If I wanted to take journalistic photos of an event in the UK, what would I
need to consider from a legal point of view?
Okay, some background on the event...
Plans are afoot to dig a whopping great quarry in the heart of the village
where I live.
The villagers are completely opposed to it.
The parish council say they're opposed, but they don't seem to be doing
anything very much apart from having closed doors meetings where the
public
aren't invited.
I have established a website to give the villagers a single unified voice
and bring our plight to the attention of the world.
Part of running this site will involve publi****ng regular re****ts of
meetings and things like that.
Now, the parish council have finally called a public meeting in the
village
hall this coming Saturday, and invited the village to attend.
I plan to go along with my camera and an MP3 recorder to get photos and
interview people for the site, and also to get photos and a re****t of the
meeting.
I'm anticipating objections to my photographing the parish councillors and
the event in general.
Do they have any right to damand that I stop photographing the event?
If they do make this demand, what possible comebacks can I use?
Could I get away with telling them that the site is pulling nearly 2000
hits
a day, and that if they're opposed to the site, then in the spirit of free
journalism, I'm left with no option but to publish that as a story on the
front page, and in doing so point out that by taking a stance against a
website that objects to the quarry, they are in effect taking a stance
against the feelings and opinions of the entire village?
The village hall, as I understand it, is a public place...
Does a parish council have the right or power to impose a photography ban
there?
--
http://www.SavePentney.co.uk
The online campaign to stop the quarrying of minerals in Pentney village
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