AV News 178 - November 2009
It is a criminal offence to take an indecent photograph of a child under the age
of 18 or to make a photograph that appears to be such (e.g. by pasting an image
of a child's head on an image of a nude adult body).
The Editors' Code provides that journalists must not interview or photograph
a child under 16 on subjects involving the welfare of the child, or other children,
without the consent of the parent of the child.
A child under 16 cannot be used as a paid model unless a licence is obtained
from the local authority.
It is not illegal as such to photograph children in a public place, however in
some circumstances it will almost certainly draw the attention of the police and
may result in the photographer being investigated. In Scotland it may be treated
as a breach of the peace. It is advisable to get at least verbal consent from the
parents wherever possible.
Many organisations and local authorities involved in children's sporting and
other activities have, as part of their child protection policies, strict rules about
photography at events. It is worth inquiring about the policy before attempting to
take photographs at such events, even if you are the parent of a child taking part.
Obstruction and Public Order
It is a criminal offence to obstruct free passage on the highway and this includes
footways and cycle paths as well as roads. Whether a photographer will be
treated as causing an obstruction depends on the reasonableness of his
behaviour. Setting up a tripod in a busy street is obviously likely to cause an
obstruction. The police will usually initially ask the photographer to move along
rather than arrest him, unless his behaviour is persistent.
Another obstruction offence is that of obstructing a police officer in the
execution of his duty. This basically means doing anything that makes it more
difficult for the police to carry out their duties effectively. Getting in the way of the
police while trying to photograph an incident, for example, would be obstructing
them.
Photographers who are shooting incidents such as riots and illegal
demonstrations should take care that the police don't confuse them with the
participants. The best advice is to stay calm, don't argue and move further from
the scene if requested to do so by the police. Refusal might lead to an arrest for
obstruction.
National Security
In recent years, sensitivity over issues of security and prevention of terrorism
has been very high. This has led to photographers being confronted by police
when taking photographs of subjects that previously would not have been
thought of as particularly sensitive.
Two areas of the law might come into play to restrict the right to take
photographs of certain places. The first is the Official Secrets Act 1911. This
makes it an offence to take a photograph of a "prohibited place" where this might
be useful to an enemy. The term "prohibited place" encompasses a great variety
of places.
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