[clug] New copyright law?

[Sam Couter]

Kim Holburn <kim at holburn.net> wrote:
> 
> It's interesting.  If a paparazzi takes a picture of you in the  
> street or a news camerman takes a video of you in the street can you  
> sue?

I'm not a lawyer, but I have read a bit about this and discussed it a bit
with a friend of mine who is a professional photographer.

The photographer must be on public property or have the permission of the
property owner. Even if you're on private property, if he can see you from
where he is on public property, see the following.

If you're newsworthy (famous for some reason, a politician or special in
some other newsworthy way) you're fair game.

If you're not newsworthy and you're simply part of the shot which has
something else like a sculpture or building or even a crowd that you're in
as the focus you're fair game.

If you're not newsworthy and you are the focus of the shot, the
photographer needs your permission to publish the photograph. I believe
he can take the photo without permission, he just can't use it.

> What is  "performance" anyway?

Playing music, singing, dancing, reciting poetry, etc. Just what you'd
expect. Also turning on a radio or playing a CD or DVD, which you may
not have expected.

> Does that include buskers?

Most definitely yes. If they're performing works that aren't theirs and
that they don't have permission for, they're infringing. A musical
performer in Australia can get a blanket public performance licence from
PPCA.

> If you suddenly start busking does that count?

Again, most definitely yes.

> Does hiring a hall mean that you are making a "performance"?

The act of hiring the hall isn't a performance. But when you set up your
guitar and amp and start playing, that's performance. If there are
people in the hall, that's public performance.
-- 
Sam Couter         |  mailto:sam at couter.id.au
                   |  jabber:sam at teknohaus.dyndns.org
OpenPGP fingerprint:  A46B 9BB5 3148 7BEA 1F05  5BD5 8530 03AE DE89 C75C
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
Url : http://lists.samba.org/archive/linux/attachments/20061121/932d86d3/attachment.bin