Contact information
Irish Copyright Licensing Agency CLG
info@icla.ie
In general, you are allowed to take photographs, including of people, in public places, unless the owner of the location has prohibited photography.
Public places are areas that are freely accessible, such as streets, parks, schools, shopping centres, libraries, public transport, and outside government departments. Private places, such as a person’s home, cannot be photographed without the owner’s permission. You are not always allowed to take photographs in certain public places; for example, you cannot photograph patients in hospitals or take photographs in the offices of government officials. The owner of a location may also have prohibited photography in the area, such as in an art museum or theatre. However, the prohibition of taking photographs has nothing to do with copyright law.
You are free to take photographs of buildings in public places. Even a building can be a work protected by copyright as an artistic work if sufficiently original. A copyrighted building can be photographed freely, but the use of the images for commercial purposes, such as in advertising, is subject to marketing regulations. Therefore, using the images for commercial purposes requires permission from the owner of the building.
You are free to photograph a permanent work of art (a statue, sculpture, painting, etc.) in a public place. If the artwork is the main subject of the photograph, the image cannot be used for commercial purposes, such as selling it as postcards. You can take a picture and publish it in a newspaper or magazine if it relates to the text.
[CRRA Sec. 93]
A work of art can be included in a photograph, film, or TV programme if the artwork has a secondary significance in the photograph, film, or TV programme. For example, when taking a photo of a person, a painting on the wall or a statue may be visible in the background. There is an exception in copyright law for incidental inclusion.
[CRRA Sec. 52]
A person featured in a photograph does not have copyright in the image. They do not have the right, under copyright law, to determine the reproduction of copies of the photograph or their communication to the public. These rights belong to the photographer.
A person who for private and domestic purposes, commissions a photographic portrait has the right not to have the work made available to the public. If the photographer, who owns the copyright in the work wishes to use the photograph on their website to advertise their work, they need permission from the commissioner.
[CRRA Sec. 114]
Taking a photograph is not the same as publishing an image. When publishing an image, you must not violate a person’s privacy and reputation. A photograph is considered personal data. For example, you cannot publish personal data on the internet without the person’s consent.
A good rule of thumb is to ask for permission for photography and publication if there are individuals who can be recognised in the image. For underage children (17 or younger), the consent of their legal guardians is also required for publication.
Using a person’s image in marketing and advertising without their permission is not allowed. If a person’s image is used in advertising without their consent, the photographed person is entitled to compensation for the use of the image.
Everyone’s privacy and reputation are protected by law. If someone unlawfully publishes an image from a person’s private life in a way that is likely to cause harm or suffering to the person in the image or expose them to contempt, they may be guilty of disseminating information that violates privacy. For the dissemination of information that violates privacy, one can be fined or imprisoned.
You can be found guilty of defamation when conveying false information or insinuation about someone in a way that is likely to cause harm or suffering to the offended party or expose them to contempt. Defamation may be considered serious if the defamatory or derogatory information is disseminated in the mass media, such as in a newspaper or on TV, or in other ways to a large number of people, such as by spreading it on the internet.
There are a lot of photographs taken in a school setting, for example on school trips or during school concerts and activities. Sometimes photos are taken during lessons. The rules that apply to photographs also apply in these situations. The copyright to the photograph belongs to the photographer, not the subject of the photo. Permission to use a photo in, for example, a school publication or on the school’s website should be sought from the photographer.
Where individuals can be recognised in the photograph, privacy protection must be observed. Their consent is also required to publish the photos. For underage children, the consent of their legal guardians is also required. A student’s photograph may only be posted on the school/college’s website with the clear consent of the student and their legal guardians.
Irish Copyright Licensing Agency CLG
info@icla.ie