fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

Vlogging your next vacation to a National Park for YouTube could land you in jail with criminal charges

by 2 Comments

Well, this is a strange one, but given how things have been going the last few years, maybe not so much. The D.C. Circuit Court has ruled that First Amendment rights no longer apply to filmmaking, sort of. At least, not in National Parks and not if you intend to make even a single penny out of the resulting footage – even if just posting to your own social media.

In 2018, independent filmmaker Gordon Price filmed some scenes in Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia, for his film, Crawford Road. After premiering the film at nearby restaurants, the National Park Service issued him with citations for “commercial filming” in a national park without permits. Several trips to various courts later and the D.C. Circuit Court has ruled 2-1 that any intent to make any money at all from content made on NPS land – even from a single YouTube ad – means you need to pay commercial fees before filming.

[Read More…]

Five photojournalists sue Homeland Security for violating First Amendment

by 9 Comments

Five freelance photojournalists are suing the Department of Homeland Security for violating their First Amendment rights. The photojournalists claim that they were tracked, detained, and interrogated by Homeland Security while they were covering the issues along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 and 2019.

[Read More…]

Court Says Threatening to Arrest for Recording Police Violates First Amendment

A District Court in California recently said that the act of threatening to arrest a person solely for recording police officers is a clear violation of the First Amendment.

The summary judgment was given in Barich v. City of Cotati, where a civilian who often records city officials claimed the chief of police violated his First Amendment rights by threatening to arrest him if he recorded the chief.

The court also said the police chief is not entitled to qualified immunity, which would shield him from liability for the violation of an individual’s federal constitutional rights, as it’s clear that the public has the right to record government officials in public places.

[Read More…]

‘Police Buffer Zone’ Bill Attacked By Law Enforcement Groups and Legal Experts

by 1 Comment

The bill proposing to ban recording police within 25-feet of them faced strong opposition from concerned citizens and civil right activists, and was said to be changed to 15-feet after its author received death threats.

What might be the bill’s death strike has now come from legal experts as well as the very same people the bill claims to be assisting.

Refusing to get out of the headlines, Jason Villalba is now spearheading another controversial bill.

[Read More…]

Recent Posts