Lunatic Park
On our shoot yesterday, we were hit by what I’m calling the terro-igno-copyright nazis, while we were shooting some footage inside Luna Park, Sydney’s harbourside fun park. Luna Park is open to the public, so you don’t pay to get in. You pay to go on a ride, but not to get in the gate, and there’s nobody actually on the gate to check who’s coming in.
We got more and more confident about using their space as the shoot went on, which eventually alerted their security staff, mostly out of work nightclub bouncers by the look of it, except for the one guy who first spoke to us, who was polite and fairly knowledgable.
When we were first approached, we were told that we weren’t allowed to shoot video on their premises if it was for commercial use, and that they’d send down the duty manager who would watch us erase all the footage we’d shot that day. That in itself was OK from a Bonny & Clyde perspective, as the Luna Park footage wasn’t a significant part of the chapter we were working on, and could fairly easily be worked around. We shoot a LOT of footage, and then pick and choose later what works and what doesn’t.
However this incident excited me personally, because it was the first time I’d actually been challenged about my footage, and this is after I’ve been in some pretty dodgey situations in the past, like leaving my camera on going through customs and immigration a few years ago.
So then we were told that they wanted the footage erased for two reasons. 1. So it’s not used for terrorism, and 2. so it’s not used for commercial reasons. At this point it all started to make sense, they were copyright nazis.
The terrorism one was hysterically funny though. I’m not going to bring a 6 person crew into Luna Park, and pretend to be a film production, just so that I can get some shots of where the ferris wheel operator stands to flick the go/stop switch. I’m going to come with a friend and a domestic handycam and look as much as I can like a tourist.
Anyway, so the guy goes upstairs to check on where they legally stand, and one of the “grunts” decides to stand by me, I’m assuming so that I don’t go and get some more terrorist footage. It’s now that I’m starting to feel like I’ve been pulled out of a night club, and we have the following conversation:
Grunt: Show me your ID
RBF: I don’t think I have to
Grunt: I said show me your ID
RBF: I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’ve actually got any right at this point to ask for my ID
Grunt: This is a licensed premises, I can do what I like
I’m assuming he meant that they served alcohol, which I’m pretty sure is not the case, and there were no conditions of entry displayed at the entry gate saying so, or that there were any conditions for entry. But getting a little concerned for the safety of both myself and my camera, I handed over my ID, which he took upstairs while yet another grunt took over terrorist guard duty.
Then finally a few minutes later, the original guy returned, handed me back my ID, and explained what we already knew, that they had no authority to touch, let alone erase any of our footage, and that we had not broken any law. He also said that we were free to stay and play on the rides, so long as we didn’t shoot and more footage, otherwise we’d be asked to leave, which I’m sure was just a scare tactic.
So we left.
Not only are we in an age where anyone who has posted something to YouTube is a self taught copyright lawyer, and where anyone who hasn’t is also a self taught copyright lawyer, but there is an assumption that everyone but the self taught copyright lawyer is a copyright ignoramous. I know full well what rights Luna Park have in controlling the use of their images, and while our footage certainly contains things that we couldn’t use commercially, it also includes large sections shot inside Luna Park that we can use.
I understand that all the media hype surrounding P2P has confused people enough so that they don’t really understand what copyright is and what it is for. But people in positions where an understanding is required, such as a security guard who has been hired to not only protect property and life, but also to protect the commercial interests of the company, should be fully briefed in how the law works. We could have challenged these guys and made a stand about our rights as members of the public creating independent media and culture, but our main concern was for our crew, our footage and our project, so we ended up just walking away. On another day, I may not have been so forgiving.
Ultimately, having watched the footage from the day, we do have enough material for Bonny & Clyde which doesn’t use Luna Park imagery which they seek to control. We don’t know if Bonny & Clyde will be a commercial project, but if it ever is, we don’t want to be in a position where we’re dealing with safe harbour provisions, and having to re-edit episodes due to take down notices. If you know me, I’d have no problem using the dodgey footage, but I just wouldn’t want to have to spend time going back into production if it came to that.
Fear not however, as I will be posting some of the actual Luna Park footage to my personal blog (www.kashum.com) at some point, probably around the time the episode comes out.
In a perfect world, we’d be not only allowed to shoot inside Luna Park (which was opened in 1935), but to use the footage for whatever we like, commercial or otherwise. Luna Park and it’s imagery are such a part of Sydney’s history, that it has become a part of Sydney culture, and thus should be able to be used, sampled and remixed as part of that culture. To still be trying to control it’s use, is farcicle, and indicative of yet another blinkered company who you’d be wary of dealing with.
Regardless, it was a fun day. Luna Park is pretty shit, but it was still a fun day.