been threatened with legal action

[zak355]

Edited

[annayu]

Can they legally demand that you remove those pictures or are they just using solicitors to bully you?

[darter02]

I know that in the states there are some properties that are protected and a release is needed to photograph and display those images.

[northstar37]

litigious buggas

[zak355]

also edited

[northstar37]

:winks at the jury:

[clickaway]

Zak,

I'm glad you are taking this matter up.

I once did a photography project for English Heritage - we had to take pictures of listed buildings for publication on the web.

We could only take pictures on private land with the owner's or resident's written permission, but generally speaking if we could photograph from public land which included public rights of way across private land, we were within our rights. The only exceptions here being if there was clear evidence of children present (even by toys); identifiable vehicles, people, or if the place was something like a prison.

I know your laws are different than English ones, but I'm pretty sure you'll be advised that the picture taken from the public road will be OK.

Cheers,

Ray

[zak355]

Cheers Ray, yep my barrister pal has given the all clear to 1(possiby another, up to me if i want to show it though) of the 4 pics because they were taken from a public road, I could argue about the other 2 but i'm not sure it's worth it....

"Any member of the public is at liberty to walk over any land in Scotland provided he does so without damage to crops or fences and does not commit a breach of the various Poaching Acts. This applies to the whole country with the exception of private gardens or grounds which form the curtilage of a dwelling house or other private residence."

"He can quite easily argue that it is a dwelling house or other private residence based on the information on his website.(http://www.kames-castle.co.uk)

My advise would be just to take them off. However, if you would like to keep them up then do a google / ask image search using the name of the castle and see what comes up. If there are images taken by others and they havent been threatened with legal action then i would say a precedent of non action is in existence and therefore your defence."

[clickaway]

I see its possible to rent the place for a week. Seems like the ideal venue for a PBase meet

[zak355]

regarding the whole incident above i was asked to pop into the police station this afternoon for a chat

to stop any repeats of this i have had to remove most of my people pics(all it takes is for 1 of them to see themselves online and complain) so there you go, i'm only a landscape photographer now.

[davidclunas]

Shocked, have a read of this http://www.sirimo.co.uk/ukpr.php/2004/11/19/uk_photographers_rights_guide

[ericvision]

What the hell is this country coming to? Your right to roam and practice photography is enshrined in the new access laws.

You can photograph ANYTHING that you can otherwise see without breaking the law. Some of the things you cannot commercially gain from, but by the sounds of it, you haven't.

I think that you are being bullied by someone with too much time and money.

I really like the PBase meet suggestion - we could keep their solicitors busy for a long time

I'm seriously considering the invitation I have to go and live in Switzerland - beyond the reach of British nanny state and EU BS politics. I'm against Scottish independance (we can't afford it!) but if there was even a hint of independance getting rid of all this crap too then I'd be voting "yes" this time

[annayu]

....all i did was take a walk in the grounds, the gate was open!

That might be a problem, zak. If you were on private property, even if the gate was open. Good luck anyway. Property owner sounds paranoid.

[bassrock]

Zak,

This is a shit thing to happen and I am very sorry to hear that the bullying policing that I read about in London is evident on Bute also. We photographers have a real problem that the law is unclear about what we can take a picture of and how we can distribute it. It is made more difficult by the fact that the laws are different between Scotland, England and the rest of the world. So pictures that are legal here in Scotland may not be elsewhere and visa versa.

Personally, I see no problems with any of the pictures you have posted on PBase of places or people, and I support you if you stand your ground.

Power to your elbow and shutter finger Zak.

Bill

[jackthrt3]

Zak,
Your always welcome to shoot here. I've been warned that the subject monsters were going to get me. I own these shots, I caught them myself.
I truly believe my exposure victims crying out "you can't do that" are getting off on the attention.