Planning: Location Filming Permission

I sent an e-mail to request filming permission for the Royal Parks. The woman who replies provides a link for an application form, but their is no such link. There is a section of the website that states that you must inform them of how many trucks or vans we will use, the type of equipment, what and where we are filming and the duration. As soon as I read trucks or vans I automatically assumed this was mainly used for big productions, and to be honest we are only going with a small camera. We will try and contact someone else who can give us a working link and actual information.

As it is a small production and their is no rules stated on the website that their is no filming permitted whatsoever then we will go ahead and film. Also, many people take their video cameras to film their kids playing or a party or gathering at the park, and there has not been any issues as far as I know.

A couple of months ago I did a bit of research into the use of cameras and camcorders in public places. The law states that we are allowed to use them to photograph or film only if for personal use, e.g. family album or family video, but not for the purposes of making money. So as long as we don't charge people for seeing or downloading it then we are within our rights. The police or authorities cannot stop us, but if they believe that we are using this for terrorist acts and other crimes then they can confiscate our equipment for review but are not allowed to delete anything or keep it. I have done research through the Internet and found this stated on many websites, one of which had a link to the official authorities documents. One of the sources of this information was from an article I read on The Times Online by Richard Woods who spoke about the issues for photographers when taking pictures in public places, and included laws and advice on doing so. 

Email sent to Royal Parks

Response to my e-mail

While doing a little bit of research I found that the artist Shakira had recorded the video for the song 'Loca' in the streets of Barcelona without having asked for filming permission.