Results

It’s starting to seem like it.

First, New York State legislators introduced a post-mortem publicity bill (now tabled) that the American Society of Media Photographers said would create a model-release nightmare for photographers.

Now, the City of New York is considering new rules that would require “any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour” to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance.

The same rules would apply to “any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment.”

Although the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting said the rules would be aimed at professional photographers, the New York Civil Liberties Union suspects the wording is intentionally vague, so that police would have discretion to enforce the requirements against tourists, amateur photographers and others who would be unlikely to have permits — or even be aware of the rules.