Filming in Las Vegas Strip?

diego1235467

diego1235467

Well-known member
I was in Vegas for a night, shot a video, put it up on vimeo and youtube. I posted links on some other forums for people who might be interested in it.

Anyway, someone complained that I obviously shot on his employer's property, and that he was willing to take legal action.

The video was just a touristy, non-commercial video. No one ever asked me not to film, and they didn't ask the hundreds of tourists who were doing the same thing.

Here is the video. From what you guys know, is my video fine, or did I do something that I could indeed get in trouble for?

http://vimeo.com/13353612
 
Seriously, I didn't see anything that tabbed a specific location. I mean, really how petty can some people be? "you shot that on my bosses property and I'm telling?" And, to what end? What is your video going to hurt? Thing is, why would they even bother suing? The burden of proof would be on them so I don't see them going through the cost of a case just to have you 'take it down'. If it were me, I'd ignore them.
 
Well that's what I though. I mean, I understand the sidewalks can be private property, but that would mean suing the hundreds of tourists I saw with camcorders. I'm nervous about it, but I can't really imagine what the problem would be.

Anyone else have ideas?
 
The only potential situation I saw (in the half that I watched) was that you were filming in the Fremont Street Experience, which is a private corporation that administers the giant lighted canopy over Fremont Street. The right to film there is something that is usually handled by getting a filming permit. IINM, you are supposed to get a filming permit for any commercial activity on public streets, and I'm not sure of the status of Fremont Street in that area; it's closed to traffic, so it's not like you'd be impeding traffic, but if you tried to set a tripod down and became a public nuisance to traffic, you'd definitely find yourself escorted out by security guards, unless you have a permit.

I looked at it briefly to see if you were violating the "reasonable expectation of privacy" that people have; but when people are on a public street, and you're filming from a public street, that usually doesn't apply. As long as the video was a personal project and not for commercial exploitation, it seems hard to understand what the guy is complaining about. But, that said, I didn't watch all of it, I just took a quick look.
 
Well that's about it, to be honest. I just shot stuff on public streets where I saw other tourists shooting videos. I only had my camera, never brought a tripod or anything. You can see that the security guard at Fremont was right in front of me, and saw me filming, yet never said a word.

And and all opinions will be appreciated, so keep them coming.
 
Tell him that you can only consider legal materials from a bar-qualified attorney, and that if he wants to talk legal matters with you he should have his lawyer make the contact.

And see how quickly he shuts up.
 
Sad Max said:
Tell him that you can only consider legal materials from a bar-qualified attorney, and that if he wants to talk legal matters with you he should have his lawyer make the contact.

And see how quickly he shuts up.
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yeah!!! I AGREE.

Also tell him that it was not for commercial use.

- Derrick
 
Also, I'm sending you a hold-harmless note to sign and return, just in case someone decides to call the bluff.
 
Before I run into more crap, can you guys tell me what is/isn't allowed in Los Angeles? I want to film stuff here, but can't seem to find what you need a permit for, and what you don't. So could you tell me what is allowed and what isn't?

1. Random filming - As in, videos of the beach, the town, etc. Nothing specific, just "test" type videos like we see every day on youtube.

2. Short films - all of my short films will be low budget, with no crew or anything. Where should I avoid filming? Can you get in trouble for filming a walking/dialogue scene at the beach or something?

3. Music videos. I want to try and make some cash by shooting videos for clients. How should I go about doing this, so I don't run into trouble? What places should I avoid, etc.

There are so many music videos, test videos, etc. around, that I don't see why there'd be a problem doing these things, as long as I don't become a nuisance.

I'm just checking up so I know what to expect if I run into other jerks like the Vegas guy.
 
In L.A. you're likely to run into lots more of those jerks. Even when you have a permit, people there have learned to extort filmmakers by making noise or whatever until you pay them off.

But the answers you seek can be had from FilmLA.
 
One thing I'd ask is how the company is damaged?

I don't see any damages at all.

If I walk on my neighbor's lawn, I've committed a trespass.

Sue me, and the court will award $1.00.
 
The fact the you and I don't see damage doesn't mean that a creative attorney can't find something to pitch to the court.

I still think this is probably a total non-issue but it's still worth bearing in mind as a general rule.
 
The one area you have to be careful in is commercials (i.e. advertising). It's called "Implied Endorsement." The very same shot used in, say, a feature film (let's say, Jack Nicholson walking down a street in Los Angeles) is usually ok if you see unreleased people (as previously noted ...expectation of privacy doesn't apply). But dropping that same shot into a commercial and, of course ol' Jack has to get paid, but everyone else (even in stock footage) must be released, as well.
 
Anything commercial and the rules change, I understand that. But for these types of personal videos and "test" vids, I don't see why there'd ever really be a problem :P
 
Sad Max said:
The fact the you and I don't see damage doesn't mean that a creative attorney can't find something to pitch to the court.
Click to expand...

I am an attorney, and I don't see any damages.

Certainly none of and substance that can proved be a preponderance of the evidence.

Court is expensive, and most clients are mindful of that expense.

It could be a low level "shake down" as much as anything else, and let's remember who contacted the OP.

Wasn't it an employee of the owner?
 
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Yes, an employee. I posted the video in a Vegas forum, and one guy asked me if I had release forms for everyone in the video. I told him I didn't think I needed any, and some guy basically said "You wanna try your knowledge of the law here in NV? I can tell you shot that on my employer's property, where videography is prohibited. I will be forwarding this video to his legal counsel."
 
The guy that called you sounds like a goofball. "Videography is prohibited" mean video OF the property, not FROM the property. This doesn't negate that you should try and permit the location, but if you can "grab" the shot and the image in the frame isn't giving you problems, then I wouldn't worry. Besides, the burden of proof is on the person that called you. Can he prove that you didn't use a long crane that extend OVER his property, as opposed to a tripod ON his property?
 
The mods closed the thread to prevent any flaming wars, but aside from that I've heard nothing. I also asked what shot was on the property, and that I'd gladly re-edit the video, but he never answered.

Also, why exactly is it that we don't need releases for filming random people in non-commercial videos?
 
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