City Sets Formal Rules for Film Permits

looks like we can rest a little easier now....

Posted: Monday, 14 July 2008 9:22AM

City Sets Formal Rules for Film Permits
NEW YORK (AP) -- Filmmakers and photographers who shoot on New York City's famed streets and sidewalks now have a clear set of rules dictating when they must obtain permits, after years of relying on loose guidelines that civil liberties advocates said were too vague.

The rules, which were to appear Monday in the City Record, now state clearly that productions must have permits and at least $1 million in insurance if they plan to take over a lane of traffic or leave less than eight feet of open space on a sidewalk. Permits and insurance are also required for shoots that involve vehicles or use equipment other than hand-held devices or cameras on tripods -- items like props, sets, lights, dolly tracks, screens and microphone devices.

Before the rules were formally outlined, the dozens of productions that shot outdoors in the city each day typically obtained permits and insurance if they were going to disrupt city life on sidewalks and streets, but City Hall had never established clear rules for doing so.

``We're not really trying to change anything, we're just clarifying some of the positions that have been in place and in practice for a number of years,'' Katherine Oliver, commissioner of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, said in an interview.

Many filmmakers and photographers -- both amateur and professional -- had long complained that the policies were too vague and gave authorities too much leeway to harass artists on the street.

Last year, Bloomberg's administration agreed to make the rules clear and formal as part of a settlement in a lawsuit against the city on behalf of award-winning documentarian Rakesh Sharma, who was detained in 2005 when he was standing on a Manhattan sidewalk, filming with a handheld camera.

The New York Civil Liberties Union sued the city in federal court on his behalf, alleging that the Bloomberg administration had no formal permit policies, and the suit successfully sought to get the city to put a set of regulations on the record.

But photographers, filmmakers and civil liberties advocates were stunned by the first set of rules drafted last summer by Bloomberg's film office. Under that proposal, any group of two or more people who were filming or taking pictures for more than 30 minutes on city property would have needed a permit and insurance.

Taken literally, those permit rules would have applied to tourists snapping photos in Times Square and families shooting videos of their children in the park.

The city insisted that the rules were only meant to apply to potentially disruptive productions, and agreed to revise the proposed regulations.

The new requirements, which go into effect in 30 days, were drafted in consultation with the NYCLU, along with filmmakers, photographers and representatives from the television and entertainment industries.

NYCLU associate legal director Chris Dunn said the organization approved of the new rules, but said the city has a way to go in educating authorities about what type of filming requires a permit.

Dunn said the NYCLU receives regular complaints about police officers harassing photographers and videographers on the street.

``With these rules, the city has recognized the important First Amendment interests in photography and has agreed to adopt a set of rules that respect those rights,'' Dunn said, ``But they need to take the next step, which is to make sure the Police Department is better in the way it handles photographers, and they have a lot of work to do in that area.''

The new rules also give those who do not need a permit the right to obtain an optional one, which was something that the NYCLU insisted on including, Dunn said.

The organization said it gives photographers and filmmakers the chance to have a piece of paper to show authorities who are not familiar with the new regulations.


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