[NYTr] NYC Artists Organize to Fight Camera Permit Proposal

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The New York Times - Jul 28, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/nyregion/28film.html

Picturing Protest, Artists Organize to Fight Camera Permit Proposal

By COLIN MOYNIHAN

As the city considers rule changes that would require a permit to
photograph and film in public places, a coalition of filmmakers and
photographers is mobilizing a campaign against the rules by using the very
medium they believe the regulations would constrict.

Members of a newly formed advocacy group called Picture New York gathered
recently at a gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to harness their creative
skills to express their opposition to the rules by planning
demonstrations, including one that was set to take place yesterday in
Union Square. The public comment period ends next Friday.

Some members used a detailed stencil to make cardboard props that
resembled a 16-millimeter Bolex camera like the one Andy Warhol used.
Others have compiled clips that are posted on a Web site run by the group,
picturenewyork.org.

“Until very recently, nobody knew about this issue,” said Laura Hanna, an
independent documentary filmmaker. “We are, in a way, running out of
time.”

The new rules, which were proposed by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater
and Broadcasting, would require any group of two or more people who want
to use a camera in a public place for more than 30 minutes to get a city
permit and $1 million in liability insurance. The same requirements would
apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a
public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to
set up the equipment. The permits would be free.

City officials said they would decide after next Friday whether to adopt
the rules as they are, amend them or draft new rules and reopen the public
review process.

Picture New York’s Web site includes a link that allows visitors to send
comments to the city’s film office. Visitors to the site can also post
short films or videos expressing their views. Among those who have is
Juliana Luecking, an artist known for posting short clips on the
video-sharing Web site YouTube under the name QueenJuliana. In her clips,
she interviews people in public places in New York City.

“Me with the camera and the person I’m talking to would be two people,”
she said. “The rules would put a major obstruction in the way of people
expressing themselves to me and being able to grab that on camera.”

Officials have said that the rules are not intended to apply to tourists
or amateur filmmakers or photographers. “For the first time in its 40-year
history, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting is writing
rules that will codify our current procedures with respect to film
permitting,” Julianne Cho, associate commissioner in the film office,
wrote in an e-mail message. “As is standard with the City’s rulemaking
process, we welcome public feedback as we work to produce rules that
continue to assist our customer base and grow the City’s film industry.”

But the language of the regulations does not include specific exemptions
for amateurs, and critics have warned that vague phrasing could lead to
inconsistent and perhaps discriminatory enforcement.

One member of Picture New York, Jem Cohen, said that he was motivated to
work against the rules because of an experience in 2005 when federal
agents seized film that he had shot from the window of an Amtrak train to
Washington.

Mr. Cohen, who has made an impressionistic short film about New York City
called “Lost Book Found” that is in the permanent collections at the
Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum, said that he was told his
material would be returned, but that he received only an empty film can.

“I’m shocked that the very first sentence of the Bill of Rights can
quickly become meaningless, because photography is an established form of
free speech,” Mr. Cohen said.

Some opponents say the cost of insurance required under the rules would
burden independent filmmakers and photographers with limited budgets. City
officials said that if the proposed rules were adopted, insurance could be
waived in some cases for those who could not afford it.

Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties
Union, said many people have expressed concern about the rules, including
representatives of the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, a public access
cable station that often conducts interviews on the street, and
bird-watchers and nature photographers who frequent Central Park.

“The rules they are proposing are unconstitutional,” Mr. Dunn said. “And
we will sue if they adopt them.”

In the end, some opponents said, the rules could diminish the visual
legacy of New York, one of the most photographed and filmed cities in the
world. “People look at New York as a romantic and fascinating place,” said
Beka Economopoulos, a member of Picture New York. “And part of that is
because of all the iconic images that have been created here.”

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company