Well, most events will issue press credentials, which are by application only,
and the event planners can DENY credentials to anyone. So if you're CNN and
the VCF declines to give you a press admittance, you could still enter as a
member of the public, but presumably VCF would have been smart enough to have
some fine print stating that members of the publics' photos cannot be used for
commercial gain, in which case CNN would be illegally using its show admittance
ticket.
However, experienced reporters know that you only deal with stuff like
credentials if the event planners insist on it. We want as little interference
in doing our jobs as possible. If I can just show up at an event and do my
job, then I will; I'm not going to voluntarily tell the event folks "gee,
shouldn't you issue me a special pass, which you can later use to get in my
way?".
Think about it -- do building contractors suggest that town inspectors come
harass them; do chefs demand sanitation inspections? No, they just deal with
them as a necessary evil. Supreme Court decisions in this country thankfully
disallow prior restraint from the government, let alone from private companies.
--- Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk_at_yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On Mon, 2004-12-13 at 08:44 -0800, Computer Collector Newsletter wrote:
> > >>> they still need permission to use it.
> >
> > BULLSHIT. I'm an actual, living, breathing, working reporter, and when I
> go to
> > a convention or any other event, I write about and takes pictures of
> anything I
> > damn well please. The only paperwork or permission I need is called the
> First
> > Freaking Amendment.
>
> I'm surprised that permission isn't needed to show any footage that
> contains a name / logo or other identifying mark though, but that images
> which could technically have been made anywhere are fair game and
> subject to no restrictions.
>
> And even then there must be a lot of slack in any law; if a crew's
> shooting a city scene say, then they can't really go asking every single
> shop which displays a sign and it'd seem unreasonable to expect them to.
>
> In this case Ed said he himself took the image, so allowed use by CNN
> was implicit, and as there was no way of identifying that it was the VCF
> no other checks were necessary.
>
> I'm not a lawyer, and different countries must have all sorts of rules
> and regulations, but that seems like the common-sense approach to me!
>
> cheers
>
> Jules
>
>
=====
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Received on Mon Dec 13 2004 - 11:24:27 GMT