While catching up on some of the buzz on a local internet forum I came across an interesting thread. It seems that there have been a few incidents here in Charlotte where people have been confronted by security guards and told that they could not take photos. This stems from a recent incident in which a foreign visitor was arrested in July after the police found him videotaping the FBI headquarters in Charlotte. When the police reviewed the tape in his camera, they found it full of "other shots of skyscrapers and other American landmarks". While no terrorist ties were proven, the gentleman was convicted of several immigration charges including possessing false identification cards, and is being deported.
Of course, it is not illegal to take photos on public property in the US, but it appears that most property managers here have implemented a policy of banning any photography on their properties. When the security officers enforce this policy, they have a tendency to leave out the part about it only applying to while you are on their private property, and people have simply been told "You cannot take photos of our building."
As Active Rainers become more involved in contributing to the Localism site, the following information may come in handy. In fact, I would suggest carrying a copy with you when venture out to capture a little of the local color.
http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf
Hi Christopher.. Welcome to Active Rain!!! good start and very interesting point. I printed out the PDF to read now. keep those blogs coming,.. it will pay off and you will see the benefits. Hope to see more.. see you around.
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