NYC Film Permit Rules Will Be Redrafted
NEW YORK, NY (August 3, 2007) - In response to an outcry by photojournalists, moviemakers, and advocates of press freedoms, the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB) Friday announced they will step back and try again with a new draft of rules for issuing permits to film or photograph on public property.
Friday was to have been the last day for public comment on the existing draft of the rules. The MOFTB said a period for public comment will be re-opened after the redrafted rules are published.
The New York Civil Liberties Union had complained that the new rules would unfairly restrict amateur photography, and that the requirements to have a $1 million dollar insurance policy for various types of filming was prohibitive. They said that New York City was encroaching on First Amendment rights and threatened to sue.
“We are dedicated to fulfilling our obligation to create film permitting rules as mandated by the City Charter,” commissioner Katherine Oliver said today. “We appreciate the feedback and collaboration of the production community in the city, and look forward to revising our proposal. Our office remains committed to providing our customers with expedited coordination of their film location work in the safest manner possible, so that the city's film and television industry can continue to flourish, free speech is protected and all parties can continue to film, photograph and enjoy the greatest city in the world.”
A letter opposing the proposed rules from NPPA president Tony Overman to the MOFTB's assistant commissioner, Julianne Cho, acknowledged that the city has the right to place certain restrictions to ensure public safety (as it relates to large film productions), but that NPPA feels this new policy "goes far beyond that, and puts the average photographer at risk."
MOFTB said today that the proposed rules do not impact press photographers who are granted credentials by the New York Police Department, nor do they impose new requirements upon student filmmakers, who have maintained access to permit services for 40 years and who will continue to be able to meet their insurance obligations by coverage through their school’s insurance. Under the proposed rules, applicants who can demonstrate that they are unable to meet the insurance requirement will be eligible for a waiver of that requirement, MOFTB said in a statement.
"We believe that the proposed rules were overly broad and vague and could have been used in an arbitrary and capricious manner by the police and other government agencies to abridge both press and public First Amendment rights to photograph in a public places," attorney Mickey H. Osterreicher said. "Just as we have seen the Patriot Act invoked as a reason to prohibit photography, this will just be another tool in their arsenal to harass the press. We applaud the decision and look forward to working with them and the NYCLU in crafting language that is narrowly tailored and unambiguous." Osterreicher is NPPA's general legal counsel and specializes in First Amendment and press freedom issues.
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