This just in from the NYCLU: The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court on behalf of a Columbia University graduate student of Indian descent who was unlawfully handcuffed and detained in July after a police officer saw him snapping photographs near a subway station in upper Manhattan.

“I was surprised and upset that I could be handcuffed on the street for taking a photograph,” Arun Wiita said. “What was really disheartening was that I knew this had probably happened before and that it could happen again to anyone.” (more…)

New York State’s highest court recently threw out the conviction of a man who was arrested for standing and not moving on a Times Square corner in June 2004. (Picture shown is not that man - this is some other guy with a camera on a narrow city sidewalk.)

The judge said, “Something more than a mere inconvenience of pedestrians is required (snip) Otherwise, any person who happens to stop on a sidewalk - whether to greet another, to seek directions or simply to regain one’s bearings - would be subject to prosecution under this statute.”
Read the NYT City Room blog on the ruling here.

PNY agrees with basing need for a shooting permit on whether a photographer actually causes an obstruction, but we’d like a clear statement that occupancy of the sidewalk by a person with a camera is not defacto obstruction - anything less is just asking for trouble, on the street and in the courts.

+ The MOFTB’s amended proposal for camera rules and a press release are up for review at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Film. The time for public comment is NOW. You have until Thursday, December 13, 2007 to submit your comment to the city.

The public hearing on the regs is 10am, December 13, 2007.

photo credit: danielkrieger.com

October 28, 2007
“Mayor to Ease Permit Rules for Capturing City’s Image”
By DIANE CARDWELL

Amateur photographers and independent filmmakers looking to chronicle bird life, take snapshots in Times Square or capture the distinctive thrum of New York’s streets will not need to obtain permits or insurance under new rules being proposed by the Bloomberg administration.

The rules, to be released on Tuesday for public comment, would generally allow people using hand-held equipment, including tripods, to shoot for any length of time on sidewalks and in parks as long as they leave sufficient room for pedestrians.

The proposal, drafted as part of a settlement in a lawsuit, was revised after a passionate outcry over the summer from fine-art photographers, independent filmmakers and civil libertarians concerned that the original rules would have restricted unobtrusive video recording. (more…)

Paul Amita, left, and Eileen Clancy deliver petitions protesting the rule proposal to Dean McCann of the city’s film office. (photo by Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times)

After Protests, City Agrees to Rewrite Proposed Rules on Photography Permits
By DIANE CARDWELL Published: August 4, 2007

Responding to an outcry that included a passionate Internet campaign and a satiric rap video, city officials yesterday backed off proposed new rules that could have forced tourists taking snapshots in Times Square and filmmakers capturing that only-in-New-York street scene to obtain permits and $1 million in liability insurance.

In announcing the move, officials at the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting said they would redraft the rules, intended to apply to commercial film and photography productions, to address complaints that they could be too broadly applied. They will then release the revised rules for public comment.

“It appears that the mayor’s office on film has come to their senses,” said Eileen Clancy, a member of a group formed to protest the rules. “Clearly, they did not anticipate the way in which the rules were likely to affect so many different groups of people.” (more…)

The NYTimes City Room blog popped in to videotape at today’s joint press conference of Picture New York, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the New York Civil Liberties Union. The NYCLU is the only one you’ll see mentioned in the Times coverage that we’re linking to, but we were all there. The Free NYC Rap guys from Olde English were there too! We’re the “huge and dynamic group of New Yorkers … who won’t take it lying down when the city tries to squelch free expression” that the NYCLU’s Donna Lieberman talks about with obvious pleasure in the videoclip. That’s us — that’s 31,600 of us — that have something to celebrate with today’s reversal by the city.

The NYT City Room blog gets the petition numbers wrong by a third, but at least ‘the paper of record’ followed us uptown to the Mayor’s Office on Film, where we delivered into the public record those nearly three reams of paper holding 31,600 of your names.

The Times has covered the camera permits issue from the start, when it was just them and NY1 paying attention.

Film Permit Clampdown?
National Public Radio station WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show looks at why many film and photography professionals oppose the proposed regulations. Streaming audio here

The NY Daily News weighs in with a second killer editorial against the regulation of cameras on the streets of NY . . .

“The reviews are in. City Hall’s plan for requiring the camera-wielding public to get permits before shooting film or video on the streets is a turkey, a bomb, the bureaucratic equivalent of “Waterworld.” It’s that mind-numbingly dumb.” (more…)

Picture New York and the NYCLU joined Amy Goodman in the Democracy Now studios Thursday morning for a chat they titled “Independent Artists Lead Fight Against Proposed NYC Regs.” The FreeNYC Rap by Olde English, and Queen Juliana’s “Wait! What? Get A Permit To Make A Video?” led the segment.

There’s a transcript of the show, as well as streaming audio and video archived on DemocracyNow.org.

AP-New York: NYC may require permits for many types of filming, photography

This Associated Press story is running today in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Guardian (UK), The International Herald Tribune, ABC News, and at least 100 other news outlets. (more…)

With Deadine Looming, Proposed NYC Film Permit Rules Rile Indies
by Agnes Varnum

With stenciled Bolex camera protest signs and no permit to assemble, some 400 people demonstrated at a downtown Manhattan rally on Friday to protest New York’s moves to alter rules that govern filming and photography on the city’s streets. On that same day, members of NYC’s independent film community met with the Mayors Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting (MOFTB) (more…)

Sewell Chan of the NYT City Room blogs A Shout Out to the M.O.F.T.B., with lyrics . . .

It’s hard enough to shoot in Manhattan
So much happenin’, sirens flashin’
Every single minute there’s another distraction
And now you wanna cash in every time I say action??

Proposin’ new rules to try and get rid of me
A million in insurance just to cover liabilities!
From Little Italy all the way to Harlem
Bloomberg’s jealous cause our movies won’t star him

But wait. There’s more:

Make no mistake these rules are heartless
Everyone knows they just target artists
The video bloggaz at protest marches
And kidz making vids for the YouTube contests!
it’s garbage! Let’s tell the people in power
We wanna film for more than half an hour!
We won’t rest ’til that law gets trashed.

Picturing Protest, Artists Organize to Fight Camera Permit Proposal
by Colin Moynihan, 7/28/07

As the city considers rule changes that would require a permit to photograph and film in public places, a coalition of filmmakers and photographers is mobilizing a campaign against the rules by using the very medium they believe the regulations would constrict. (more…)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Village Voice: I Turn My Camera On
New rules, but still no truce between filmmakers and the mayor’s office

Monday, October 29, 2007
Hollywood Reporter: N.Y. unveils new film permit proposal

Variety: Mayor’s Office releases permit pact,
Redraft of NY proposal hopes to cool tensions

Sunday, October 28, 2007
NYTimes: Mayor to Ease Permit Rules for Capturing City’s Image

Monday, August 7, 2007
NYT City Room blog: NYC Filmmakers Raise Their Voice

Sunday, August 6, 2007
The Hollywood Reporter: N.Y. develops new film regs

The DV Show: podcast with Picture New York and Eve McKnight of the MOFTB

Saturday, August 4, 2007
New York Times: After Protests, City Agrees to Rewrite Proposed Rules on Photography Permits

Variety: Mayor’s Office rethinks proposed rules

Friday, August 3, 2007
NY1: City Backs Down On Proposed Photography Laws Following Protests

NYT City Room: Revised Rules Coming on Filmmaking and Photography, After Uproar

Popular Photography: Proposed NYC Photography Restrictions Draw Fire
quickly followed by
NYC Mayor’s Office to Redraft Photography Restrictions

The Associated Press: NYC to revise filming permit rules that angered photographers

Thursday, August 2, 2007
Democracy Now: Independent Artists Lead Fight Against Proposed NYC Regs

Amateur Photographer (UK): New York photo liberty threat

The Villager: Critical Mass rally focuses on proposed filming rules

Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Associated Press: NYC may require permits for many types of filming, photography
seen in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, NY Newsday, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Guardian Unlimited (UK), The International Herald Tribune, ABC News, and at least 100 other news outlets

WCBS Newsradio 880: Proposed New Rules Would Impact Amateur Filmmakers in NYC

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
MSNBC Countdown with Keith Olbermann names Julianne Cho and the MOFTB “Worst persons”

amNewYork: Artists fight proposed filming restrictions

AlterNet: Bloomberg Wants to Make You Pay to Photograph New York
This post, written by Lindsay Beyerstein, originally appeared on Majikthise

Monday, July 30, 2007
New York Times: A Shout Out to the M.O.F.T.B.

indiewire: With Deadine Looming, Proposed NYC Film Permit Rules Rile Indies

NY1 News: Local Filmmakers Speak Out Against New City Filming Rules

Saturday, July 28, 2007
New York Times: Picturing Protest, Artists Organize to Fight Camera Permit Proposal

The Gothamist: Protest Against City’s Proposed Photography Rules

Friday, July 27, 2007
WNBC-TV Ch.4: Shuttering Shutterbugs?

NY Metro: Groups Protest Film Rules

WBAI Evening News: segment is three minutes into the broadcast

The Gothamist: Fighting for the Right to Photograph

Treehugger: Michael Stipe and Others Respond to NYC Mayor’s Plans to Limit Cameras

NY Press: Fight for Your Right to Bear Camera

Now Public: Picture This - Photography Restrictions in NYC?!

L Magazine: Still Caring About Things That Are Happening

July 26, 2007
Village Voice: Rally Friday for First Amendment Rights

Artnet: New York Artists Protest Anti-Filming Rule

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Endangered Freedom of Expression

July 23, 2007
Urban Hawks: Save Our Nature Photographers

July 13, 2007
Anthony Kaufman’s IndieWire Don’t Let NYC Destroy Local DIY Filmmaking

July 3, 2007
NY Daily News, Editorial: Lights, Camera, Inaction

July 2, 2007
NY Sun, Editorial: Say Cheese

June 30, 2007
Slashdot: Permit May Be Required For Public Photography in NYC

June 29, 2007
NY Times: City May Seek Permit and Insurance for Many Kinds of Public Photography

Gothamist: City Proposes Limits on Public Photography, Filming

Consumerist: NYC May Require You To Obtain Permit To Shoot Vacation Movies?

Adorama Photography News: NYC to Street Photographers: Drop Dead

June 27, 2007
NY 1 News: City Weighs New Rule Requiring Permit To Take Pictures Of City Property

Summer, 2006
2006: Mayor Michael Bloomberg Announces Increase in NY Television and Film Productions. This is an article from 2006, when Bloomberg announced that the city would create a new office to ”aggressively pitch New York City around the world as the nation’s art and cultural capital” by helping cultural creatives deal with financial obstacles to making art in this city. Ironic to read considering the burdensome regulations recently proposed.

January 7, 2005
New York Times: Want Shots Like These? Get a Permit; Ban on Subway Photography Would Defy a Tradition

June 7, 2004
New York Times: Subway Photography Ban Spurs Underground Protest

Artists fight proposed filming restrictions
By Justin Rocket Silverman, amNewYork Staff Writer

Up-and-coming singer Ano Okera needed to forgo the expense of renting a sound stage to shoot his music video, so he gathered six friends to dance with him in Union Square.

His was not the only low-budget video or still photography shoot there that day, and like the others, Okera never considered getting a film permit for his one-camera operation.

Yet under proposed city rules, he would not only need to apply for a free film permit weeks in advance, but might also have to buy $1 million in liability insurance. (more…)

Rap is music with a message, and a new rap video has a message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg: don’t mess with our creativity. As NY1’s Solana Pyne filed in the following report, new rules covering filming in the street has got one group of filmmakers stirred up.

Olde English is a group of independent filmmakers who make their living with comic videos. Their latest project (more…)