Probably dumb legal question: filming public

keylight said:
Having said that, if the filmmaker uses you in his film - or if the news crew uses your image in their story - in a possibly defamatory or slanderous way, you might win. There is a classic case from the late 70s that covers both the issue of summary judgement (that was granted by the trial court but then reversed on appeal) and defamation. A local ABC station had produced a news show about street prostitution and showed a clip of a woman walking down the street with commentary that could have been interpreted by the audience in such a way as to imply that the woman was a prostitute. She wasn't. She sued.
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Hence why we see so many shots of feet, people walking away from the camera or people from the shoulders down when stories are done about the population at large.


-Andrew
 
You guys over there certainly don't make it look attractive to visit and shoot video in the US :o) Things are more relaxed here in Europe, and people are mostly very reluctant to sue anyone for anything...
 
troelskirk said:
You guys over there certainly don't make it look attractive to visit and shoot video in the US :o) Things are more relaxed here in Europe, and people are mostly very reluctant to sue anyone for anything...
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Yeah, that's sort of the nature of our society and legal system. Our society is more competitive than cooperative and our legal system is adversarial rather than inquisitorial. That's by circumstance and design. There are good and bad aspects to it I suppose.

If you're shooting something for commercial use, as others have set you definitely want to get releases for everyone in your shots (or avoid showing faces, especially if the subject of the piece is anything at all controversial). For private use there aren't really any issues.
 
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