NBC: audience recording

[Walter Potter]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Chas Winans <chuckone@sbcglobal.net>
> I woouldn't say that the public has a "right" to take pictures of a public 
> figure just because they're out in public.  I mean, there is no law stating 
> such, and no clause in any state constitution saying as much.  

I think there is a difference between being "in public" as in walking down the street and being in a in a contained atmosphere such as a concert. A concert is a "public" event but can have rules that don't apply on the street.

 >   However, there is nothing illegal about it, either.  This is one of the 
> reasons why artists and their management sometimes try to control photographers 
> and videographers by placing express clauses in their contract riders that no 
> videotaping and/or photography is allowed at any given show.
>    
>   Realistically, though, an artist on stage cannot any more avoid being 
> photographed or videotaped than they can avoid breathing when they are on stage.  
> There are too many people with cameras, too many people in the crowd to try to 
> "police". 

That was my original point in this thread. Devices that record images, sound and/or video are just too commonplace now to try and control them. The divisions between still cameras, video cameras and sound recorders are starting to blur, at least on a non-professional quality level. Hand held devices like cell phones and PDAs are entering the mix as well. Hell, there are wristwatches with low quality cameras and voice recorders in them, how long before the quality gets up to a level that is acceptable to the YouTube audience? 

The audio recorder I bought fits into my shirt pocket (search the web for Zoom H2 or Edirol R-09). I does not produce professional level recordings but it doesn't do a bad job either.
 --
Walter

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