Re: [Leica] Paris & Tripod

[Kip Babington <cbabing3@swbell.net>]

Laurent -

Please pardon a US lawyer's follow up question, I'm not trying to be
argumentative but just to clarify your meaning.  As I read your statement
with my own legal background, it means that if I go to France as a tourist I
should just leave my camera at home, because almost any place I am likely to
go would be a "public place" (as that term is used in the law over here.)

Does the term "public place" apply that broadly in the law you describe, or
is there a narrower definition (like airports and train stations) that would
still allow me to take a picture of my family standing in front of the
Eiffel Tower?   Does the prohibition on photography apply to the taking of
the photographs, or just to the publication of them (as distinguished from
making prints for a personal scrapbook, etc?)  Is the ban nationwide (you
say "in France") and if so, would an authorization from the Paris mayor also
be good nationwide?

A nationwide ban on photography in most of the places people go strikes me
as somewhat peculiar, in addition to being impossible to enforce with any
consistency, but I know that all countries have their own perspective on
values and enforce it as they see fit.

Thanks for any clarification.

Cheers,
Kip

Laurent SAMINADAYAR wrote, in part:

> Hello,
>
> in France, for a reason I could not conceive, photography is
> forbidden in public palces (railways satation for example). But you
> can ask for an authorization at the proper service of Paris mayor.