Ethical question - taking one picture with a cell phone/camera at a production. — Page 4

And 1200 people each taking "just one picture"...

Re: Museums - they say you can't take photos becasue the flash will haerm the paintings. But some don't let you take photos even if you don't use flash. The real reason: They make tons of money selling postcards at the museum gift shop.

Is it just as bad to take pictures of lets say, the ceiling of a theatre, or the curtain before the show starts?

I haven't read this whole thing yet but to the person who first posted -- it's actually against the law to take pictures inside a theater, or to have your cell phone on in the theater. You're questioning if it's legal for an usher to take away your phone -- 100% more legal than it is for you to be on your phone or taking a picture with it.

blah blah blah, the law is the law. That's fine to say, but just because laws are passed doesn't mean they are the right thing, or even the good thing, to do. Some laws are arbitrary, and some laws are ridiculous.

Rules were made to be broke. As evidenced by my grammar :)

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Well I hope you are just being sarcastic.

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It's wrong and it is against the law. I don't mean a rule that the theatres make I mean that NYC passed a law saying that you can't do that sort of thing. There was an issue when Footloose was playing a few years ago. Apperently they published some footloose merchendise with a photo of the show. However, the photo was taken illegally and the cast was pissed off. All of the photos you see in programs and all the video clips you see on websites like broadwayworld and broadway.com are done by professionals who are hired by the producerst to do these things. The actors are then paid for being in eiather the photos or the promo vidoes. But, it is far beyond the matter of money. The fact of the matter is that things like the set or curtian of the show are technically part of the show and taking photos of the actors are just as bad because A they can see you taking pictures of them and B your cell phone has a backlight and in a dark room it can be annoying to people around you. So just to take a quick picture wil involve you bothering others around you who want to enjoy the show. I was at a preformance of Rent where I was in SRO. There were these two teenybopper girls who wanted to take photos of Antonique Smith doing Out Tonight. I was standing right behind them and the beeping of their cell phones was bothering me. So, I told thme that they should put the phone away because it is against NYC law. They didn't care and said that there really wasn't anyone around to enforce the law. I told them that if they didn't put it away I would get an usher who would then kick them out of the theatre for breaking the law. I know that they wouldn't really get kicked out I just said that to get them to stop. But sitll you shouldn't do it it is annoying an illeagle. The ushers have every right to delete any photos you took inside the theatre. But, I have heard stories of people who have photos of themselves and their friends hanging around the city on the same memory card as their illeagle theatre photos. I have heard stories of people who had the photos of them with their friends hanging about new york city deleated as well as there theatre pictures. They should only delete the theatre pictures because those are not illeagle.

Also, when I saw phantom SO many people were taking photos of the auction set. I really was having trouble figuring out if I was at a broadway show or a photo shoot and to make matters worse, none of the ushers said anything. They acted as if it wasn't going on.

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Law, policy or otherwise: I think it is very disrespectful to take pictures or make any kind of recordings of live theater without any kind of permission. In a way, you are stealing the work of the creators and actors. I don't think it's any different than those people who sell bootlegs of movies on the street corners of New York.

Go and enjoy the show. Take a picture and make a recording in your brain. Or, buy the souvenir program and cast recording.

-QB

What part of "spare me the righteousness" do you not understand?

You've never jaywalked? Littered? Taken up more than one seat on the subway? And if you say it's not the same thing because Im taking money out of some producer/actor/singers pockets, then I'll tell you that's a moral issue and has nothing whatsoever to do with the law.

If "the law is the law" then buying a bootleg off the street is just as illegal as jaywalking or putting your bag on the seat next to you on the subway.

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I really dont see the rudeness in taking a discreet picture during a concert without a flash on a camera phone. And by discreet I mean no backlight and no disruption to anyone around you.

I am not for disrupting a performance, dont get me wrong.

Likewise I do not see the inherent rudeness in buying bootlegs off the street, ethically sketchy, yes. Politeness doesn't really enter into it.

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Of course you don't.

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"What if you were in the south in the 60's and you saw an African American using a "whites-only" restroom or drinking fountain. Would you narc on them because 'The Law is the Law?""

That is a RIDICULOUS comparison to make. The laws of that time were unjust, so, no I would'nt "narc" on them. However, I would tell an usher if someone was using a camera. Why? Because, those laws are not unjust. If the theatre management respectfully asks me TWICE in my Playbil and on the back of my ticket, then I would do it. It is not an unjust law, so you shoudl follow it.

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Think of it as visiting someone's house. If they didn't want you to do something, would you respect them and not do it, or would you just discount their request and do it anyway because you don't feel it's rude? Likewise, you are visiting a Broadway theatre, a "home" for a project, and those who are involved with the project make the rules. If I see you taking pictures, the rules state that I must stop you, and believe me, I will. I am a hardass usher, and you may not like it, but you're going to follow the rules.