What type of photography at the dog park is allowed? A common question has come up a few times since the Home Run Dog Park has opened: Can you take photos of people and dogs at the dog park? Do you need to get permission to do so?
The short answer is quite simple. You do not need to get anyone’s permission to take photos, not even the owner of the dog when one is in a public space.
We will try to explain this subject concisely as it relates to the Home Run Dog Park, but there is a lot more information about photography in public spaces available online. One good article to read is: Street Photography – Know Your Rights by Craig Hull.
Local, state and national laws can govern still and motion photography in the United States, and these can certainly vary between jurisdiction. However, the typical laws in the U.S. concerning photos and videos in public spaces is that it is legal on public property as these areas are considered common ground.
The Home Run Dog Park is a considered a public place. Although built with community funding and maintained by volunteers, it is located within the City of Battle Creek on Parks and Recreation property. It is a space on land paid for with public tax dollars, and is therefore a considered a shared common ground on city property.
Therefore it is permissible to take photos and video as long as your feet are on public property and the subject you are taking can be seen from the public forum.
There are some exceptions to this rule for some public spaces that are paid for by public tax dollars, such as airports, military bases and museums. These places may have posted restrictions making them off-limits for video and photography, or just may be physically or photographically inaccessible. Private businesses, although serving the public, can also have restrictions.
The Home Run Dog Park does not have any posted restrictions on video or photography. It does have other posted restrictions concerning dog park rules, but none concern photography or social media.
Therefore you can take photos or video of anyone or anything while visiting the park. We even encourage you to post fun pictures of your experiences to our Facebook Group The Friends of Calhoun County Dog Parks and our Home Run Dog Park Instagram page.
There is a common misconception that in order to photograph people anytime or anywhere, that the person taking photos needs a model release form everytime it is done. This is not true. For photographers and videographers in most cases, such as in a public space, it is not only impractical, but can be impossible to do as in the case of a concert or a crowded street.
Model releases typically become a requirement for commercial photographers for purposes of promotion or sales. For more information on this subject, take a look at this article on model release forms by Expert Photography.
There are some exceptions to public photography which relate to a ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’. An example of this would be to stand on a public street and photograph into someone’s home. That could be considered to be crossing a line into invading a persons privacy, and therefore could become a legal issue. However, when one is out in a public space with their dog at the dog park, one is considered to be on common ground. Anyone or anything can be the subject of photo or video, and these images can be shared on social media.
If one has concerns about someone taking photos or video of them or their dog, then avoiding being in a public area is the only way to prevent that from potentially happening. Whenever one is out on common ground in most areas there is always the potential to be captured in a photo or video.
To date, however, we have never had a single dog complain.
