this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
42 points (97.7% liked)

United Kingdom

4068 readers
542 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in [email protected] or [email protected]
More serious politics should go in [email protected].

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

on youtube I watched a British reality show about airports and (mostly foreign) passengers being searched for anything illegal.

What I find troubling is that many of these passengers speak very little English and find it difficult to articulate an answer to what officers ask in English. I remember an Indian national who didn't speak any English that though he had the right visa to work in the UK, only to find he had been duped by an Indian scammer and was refused entry. He started crying and the crew filmed the whole scene.

This is humiliating to say the least and I wouldn't want this to happen to me if I visit the UK. My questions:

  • Should a reality crew start recording me, do I have a right to my image and can I tell them to stop recording me? Do tv crews respect that?

  • What about the police? Can they record my face, even if I don't consent?

  • I also have a cultural question: If an officer at a British airport asks you if he can search your luggage and you say no and you ask him if you are under arrest, what happens then?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (2 children)

the rule is, the production company has to have your express permission if you directly talk to the camera or are featured in the footage. If you are in public and part of the crowd you cant ask for removal unless theres a good reason like court cases or something. You have to sign a form if you are more than just a person passing.

heathrow in particular is interesting because nearly all large airports are public owned and heathrow is private. This is important because the production company has permission to film from the owners, and so as a customer you are on their premises and subject to their terms of entry, one of which is being filmed as a member of the public. If the production company does interview you or features you (not just a passing person) and do not have permission there have been many cases where the program has been held from broadcast until the matter is resolved. If you think you need to ask them the company and names of production staff are on the credits of the show.

I know of one case with a prank tv show where the company pranked an estate agent by blowing up the house, and he got PTSD. The episode was never broadcast because he refused to sign the release, and sued the company for a serious amount of money. But the basic release form meant the company couldnt pass through the broadcast regulations.

In public there are a few restrictions but basically its public land like a street and not expected to be empty of people. You cant film wembley arch because its licenced to the FA rather than the local council.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (4 children)

THEY BLEW UP A HOUSE ? AS A PRANK ?

What has humanity come to...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

i can expand a little but you dont know who’s reading this now or in the future, so cant give many more details. The idea was, as the ‘mark’ leaves the building with the couple who are in on the gag the house collapses behind him. Unfortunately the company used explosives and fire rigs to make the thing fall to bits so it looked like it just blew up and just missed him. There’s more to it as well but the upshot is, its a terrible thing and ruined a guys life for some stupid tv show.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I mean that's kind of awesome.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I note there are no details as to whether the property was structurally sound. It seems like it would be a lot for a prank show to buy a house someone could live in just to blow it up, rather than buying a condemned property and cleaning/fixing it up just enough to look livable to anyone not inspecting it too closely. Especially with housing prices the way they have been in the UK for the last 30-odd years.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 months ago

It’s what Cotton would have wanted

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Spot on answer and really well articulated.

I think a lot of folk assume privacy, similar to the French model, but in the UK that really doesn't exist.

One of the clearest examples is how the press operates. Doorstepping politicians and celebrities. They wouldn't be able to do that if they required permission from the individual.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

There's a few French models, from what I've heard

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In France the subject of the photograph owns the copyright of the picture.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wow. So what happens there if you take a picture in a crowded area?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Legally, the default is that you need to ask permission of all subjects to shoot the photo. And again for each publication of that image.

In practice this is relaxed for public shots and street photography where the intent is not to make someone the subject of the photograph (people walking by in the background of a shot) or when "treating people with respect" (so yeah, no predatory homeless shots, or getting up in people's faces). That said, this is for personal use and publishing them means you still might need to seek permission or risk being prosecuted later.

Finally there is a caveat that is "the right for information" which is how the paparazzi are able to photograph celebrities and the like. Under the heading of journalism.

Even so, you can only use those photographs in context. So, say you catch a shot Madonna flouting the law, you can't later use that same photograph to illustrate an article of her being nice to cats. Furthermore they can also claim you are intruding on their private life. Which might still get you into trouble.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's really clear. I appreciate you taking the time to fill me in so thank you!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You're more than welcome. It's a fascinating subject area. Especially given the history of street photography and its roots in France.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

It surely is fascinating. I like the nuance tbh, especially the subject owning copyright part.