Privacy / Legal issues involved with posting sports pictures

unknownphotography · April 17, 2008

So I am graduating from college this May; for the time being I am trying to start a small business. I was going to shoot high school/ little league/ whatever sporting events and then post the pictures in a gallery online. Parents could then purchase those pictures if they choose. I advertised on craigslist and i have had a few inquires by parents who want me to come shoot their sons games. My plan was to meet up with these parents then give them some cards to distribute to any other parents on the team who were interested. Also, i was going to try to make contact with some of the other parents myself. Now the problem arrises with putting the pictures up in a gallery without parents consent. Is this a legal issue i should be concerned with? I know some of the other guys on here have similar problems. What do you guys do about this? Thanks.
Seth

dhlewis · April 17, 2008

In a public setting it is not a problem to shoot. If a parent asked you not to shoot or post it would be best to abide by their request.

unknownphotography · April 17, 2008

thanks

S-So · April 18, 2008

What about photographing inside a school property, let's say, in a high school gym, for a basketball game, etc.? Do you need a prior permission from the school since it's inside their property?

I noticed a lot of photographers doing exactly what the OP wants to do, including myself, and I'm wondering how they all do this, i.e., with the prior permission or without? Just show up at any event, shoot some pictures, and post the images on smugmug, advertise, and allow people to buy them?

I have some photos of elementary school talent show and muscial where, along with my child I also took pictures of other parents' kids, but I hesitate to post them on my site precisely due to the fact that I hadn't thought of getting a permission from anyone and don't want to get into trouble for it.

dhlewis · April 18, 2008

for sports inside or outside if you expect to have preferred access like on the basketball floor or sidelines outside you want to talk to the Athletic Director in advance of the event. You also need to review the Athletic Conference Information for the state that you are in from their web site.

On the second part of your question when it concerns small children (below HS) , hand out your business card at the event. On the back of the card write down the password for the gallery you will post to on Smugmug. Make the gallery private. This way the only people that happen upon the photos will be the people who were at the event or relatives like grandma and grandpa.

hope this helps

S-So wrote:

What about photographing inside a school property, let's say, in a high school gym, for a basketball game, etc.? Do you need a prior permission from the school since it's inside their property?

I noticed a lot of photographers doing exactly what the OP wants to do, including myself, and I'm wondering how they all do this, i.e., with the prior permission or without? Just show up at any event, shoot some pictures, and post the images on smugmug, advertise, and allow people to buy them?

I have some photos of elementary school talent show and muscial where, along with my child I also took pictures of other parents' kids, but I hesitate to post them on my site precisely due to the fact that I hadn't thought of getting a permission from anyone and don't want to get into trouble for it.

S-So · April 18, 2008

dhlewis wrote:

for sports inside or outside if you expect to have preferred access like on the basketball floor or sidelines outside you want to talk to the Athletic Director in advance of the event. You also need to review the Athletic Conference Information for the state that you are in from their web site.

On the second part of your question when it concerns small children (below HS) , hand out your business card at the event. On the back of the card write down the password for the gallery you will post to on Smugmug. Make the gallery private. This way the only people that happen upon the photos will be the people who were at the event or relatives like grandma and grandpa.

hope this helps

Thank you so much, Dale. That was very informative and helpful!

tlphotos · April 21, 2008

What I've learned shooting litle league
As long as you shoot on public property, it is not illegal - and if you have parental permission, you should be able to freely shoot their kids on private property too.
I only shoot little league since that is where my own children are involved, and I wanted to pass on what I have learned and see if my experience in little league is common among the members of the forums. Also, these are for teams and leagues where there are no professional photographers outside of the regular T&I pictures.
1. Spec shooting is extremely iffy, sometimes the whole team buys pictures, sometimes nobody - usually just a few. The percentages vary, but some parents do not care about pictures, some figure they have spent enough on their kids already (including T&I pictures) and are not going to buy more, some are happy enough to look at the picture on line but will never buy, some will just never get around to going to the site and purchasing, and some got "good enough" from their own cameras - leaving your buying customers. On average (since percentages vary), you are doing pretty well if half the parents are buying. So, there is potentially a lot of work for the photographer for little or no sales to show for it.
2. Parents (of the average little league) are generally pretty cheap when it comes to pictures. They are fine spending $5 at Starbucks every morning, but balk at spending very much for sports pictures. Part also because they already spent a bunch in fees and equipment already. Select sports is different, but then again that is why "professional photographers" will shoot there and are not found at the average community little league game.
3. For under HS age kids, many parents still have a negative stigma attached to pictures being posted online - even behind password protected galleries and posted for a short period of time. Even though I am a father of three girls and my girls' pictures are being posted online too and I password protect the galleries and only leave the gallery up for a month or so, I find many parents don't even give it a thought or even check my sample gallery - it's on the internet so they do not want any part of pictures.
I do not think that the negative stigma attached to the Internet is just here in the northwest, so I am always surprised to hear other photographers suggest passing out business cards at the games - even with password protection. I email teams (through friends on the team) about pictures a week before the game and there seems to always be someone bent out of shape about the whole idea. All they have to do is say they are not interested, but have to add a few negative remarks. I am able to blow it off, so it does not bother me. They are also not potential customers, so i do not shoot their kids.
My question to forum is whether or not you are all experiencing the same stigma to posted pictures?
4. Although it is not illegal to take sports pictures in a public place, parents who do not "approve" of what you are doing can make a lot of trouble for you. There are all sorts of stories on this forum and others of photogaphers having troubles from a disgruntled parent (yes, usually one). And sometimes a little negativity can blow a whole business plan.

That's what I've learned, is this pretty much most people's experience shooting little league?
Most parent love what I do and are grateful to have the pictures. I mainly do this for some money to pacify an expensive photography habit, I am at the games anyway to shoot my own children, and I do like providing good action shots to these kids and the positive effect it has for them. It is a good thing I have a day job to pay bills though!

unknownphotography wrote:

So I am graduating from college this May; for the time being I am trying to start a small business. I was going to shoot high school/ little league/ whatever sporting events and then post the pictures in a gallery online. Parents could then purchase those pictures if they choose. I advertised on craigslist and i have had a few inquires by parents who want me to come shoot their sons games. My plan was to meet up with these parents then give them some cards to distribute to any other parents on the team who were interested. Also, i was going to try to make contact with some of the other parents myself. Now the problem arrises with putting the pictures up in a gallery without parents consent. Is this a legal issue i should be concerned with? I know some of the other guys on here have similar problems. What do you guys do about this? Thanks.
Seth

unknownphotography · April 21, 2008

So what would you say would be the best way for a photographer to start up shooting sports. I know there is a market out there for parents to get pictures of their kids, i just dont know how to break into it. I tried posting an ad on craigs list. Any other ideas?

Gregg Hall · April 22, 2008

dhlewis wrote:

In a public setting it is not a problem to shoot. If a parent asked you not to shoot or post it would be best to abide by their request.

very very rarely is it truely a public venue. A school is not a public venue, it is the property of the school district, and then usually permission is granted to the league to use the property. It is the same legally as a rental or a lease. It still remains private property.

Your best bet is to get the permission of the league, once you have that then your covered.

I sat on the Executive Board of Directors of our League for 10 years, 3 of those as the player agent, where my name was on the lease with the school.

I offered 10% back to the league, the vote was unanamous to allow me to shoot and post the images.

tlphotos · April 22, 2008

You should look on the "Sports" forum, there is a huge discussion going on right now about shooting sports. This topic comes up a lot and there are a ton of opinions and suggestions there.

A few have made the excellent suggestion of talking to the league officials, you really need their support. They also have coach and team contact information, if you can contract with the league, then you already have a listing of potential clients.
There is a market out there, how lucrative varies. There are also a lot of shooters out there, some in business full-time, some part-time, and some purely for the fun of it and giving away pictures for free.

You should also browse the "Minding your own Business" forum here at DGrin. Some photography businesses do well because they are good at business and sales, although not so good at taking pictures; while there are talented (and starving) photographers out there who can't manage a business or market their photos.

unknownphotography wrote:

So what would you say would be the best way for a photographer to start up shooting sports. I know there is a market out there for parents to get pictures of their kids, i just dont know how to break into it. I tried posting an ad on craigs list. Any other ideas?

Privacy / Legal issues involved with posting sports pictures

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