I’m not a lawyer and I know that this is quite a complicated situation. As far as I know, you need to have consent of everyone in the photo, unless in some specific situations. As far as I remember, it is okay to take pictures when the persons are not recognizable or not the main part of the photo - but I guess that can be debatable…
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… loitering …
Here in the UK, the rule used to be (and probably still is) that a “public right of way” which includes roads, footpaths and so on, means we have the right to move back and forth, but not the right to stand still (and take photos). Standing still obstructs the highway, even if it’s just a tiny part of the highway, and that is an offence.
Back in the day, that is what the police used to threaten demonstrators or anyone else they didn’t like.
In most of England (dunno about Scotland etc) it is legal to park a car on the footpath alongside a road, even if that blocks wheelchairs etc from using the footpath. So I could park my car on the footpath, sit in comfort, and take as many photos as I wanted.
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The UK is quite a bit easier with regards to wandering around taking street photography.
The London Met Police have a page with the points of law.
https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/ph/photography-advice/
Many of the photography clubs have guides.
http://www.doncastercameraclub.co.uk/resources/Street-Photography.pdf
And many well known photographers have pages on their websites with summarized guidelines.
I have been on the search for similar guides for German street photography. So far without success - but then again I don’t read/write German. 
certainly there are some guides, but I also had no luck finding a good one…
The main thing is the “Recht am eigenen Bild”, which is described here: Recht am eigenen Bild (Deutschland) – Wikipedia. The other term that allows certain things is “Panoramafreiheit”, described here: Panoramafreiheit – Wikipedia - there is even an English article, however I don’t know if they have the information regarding Germany in there.
I know that couple of years ago there was some legislation change (I don’t remember exactly) and this topic was everywhere in the media. My main conclusion was, that you can get in trouble, if people are on the photo, so I do not take them any more. Of course, there are many exceptions and in most cases it seems to be OK to have people on the photo if they are not the main subject of the photo. However, I do not want to get in trouble and I am also too shy (and lazy) to ask for permission all the time, thus I avoid it.
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I found this Wikipedia page:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Country_specific_consent_requirements
I remember reading an interesting article about this, but annoyingly can’t remember where it was.
The gist of it was that there are quite stringent laws relating to personal data, which however do not apply to photos, unless there is further information (like time, place, name of person) attached to the images. (sorry, being a bit vague but going off memory).
But. For some reason there’s a general misconception among the German population that the laws to apply to any photo with a person in it.
This is just what I remember from one article (albeit fairly authoritative as I remember it) so don’t take my word for it!
Couple of links I did find (which don’t entirely agree with what I remember…)
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This sounds far more relaxed than I remember it, while on the other hand …
… this article basically states the opposite and even more, like advising written consent before taking the photo.
I think there are basically two different things: 1) you photograph a person (or many) and use them as the subject of the photo. 2) you photograph for example a building, and people are standing in your line of sight. IMHO but IANAL, only the first case requires consent. However, also in the second case it might be not allowed to publish the image online - and I have read about such cases that were then tried in court (i.e., people found their photo online, where they were part of the background)
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I think the best solution to the whole issue is having good cameras that appear non-professional. Panasonic has quite a few older micro 4/3 bodies with garish colors, including pink, red, and orange (eg a red GM5 here), Olympus has a few bodies in silver, and so does Sony. I do not know of any other manufacturers, but some Fujis have a silver top part.
But surely no security guard would claim that someone using a pink camera is professional.
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The “My little pony” camera skin has yet to be invented.
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I just came across Samuel Streetlife on youtube… he does some rather good interviews, among other stuff. Just started watching this one - which is rather relevant to this thread.
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Document the order and identity of order giver, either in writing or video, comply and then sue later. It’s the courts’ job to know and interpret the law.
This sounds great in theory, but
- you get no photo out of this at the end of the day
- it is possible that you will have to appear in court
- and pay for the legal costs (at least until you recover them, depending on jurisdiction)
Here are my tips for street photography:
- Use a small, inconspicuous camera body, and especially lens. Micro 4/3 is ideal and it is not a coincidence that a lot of street photographers favor it. A full-frame megazoom on the other hand will attract a lot of attention.
- Don’t carry gear (backpacks etc) that screams “photographer”. Plain vanilla weather beaten backpack is best.
- If you can, shoot from the waist, using the LCD. Raising your camera to eye level is conspicuous.
- Don’t aim the lens at people close by. You can still get a shot with a modest wide angle lens (24mm eq) aiming it 10-15 degrees to either side and no one will care.
- Sit down at a outdoor cafe. Shooting will be indistinguishable from just reviewing photos. Shutters won’t be heard in a typical city.
- A modest tele lens (70-150mm) is your friend.
- If people look at you, smile. This will make them smile, leading to a better shot, and will diminish the chance of a conflict.
- Ask for permission if you want to take a portrait. Surprisingly many people say yes, both in developed and developing countries.
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Alan Schaller (well worth a sub) mentions in his recent video that in France any citizen captured in a street photo has royalty rights over the picture (if I remember correctly). Don’t make your money shot a crowd scene!
FWIW, you only need a release form for pics of people taken on public land in the UK if you’re making money with the photo. But as someone already said, more and more public land is being sold to developers who create private space allowing the public in but imposing their own rules
I don’t do street photography for these very reasons. But I was in Charleston South Carolina a couple of months ago, which is a historical city filled with tourists with cameras, and some guy got upset and was literally in my face because he thought I took his photo when I was only taking a picture of a street sign.
I held out my iPhone and he demanded I that I page back. Fortunately he wasn’t in the scene as I was taking the picture. When he was satisfied that he wasn’t in the shot he stormed off. It was an odd encounter, and one that I don’t want to have again.
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He is wrong… otherwise you couldn’t even put pictures in newspapers.
See https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F32103
(nothing on that site mention royalties…)
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Ah, thanks! Today’s lesson is, never take legal advice from a YouTube video
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Also, think whether what someone claims makes any sense at all. So many learnings in one day
In fact here are two very distinct set of rules, one for taking pictures and one for publishing them. The URL above is only about the publication. But the rules about taking pictures are much more lax. In practice, unless you are “invading intimacy”, any picture you take from public space is OK
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The whole thing with when you can use photos can be very complex. If the architect or artists of something it might actually fall under copyright law. case in point:
Similarly you are not allowed to use e.g. pictures of the Hollywood sign.
Personally I find asking people for consent on keeping the photos is polite. if they say no, just delete the photo and move on. asking upfront might be even better but might destroy the candid moment. Sometimes even asking first and then waiting a while for a candid moment to come again is an easy solution.
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I understand that the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel wants you to think this, but ultimately this is something that is decided in court. In most legal systems, a modification of an existing work has to be substantial to quality for copyright. Whether simply putting lights on a structure does this is an open question. Also, if they want to sue a foreigner, they might end up going to court in another country that takes a dim view (pun intended) of this copyright claim.
This just sounds like scare tactics. (Of course, I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice; if you want to publish an album with the Eiffel tower at night, talk to a lawyer. Conversely, don’t take legal advice from people or companies that have their own agenda).
Of course this was very effective as a social media campaign, now a lot of tourists experience the frisson of doing something wicked when they snap a hackneyed photo of the tower using their mobile phones.
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