Grand Central Terminal NYC: Canon 5Dmk2

[Reaktor4]

this is not a grey area. not due to privacy, which CAN be a grey area, however, for two other reasons. first, filming in grand central not allowed by the mta and the moftb. second, grand central is copyright protected, just like the bull at wall street and the lions at the gate of the library. i am in the process of installing a 30 foot keith haring art wall owned by a gallery in times square, and despite the fact that it is privately owned, i need permission from the keith haring foundation to film it in a public place because they own copyright on its image, representation, reproduction, and likeness. enforcement and the size of the violation are two other issues. whether or not you get a ticket for going a few miles an hour over the speed limit is a separate discussion from whether you are speeding, and whether its against the law. aka, you can probably get away with filming in places like grand central, as long as you are not doing anything substantial, but that doesn't change the legitimacy. there are many famous art legal cases regarding this issue that have arisen from the question of whether a photo of a photo of child pornography can be considered art in the sense that it was "displayed for condemnation." google gary gross and brook shields to see the limits of reproducing copyrighted work...... gary took a photo of a naked child photo of brook "to protest" the photo.......

Actually, this also depends. To say filming in Grand Central is not allowed is not entirely correct. What kind of filming? Is it commercial? Then you'll need a permit. Are you using ancillary equipment, such as a tripod, lights, or other equipment in general besides a camera? You'll need a permit. However, there are no specified rules against merely filming for non-commercial reasons, without extra equipment, so no permit is required in this scenario.

This goes for the rest of NYC as well. If I am shooting anything(within limits) commercially, I must have a permit. However, I can use a tripod without a permit if I'm in a public place like sidewalks, bridges, or other normally public areas that aren't on MTA grounds or within privately owned stations.