(UK) Do You Need a Property Release if . . . . .

Do you need a property release if you are standing on private property to take a photograph, but the subject is a public place?

I'm aware of the rules regarding photography when in a public place, and when photographing a private place from within that private place, but I don't know about photographing a public place whilst standing on private property!

The reason why I'm asking is that quite often for landscapes the public footpaths don't always offer the best viewpoint, so I often want to go into an adjacent field to get the view that I'm after.

I don't want to get into a situation where I get into trouble if I sell a photograph of a public place that was taken from what turned out to be private land. It's not always obvious what is public and what is private when out in the countryside, so to be on the safe side, and for the sake of this question, I'm assuming that all the non-public-footpath areas are private land.

Mike

I knew this would be a popular thread!

The answer is no. I don't have references handy just now, but once you have taken the image you no longer require any sort of release at all.

It might be that when you're on private property you're trespassing, but that isn't a problem until someone actually asks you to leave (or there are clear signs).

Okay, thanks. Does this apply to the UK? I'm just asking as I can't tell where you are based, in case the rules are different for where you are.

Mike

Just posting again as I'm hoping to clarify the information given so far.

If anyone else knows the answer to this, please feel free to jump in!

Thanks,

Mike

Mike-DT6 wrote in post #7971765
Do you need a property release if you are standing on private property to take a photograph, but the subject is a public place?

Don't know, but, you will need the landowners permission first to pass on his property, if not and you take the shot, you have just provided proof against yourself that you were trespassing

Yes, very true! I think I could live with that, but I don't really want to produce any images that could rightfully have their legality challenged on the basis of where I was standing when I took them!

Mike

Let's just say no...how're they going to prove it? "This photographer was using a 100-400 at 380 mm so he must've been in our private building while taking the picture of his subject!"

Two parts here....

Where you are standing - private property, then you need permission to be there no matter what you are doing.

The subject - in a public place then (with the odd exception) you can photograph anything that is in public without permission.

Thank you both.

Karl, sometimes it would be obvious where the photograph was taken, if for example a certain viewpoint is only available from a certain field (private farmland for the sake of this discussion).

Scuff, I'm well aware of the first bit, and of course the second bit, but my question relates specifically to whether the legality of a photograph is affected, based on where it was taken from, i.e. where the photographer is standing (private land) and not what the photograph depicts.

Mike