Home Office Needs To Get Photographic Law Right

The Home Office has misinformed asylum seekers and the public by claiming they need permission to take photographs or video in a public place and they should correct it immediately. 

In a nine-page online booklet the Home Office states: “In the UK, you should not take pictures or videos of someone without their permission.”

It then goes on to say this includes photographs and videos taken in public places such as streets and parks.

This is misleading and wrong. There is no general UK law requiring anyone to obtain a stranger’s permission before photographing them in a public place, a basic right that even the BBC article on the Home Office online booklet missed despite publishing the page in question.

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Larry Herman – Photographer

photo © Pierre Alozie

It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of Larry Herman. He was a great photographer and his images held compassion for the peoples’ stories he was telling, travelling the world with his trusty Leica’s. 

He was a stalwart of the NUJ Freelance Branch, the London Photographers Branch and the press freedom campaign, “I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist” where he was joint treasurer. 

Larry always had a contribution to make, he was forthright with his opinions and always tried to link the struggles for truth and justice.

His legacy will live on.

RIP Larry

Police Threaten Press With Arrest Under Public Order Act

Photographers rights campaign group I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) is shocked to learn the Metropolitan police were repeatedly caught attempting to use Section 14 (S14) of the Public Order Act to obstruct UKPCA press card carrying photographers and broadcast news cameras from covering arrests at the recent Extinction Rebellion protests in London.

The alarm was first raised by photographer Mark Kerrison, who was covering arrests at a peaceful lock-on protest in Oxford Circus on Saturday 20 April, in scenes not witnessed since the 2009 G20 London summit.

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Protestor Extremist Database Win Reignites Journalists Legal Action

Campaign group I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) welcomes the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on the case of a peace campaigner to have his details removed from a police Domestic Extremist database.

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Westfield Security Concerns

Footage © Yannis Mendez

Here @PHNAT we are outraged yet again by the intimidating behaviour of private security at the Stratford Westfield shopping centre.

While covering a vigil for a recent acid attack in East London on Wednesday 5 July, Yannis Mendez, a Freelance Video Journalist and member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) found himself surrounded by security officers as he filmed from the front steps leading up to the shopping centre (see above video). (more…)

First it was Terrorism, Now it’s Supercars

Bystanders using phones to photograph Supercars on Regent Street. Photo © Pete Maclaine.

Photography has been a hobby or a job for someone since 1827. Now the photographer is not only viewed as suspicious but encouraging perceived anti-social behaviour.

This time the apparent anti-social behavior takes the form of car enthusiasts who like to show off their ‘Supercars’ in and around London, with Knightsbridge being a major attraction. (more…)

J20 Six: Drop The Charges

 

Six journalists face 10 years in prison in America, for covering the unrest during the Disrupt J20 protests against the inauguration of President Trump on Friday 20 January in Washington DC.

I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) campaign group is outraged by this direct attack on press freedom and calls on President Trump to immediately drop the charges against the #J20six. (more…)

Security call filmmaker ‘lunatic’ for defying nonsense photo ban

The ‘I’m a Photographer not a Terrorist’ (PHNAT) campaign is alarmed by footage of a filmmaker being insulted, threatened with arrest and having his gear manhandled – all for filming a sign.

24-year-old media graduate Alan Noble was shooting a time lapse for a personal project promoting the North East, when Port of Tyne security told him to stop filming from a public highway. Security then asked him if he was a “lunatic” when he declined to comply before calling the police and continuing to insult him and state that he would be arrested.

Guards also grabbed his tripod and demanded to see the contents of his camera – before refusing to let go and telling him he could not leave. The video, and the harmless shot Alan was trying to get, can be viewed here:

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What’s going on? Network Rail demand Alamy photo removal

The Sunday Times: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Retail_and_leisure/article1352605.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_12_14

A usage of one picture in question, first shot to cover the ‘pasty tax’ but used editorially since via Alamy. © Pete Maclaine.

This morning a number of photographers who contribute to the picture library Alamy were informed that various images they shot in and around UK train and even tube stations were to be removed from their library following complaints from Network Rail.

SEE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM – IMAGES ARE BEING REINSTATED

The I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist campaign is deeply worried by this and has been in contact with both Network Rail and Alamy to raise concerns. PHNAT has seen examples ranging from recent news images to a station crowd shot from 1972 – with emails to photographers saying they were “violating their exclusive intellectual property rights.”

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Police Scotland Want to Seize Your Phone

London, UK. 14 November, 2015. Metropolitan Police Officers stand guard as thousands gather in Trafalgar Square for a candlelit vigil in solidarity with the victims of last night's terrorists attacks in Paris.

Metropolitan Police at Paris Attack Candlelit Vigil. London. © Pete Maclaine.

I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) is seriously concerned by reports that Police Scotland intends to “seize phones if officers are filmed whilst on duty”, according to the Daily Record.

PHNAT is worried by the apparent conflation of the lawful act of recording police officers with an unrelated offence of obstruction, which can be committed whether using a cameraphone or not. (more…)

Sussex Police Apologise for Detaining Journalists

 

Sussex Police have apologised to NUJ members that were stopped and searched on when they were travelling to work in Brighton to cover a far right demonstration on Sunday 21 April 2013.

Seven journalists, two of whom are PHNAT organisers, were subjected to a search for offensive weapons under Section 60AA of the Public Order Act and Section 60 of the Terrorism Act, which Sussex police later claimed was a mistake.

The NUJ challenged the police and argued there had been an unlawful use of the legislation to detain and search journalists. (more…)

Don’t Shoot, I’m A Photographer Not a Terrorist!

Image © Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

Image © Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

PHNAT are disturbed by the Metropolitan Police’s reaction to a press release from Jason Knauf, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Communications Secretary.

Kensington Palace has focused on the alleged harassment and surveillance of Prince George and Princess Charlotte by ‘paparazzi photographers,’ a sweeping generalisation of photographers often used by the Royals. (more…)

Freedom of Panorama Saved

Freedom

Image © Grant Smith.

On Thursday 9 July 2015 the controversial Freedom of Panorama proposal was dropped.

Only 40 of 751 MEPs voted in favour of it.

The proposal caused mass outrage on the rights of photographers in the UK and saw a petition opposing it was signed by more than 555,000 people. (more…)

#SaveFoP: Save Our Freedom of Panorama

Panorama

Image © Grant Smith

On 9 July 2015 the European Parliament will vote on the “Freedom of Panorama” legislation, a law that if passed will restrict your right to take photographs from a public place of buildings and even views that have been copyrighted. Read more here.

In the the days leading up to the vote photographers rights campaign group I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) and the London Photographer’s Branch of the National Union of Journalists calls on all photographers, professional and amateur, to go out and photograph your local landscapes and views, then tweet your photos to the European Parliament. (more…)

News From Palestine

London Leaflet revised 2

The NUJ London Independent Broadcasting and New Media Branch and NUJ London Photographers Branch are hosting a talk with Nablus-based photojournalist Abed Qusini, who is visiting the UK this month.

Abed will be discussing the challenges he has faced working as a photojournalist for 17 years in the occupied West Bank and showing an array of his work. (more…)