Inappropriate bahaviour

[benb]

Then I suggest you either don't book tickets or don't attempt photography if you do so, as you are generally agreeing to allow someone to do just that in the Ts & Cs when you buy the ticket. And you might find it difficult to argue in court that someone doing something that you've allowed them to do is an assault.

I don't think this is correct. You can't just put any old stuff into T&Cs. If I put "all customers are to be strip searched before the performance" that doesn't actually give me the legal right to do that, even if a customer bought a ticket, thus implicitly agreeing to T&Cs.

I agree that on the whole taking photos in a theatre is rude and shouldn't be tolerated, but the venue has no legal right to insist you delete them, nor any right to confiscate the camera. The most they can do is ask that you stop, or eject you from the venue.

Copyright is also a red herring, as unless you are trying to sell the photos on or otherwise profit from them (without the copyright holder's permission) you are not in breach. Think about it. If just taking a photo of something was a breach of that copyright we would never be able to take any photos with a brand name or logo visible.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

And we always had to get a manager to confiscate a phone or camera. We gave the audience member the choice of us deleting the pictures or having it confiscated.

Hi MissTillyFlop,

I think you need to have a read at this
http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-photographers-rights-v2/
particularly this entry in relation to photography within private property:

"Neither the property owner nor his employees have any right to confiscate or damage a photographer's camera or other equipment, or to demand film or the deletion of memory cards."​

It's author is Linda Macpherson LL.B, Dip. L.P., LL.M, a freelance legal consultant specialising in Media Law and Intellectual Property Law.

I do agree that it's annoying (to varying degrees depending on the venue) to have people taking photos or using phones etc. but in your capacity as an usher or steward, I feel you should, at least for your own sake, brush up on what you are and are not legally permitted to do. Businesses write all sorts of nonsense on notices or tickets, which often have no legal basis, so don't just swallow what your employer tells you, check it out for yourself.


GC

 

[bof]

This terms on tickets thing about photos is possibly an insurer's requirement. My guess is the theatre could be sued over copyright infringement by a performer, so it takes out insurance in case it is...

I used to organise entertainment events and we were told by insurers to put a statement on cloakroom tickets that we had no liability for theft or damage - of course we did, but it might put someone off claiming.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

Hi MissTillyFlop,

I think you need to have a read at this
http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-photographers-rights-v2/
particularly this entry in relation to photography within private property:

"Neither the property owner nor his employees have any right to confiscate or damage a photographer's camera or other equipment, or to demand film or the deletion of memory cards."​

It's author is Linda Macpherson LL.B, Dip. L.P., LL.M, a freelance legal consultant specialising in Media Law and Intellectual Property Law.

I do agree that it's annoying (to varying degrees depending on the venue) to have people taking photos or using phones etc. but in your capacity as an usher or steward, I feel you should, at least for your own sake, brush up on what you are and are not legally permitted to do. Businesses write all sorts of nonsense on notices or tickets, which often have no legal basis, so don't just swallow what your employer tells you, check it out for yourself.


GC

I have left the ushering profession now, gladly (pay terrible, bosses terrible and I hated basically having a job as a killjoy), but you are right.

You are pressured into doing stuff that you are not neccesarily comfortable with doing anyway when, in my opinion as long as the person stops taking pictures, it doesn't really matter what they have on the device, it's not going to bring down the theatre (especially when you're talking like the big companies like ATG & Delfont Mackintosh).

Still I don't envy them their jobs and I think there is a reason that the vast majority of ushers are young and impressionable.