wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: Public Liability Insurance to Take Photos in Australian National Parks?
Roger Howard 2006-Jun-16 20:53:00
On Jun 16, 2006, at 11:55 AM, Bj?rn K Nilssen wrote:
> On 16 Jun 2006 at 7:40, Roger Howard wrote:
>
> >
> > On Jun 16, 2006, at 12:55 AM, Bj?rn K Nilssen wrote:
> > >
> > > What exactly is this public liability insurance about? What are
> you
> > > insured against?
> > > Sounds very strange to me..
> >
> > It may sound strange, but insurance is very typically a requirement
> > when applying for commercial photo permits (just like applying for
> > permits to do any other kind of work). It would cover any damage you
> > might do to a site, any accidents you're involved in, etc.
>
> So you also need to apply for a permit to take some photos in a
> national park?
> It doesn't make it sound less strange to me ;)
> We have lots of national parks here in Norway too, but I've never
> heard that you'd need a
> permit to photograph in them, be it as amateur or pro, and no
> insurance needed AFAIK.
Can you shoot anywhere in Norway - on city streets, for instance -
without a permit? For instance, you want to make a film... can you
just show up on the street with camera and light trucks, assistants,
cast and crew? I doubt it - you generally need a permit, which (city
or park) always involves insurance or a bond (among other things).
National parks are the same - they aren't trying to prevent people
from shooting - and in fact they are very conscious here of the fact
that many, if not most, tourists like to shoot, and a lot of them
have "pro" gear... what they are trying to do is keep the park intact
by not letting commercial crews just do whatever they want.
For a one or two person shoot it may seem silly, but the principle is
the same as with a 50 person film crew. They need to make sure you
don't interfere, you don't damage the park, and that if you do they
know where to send the bill! I'm sure it's the same in Norway - call
up your park services and ask them if you need a permit to stage a
commercial shoot in the park. I bet you do...
Now, last summer I initially had a cop tell me the issue was about
copyright - that the park services owns copyright to images of the
park! But after reading the regulations and looking at the permitting
process it had nothing to do with copyright - it was mainly an
insurance/liability issue. If you damage the park, OR if you get
injured during the shoot, they need to know that they aren't going to
get sued for letting you in.
Of course, this is America, lawsuits get passed around like water...
I know it's not this bad in most of Europe. But I'm certain that in
many/most places (where there's any governing authority) they'll
require a permit for a commercial shoot.
This is all beside the point though as I can't imagine anyone on a
WWP shoot being considered a commercial endeavor. Even if you are a
professional photographer, this isn't a commercial project, so you
should be fine without permits in most places that are open to the
public.
-R