From: Jim Carlile (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Aug 02 2007 - 16:21:32 PDT
"If NYPD have been harrassing filmmakers without legal power to do so, boo
to them. Giving them legal power to do what they had already been doing
arbitrarily is hardly a solution."
---This doesn't give them legal power to do what they were doing. It gives
people the right to film on public property without interference. Crews get 30
minutes. Solo artists are unlimited. Before these rules, cops made arbitrary
decisions, like harassing people who were photographing the Triborough
Bridge. Now they can't do that.
"Filmmaking is a first-amendment protected right. Sidewalk art vendors have
already been exempted from permit rules for just that reason. Even if these
rules pass, they are unconstitutional and therefore could crumble if folks
stick together. That's why constitutions are higher than city bylaws."
---They are not unconstitutional. "Artists" can do whatever they want to,
for unlimited times. That's a good break. Only crews need permits-- and only
after 30 minutes. No one's dictating content.
" An indie news crew waiting outside the permit office, for instance, to
interview angry filmmakers who were turned down from a permit because they
didn't have enough insurance? Half an hour maximum. What are the odds of that
news crew getting a permit? We want a permit to stand outside this building
and drum up opposition to your rules, interviewing each angry person that you
turn down. *And* we don't have insurance."
---News crews are exempt from the new rules. Before you get hysterical about
them, I suggest you read them.
"In my experience, cops can push anyone around who isn't carrying a
photocopy of the court decision relating to their rights being particularly infringed
at that moment and / or talks like a lawyer."
---Not any more. They will have to abide by the liberalized rules in NYC.
And if you're alone, playing the Robert Frank role, you can do whatever you want
to, for as long as you want.
"See what happens if you don't have a permit and some shopkeeper calls in a
complaint the second you whip out a camera. I imagine the cops will arrive
and find some reason to move you along, 30 minutes or no."
---Not any more. Can't happen with the new rules. That was the whole point
of them.
"Free if you qualify."
---Everyone qualifies.
"What's commercial filmmaking? Youtube is commercial."
---No it's not. In fact, the NYC rules appear to allow even commercial
interests to film without permits for a short period of time. That's a good deal.
I don't know what's worse: the fact that some of you guys are getting
hysterical over this, or that you don't have the slightest idea what you are
talking about when it comes to the specifics. This is hardly repression. There are
some valid objections to them, but not many. And I get a big laugh out of the
"spontaneous" or "guerrilla" need to film in NYC-- for more than 30 minutes!!
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