Am I in the legal right about my photos of children?

[HPmgFan62442]

My brother goes to a private school so I'm allowed on the property.
I took pictures of the children who go to the school playing on the playground after school while they were in informal day care. The day care people didn't stop me.
I posted the pictures on facebook, and my mom freaked out and told me to take them down.

I don't think I should have to take them down, they are my photograhy, my pieces of art, don't I own the copyright?

I think the school was acting as a parent and they didn't stop me, is that consent?

It was noncommercial, for my own personal portfolio, and the kids were not named. I live in Oregon, USA.

Am I in the legal right to keep them up?


*Someone told me this, are they correct?*
This was on private property. If you are given permission to enter the property and you take pictures then you are fine.
If they told you to stop taking pictures then you have to or you would have been committing trespass.

The pictures you take are yours and yours alone.
Even if asked to stop or even leave the premises, those pictures which you have already taken are yours and the owners cannot force you to delete them or stop you publishing them.

It does not matter whether or not the subjects are children or adults, you are allowed to publish and display these pictures and you DO NOT need a model release for non-commercial purposes. So publishing on your web-site or on facebook would NOT require a release.

If you were to try and use the pictures for advertising a product or the like then that is different and in the US specifically a model release would be required.
The problem these days is with kids.
People have the (very much mistaken) idea that it is against the law to take pictures of kids without permission and more specifically that it is an offence to publish them. IT IS NOT, the law is the same for kids as for adults.
However, to save a lot of grief with parents and to an extent over-zealous authorities, it is always best to get permission of the parents before posting any pictures of kids.
ONLY ANSWER IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT

I DON'T WANT YOU OPINION

 

[dreamer]

I live in Oregon and it's a law (especially in a school) that the childrens 'parents' must sign a waiver, approving any picture to be shown or posted of a child under 18. Pictures can be taken, but any child in that picture needs their parents approval to be posted.

 

[krollohare2]

Photos taken in public places or places open to public view are fine. The issue is what use you intend to put the photos to. If you intend to exploit the photos commercially, that is make a profit from them, then you need to get releases from the parents. Otherwise, they're your photos.

In fact, you could register the copyright on the photos, and if someone else attempts to exploit them you could sue to get an injunction, obtain attorney's fees and recover damages. However if you do not register your copyright to the photos, then its harder to prove that they're yours, you may not recover attorney's fees and it could be very difficult getting an injunction without certified copies of the registrations.

Its something like $30 or $40 to register your photos. So you plunk them down on a CD or DVD and then send them off to the Library of Congress (see their website and copyright area), along with the form properly filled out, and voi la you have a copyright registration. Its all yours now.

 

[John U]

Forget the law do you know how many pedophiles or other creeps would like to come across those photos. It is a safety issue so stop thinking of your legal rights. Sorry that sort of an opinion now wasn't it.