Please Forward: Protest proposed new rules limiting photography and recording in NYC

Please forward this to appropriate people:

Saturday July 28th, 2007

New York City is about to act on a proposal to require photographers,
videographers, and sound artists to obtain permits from the City in
order to film, take
still photos, or record audio in the City. You will only be eligible for
a permit if you
have 1 million dollars liability insurance coverage. Therefore no
independent artists will be able to get permits. Moreover, permits will
be issued for specific times and places, so it will become illegal to
make media art spontaneously in New York City.

I am planning to write to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and
Broadcasting (public comment period ends next Friday, August 3rd, 2007):

Julianne Cho, Assistant Commissioner, Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre &
Broadcasting, 1697 Broadway, New York NY
10019

or electronically to Ms. Cho at [email protected].

I also plan to contact WNYC (New York Public Radio) and the New York Times.

I hope others will join me in protesting this proposed restriction on
art-making. Please write to your favorite media outlets to alert them to
this issue. Artworks protesting the proposed rules are being solicited
by a newly formed group Picture New York (http://www.pictureny.org/).

Here are the specific proposed rules, according to today's New York Times:

The new rules, which were proposed by the Mayor's Office of Film,
Theater and Broadcasting, would require any group of two or more
people who want to use a camera in a public place for more than 30
minutes to get a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance.
The same requirements 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. The
permits would be free.

The full article is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/nyregion/28film.html?ref=nyregion

I looked at the actual proposal on the website
http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/080107\_proposed\_permit\_rules.shtml
of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting, and it is
actually even more restrictive than is indicated by the article in the
Times. The MOFTB also has the gall to say, "*It's important to note that
MOFTB has issued such permits for over 40 years.* *The* *process is
remaining substantially unchanged." *even though the changes are
underlined in the full proposal that you can download
http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/downloads/pdf/moftb\_permit\_regs.pdf and
nearly all the substantive parts of the proposal are underlined…

If enacted (and apparently the enactment is imminent; the
not-very-publicized Public Hearing was this morning), these rules would
make it impossible for freelance media artists to use NYC in their art.
It will make it impossible for any artists, however well-funded or
well-credentialed, to film or photograph spontaneously. If NYC enacts
these rules, it will be a precedent for other local and perhaps even
state and national governments to similarly restrict the rights of their
artists.

I personally have made a video, "Urban Eden"
http://www.perpetualartmachine.com/component/option,com\_gallery2/Itemid,50/lang,en/?g2\_view=core.ShowItem&g2\_itemId$39

that was exhibited in a major New York art show (2006 Scope New York Art
Fair) which would have been impossible to make under the new rules. Much
of my other work involves New York City as a theme, location, and even
character, and I am not sure whether it could have been made under the
proposed rules. The only way to get around the new rules is to collect
media in a way that counts as "amateur" or "touristic" – in other words
film with minimal equipment very rapidly without staying in the same
place for more than 10 minutes.

A group, Picture New York (http://www.pictureny.org/), has been formed
to fight the new rules. I have not had any contact with them except to
sign their petition. They are soliciting videos and other artworks that
protest the proposed rules.

Millie Niss
[email protected]
www.sporkworld.org
www.sporkworld.org//index.php (blog)