I was trying to take a photo of a flowering tree, which I think is called pink flowering magnolia, the most popular kind of flower tree in New Jersey. Then it suddenly struck me that probably I was infringing on the privacy of this neighbor. I could of course shoot the picture from a deliberate angle that doesn’t show the distinctness of the tree. This way nobody could tell which tree this picture is from, but… I thought about this for a minute and then gave it up.
I remember a piece of news a while ago. Somebody posted a dog’s video online and it turned out it’s her neighbor’s dog. The dog owner was not amused and thought that permissions should be sought before the video was posted.
Since most of the things we encounter every day are privately owned, I wonder if we have the right to shoot pictures and post them. I mean a shopping mall, a restaurant, the trees by the road side, and even a big fish pond by the roadside with colorful fish inside–they are all owned by somebody and the owners may not be happy when their ownership is not consulted first.
So I came back home and shot photos with the flowers I bought. I still have a wooden rectangular flower pot from Trader Joe’s that I have saved. It looks nice on photos. Still it is much less exciting than the flower tree outside. My interest in photo shooting sudden drops significantly. The spirit is dampened by the ownership question and the infringement possibilities. Well, I guess a budding photographer no more. I am no good with color or shape anyway and I wonder why I got this photo shooting idea in the first place.
Actually writing about somebody can be viewed as an infringement too unless one wants to praise this person indiscriminately. Well, English has a strange way of looking at a praise and a praise can be considered ironical, which doesn’t happen so often in other languages. So writing about a person, even in praise, can be looked at unfavorably. I’ve tried very hard to weave my stories in a way to hide the real identity of the person. Considering all my stories are based on real persons and real events–I have to admit my imagination is quite limited–this is a little hard to do sometimes. Still I’ve tried. I have to say I am very lucky that most of the people I’ve portrayed try to avoid English in their leisure time. It’s understandable. They’ve already been stressed with their dealing with English in their work and they don’t want the added strain of reading English after work.
Sometimes I saw people posting jokes online and I really like those posts. I also try to post jokes and I am reading joke books to pick out those that I can mold with some Asian twists. I just have one question, do jokes have copyrights? I mean those jokes that are commonly known of course don’t have copyright issues, but other jokes that are definitely created by a known comedian or included in a book, can we retell them online? For example, I am reading this 5000 one-liner joke book and it has a joke like this, “In Paris, they just stared at me when I spoke French to them. I never did manage to make those idiots understand their own language.” This can be retold as an Asian immigrant joke very easily by changing the place, the language, and tweak the situation a little bit. However it’s still the same joke despite the modification. Well, I don’t know how people think about these things.
My friend R always say that I worry too much and overthink until I lose my enthusiasm. I know what she means. And I know why she says this because she’s a person who believes in what she is brought up to believe and she will never change it no matter what life’s circumstances are, no matter how many times her life experiences prove that her long-held opinions are no longer suitable. I wish I have her stubbornness and contentment. I don’t. I am not her and I end up with a lot more anxiety than she has. She lives a happy life indeed with utmost certainties of her own thoughts and actions while I am overwhelmed by my doubts.
Haoyan Do 
I’m glad you’ve started taking your own photos. And don’t be an overthinker. They usually never benefit from it and only end up getting stressed, making mistakes, and feeling more worse than before.
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I think most things are copyrighted but people just don’t care especially on the internet where people steal content all the time. Also, if you add your own twist to it the copyright doesn’t count. Don’t give up on photography I think you’re good. It takes a while to learn the right angles, focus, saturation etc. It took me like three years lol.
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Haha. Thank you for the encouragement. I will continue to see what will happen. I am no artist and my image is awkward, but well, it is a real photo by me. I somehow don’t expect much of my improvement on photography since I’m really bad at it. LOL.
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I don’t think you’re bad I think you’re harshly criticizing yourself. Lol I do that too.
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Haha, so true. It is harsh… We should never be harsh, not even be harsh on ourselves.
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Especially not to ourselves lol.
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Haoyando you are so hard on yourself, if the photo that accompanies this post is again shot by you. It’s a beautiful soft shot.
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Thank you. I tried. I am no artist and my imagery is mundane. LOL. Hope I am no too hard on myself.
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You have every right to shoot a photo, you don’t have a right to profit from said photo without permission especially if it involves a person. Note, it’s also illegal to shoot photos on abandoned properties and railroad tracks. Yet, most people do anyway.
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Really? Abandoned properties are off limit? Thank you for sharing. I don’t know that. I mean I see videos and pictures of properties on real estate website all the time, but I guess those are authorized images. I guess public building is ok to be photographed.
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Real estate websites show properties for sale, not the same thing. Even if there is no sign posted anywhere about trespassing, still considered illegal and dangerous. I once took photos outside and inside an abandoned and got off with a warning from a cop as opposed to being fined (essentially because I lied about not taking any photos) but I honestly had no clue, that if an abandoned property didn’t have a no trespassing sign it was still considered trespassing. My take away, if you really want cool photos like that, Don’t park anywhere near where you are investigating.
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The general concesus is as long as your not profiting from the photos you take it’s legal to an extent…like you could get fined for stalking. Think of it like this, if you feel in the pit of your stomach that it’s unethical, then ask permission of the people or property you plan to photograph.
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This is an interesting question and one that I’ve thought about too. My understanding of the legal position in the UK is that you have a right to photograph anything visible from a place where you’re allowed to be – and that includes people. And, since the photographer owns the copyright, they are allowed to do whatever they want with the photograph – eg publish it on the internet. It’s different if there is an expectation of privacy, however – eg inside somebody’s house, up their skirt, and without their permission. But the garden and exterior of somebody’s house, for example, isn’t private (unless you would have to trespass on their land to see it, I guess). I suppose if you point a camera directly into someone’s face you are going to get the same reaction as if you stare at them pointedly – and you have to be prepared for the same consequences, even if you have a legal right to do it!
However the USA may be different and, in any case, it’s a more litigious country. Having said that, someone in the UK did once behave in a threatening manner when I photographed their isolated house in the country. They had no legal leg to stand on, but they seemed to be arguing that I might be a thief casing the joint! I pointed out that if I go to Cornwall I photograph 50 cottages in one shot and nobody complains. I think it was partly because their house was quite ordinary. They simply couldn’t conceive why anybody would want to take a picture of an ordinary house. They couldn’t conceive of photography as a hobby.
The whole thing is odd, because more and more people are buying ever more sophisticated cameras. What do people suppose they’re buying them for if the only legitimate subject is a tree, flower or animal in a totally wild place? Even a landscape (in the UK) is likely to have somebody’s house in it. I had a camera way back in the 1960s and it never occurred to anybody then that taking a photograph of anything whatsoever was an issue.
Another thing that puzzles me is the whole business of Tripadvisor reviews. There it occurs to me that the business owner might have a legitimate case if they could show that the review wasn’t fair and had damaged them. And yet nobody seems to worry at all about that! I do try to avoid mentioning named people or businesses in my blog, but there may be some grey areas where the odd one has slipped through.
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Thank you for your comment. You just remind me of a piece of news several years back about a privacy issue concerning google street view. It turned out that the google van roamed the street and take their pictures or videos indiscriminately. In one incident, a very prominent local figure of a certain state in the West Coast was recorded as he walked out of a store of a dubious reputation in an unfashionable strip mall. Well, my memory is getting bad these days that I can’t remember the story anymore. It seems that a divorce settlement is involved or a public prestige is damaged. It somehow raised a privacy issue for google.
Yes, I know there’s at least one lady in our community who enjoys suing people left and right and people just avoid her like a disease. And fortunately she doesn’t read for pleasure and I hope she will never discover my blog.
I read Tripadvisor regularly several years back, but I wonder how trustworthy it is. Our local restaurants in Edison are really not portrayed in the most accurate way. I often disagree with the reviews on that website.
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Yes – I thought about Google Street View just after posting the above. Effectively there are millions of photographs there of people’s private property. I believe there are quite a few shots of people caught in compromising positions! Even a car in an unexpected place could be embarrassing for some.
I’ve self-censored a bit. For example, when I wrote about my school days, I omitted something about one teacher which was a bit spicey. Even though I wouldn’t have named him or the school (and he was dead). I still wondered whether people would have been able to put two and two together. Maybe I was over-cautious because he didn’t even have any children.
If somebody figures out who I am they may be able to figure out who some of the people are – even if I don’t name them.
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You are beautiful My friend I am much more like your friend, Living by my own rules. But there are times when regret creeps into my mind as well. We all must follow our own path, happiness and doubts will surround us either way, but you will always be able to say you were true to yourself.
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Find a reason to laugh
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So true. Be happy and try to steer clear of troubles.
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You are precious my friend. I was indeed trespassing into a neighbor’s yard to take pictures of three butterflies on a flowering tree. A woman from a neighborhood watch stopped me and seemed irritated. I usually always get permission. You are also spot on about what people write getting in trouble for if they’re not careful. Once I read how a woman was sued because she referenced a town in a negative way, the town won the suit. Many authors will make up an imaginary town that doesn’t really exist for that very reason. No one has sued me yet. Happy snapping my friend. Sending you lots of love. Also I over think too. ❤️🤗🌹
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Thank you for sharing. I am a little shocked to know that the town won the suit against the woman. I am actually talking about Edison a lot and I hope this will not cause any trouble. LOL. I remember authors who wrote about their ex-spouse and had to settle out of court. It is very much a hassle to write about real people and real townships. This is quite a cautionary tale and it just shows how much I need to wrap up the characters so that nobody can trace back to the original ones. Still sometimes it is not entire possible to hide everything. LOL. Thank you so much for commenting. Always.
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I can only write about my experiences with my parents because one of my sisters told me they would sue me if I wrote anything about them. That was after spending three years on two books and paying for an editor. I think they go after people who are very successful people that have lots of money. So I don’t think anyone will come after me. Still I am careful now. I think you don’t need to worry too much. Have a blessed day my friend. Big hugs to you. ❤️
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Hahaha, I hope they will not but I am afraid that people do things like that just to wreak some havoc and revenge. Well, that’s true. Those people who have money are more likely to get sued and it serves as a cautionary tale to us. LOL. Big hugs.
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Yes, lots of love to you and hope your overthinking will bring you all the benefits and none of the worries. ❤️🤗🌹
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You are very kind. ❤️🤗
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Your picture is beautiful. I think it’s fine to take pictures of your neighbors tree for personal use, but perhaps not post it online unless modified. I think public property is far game, but you need the permission of the owner for private property. I don’t think jokes are copyrighted, but I’m not sure. A lot of jokes are in the public domain. It is good to be confident in your beliefs, but flexibility and a willingness to learn new things and adapt are also important.
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Thank you. I am thinking of snapping some photos in a plaza next week sometime, but that plaza is very likely privately owned. I think the only thing that’s definitely public is the public road and the road side trees without a house behind them. Yes, I wish I can write more about adaptation since there are many stories there. Thank you for the inspiration.
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