Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

non-sexual photos of children taken in public places

I'm not sure if this is the correct area of law, but here goes.

My husband bought a camera, and he would like to do some freelance photography.

Would it be okay for him to take pictures at public skateboard park and use those photos on an online portfolio?

I believe I have read, that it is okay in a group setting, as long as the people are not identifiable.

We are in our early 30's, and we have a 3-year-old son. He--my son-- likes to see the big kids skating. My husband would like to take some pictures. They have an attendant there at all times. Younger kids must be accompanied by a parent at all times.

Is it safe in this day and age to go around taking pictures of children?

If I were at a park with my son, and somebody started to take pictures of him or any other child, I would have a problem with that. Should he asks the parents who are there first?

If a person just drove up and started to take picture of kids, then I would be suspicious.

I probably would call the cops.

Should my husband contact the park or someone and ask first?

I just don't want someone like me, a paranoid parent, calling the cops on a good guy, my husband.

Thank you.


Asked on 7/13/08, 10:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nancy Delain Delain Law Office, PLLC

Re: non-sexual photos of children taken in public places

Your question is actually based in family law, but I'll answer it. Other people's children, even unrecognizably reproduced, is a REALLY BAD subject for a freelance online portfolio.

If you photograph any child not your own (a "child" is anyone under 18) without their parents' explicit written consent and, heaven forbid, something happens to the kid... Why expose any child (or yourselves, as the provider of the information to the predator) to that risk?

Also, you are getting into the rights that each individual has to keep his/her image to him/herself. These are called "rights of publicity" and they are what photographers pay models for.

Photograph your own kid, by all means, but if you publicize the pictures (and not just online; print media count), make absolutely certain that no other child is recognizable by face, clothing, stance, hairstyle, scar, any feature... (get PhotoShop or similar and blank out the features of the skaters if need be) unless you have the written permission of BOTH parents/legal guardians. And get a lawyer to draw up that permission form. This is way more than a school permission slip for a field trip.

For good information about photos of children taken and posted by strangers (i.e., your husband), see the website for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com).

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

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Answered on 7/14/08, 2:50 am


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