My rights as an aviation photographer

I sold some shots to a newspaper recently covering an article about Nunavik (Canada). Now I had to get in touch with Air Inuit because they said I couldn't publish a shot of their aircraft without their agreement. I found it kind of weird... What are my rights as an aviation photographer in terms of publishing?

With best wishes,

LC Laverdure

Hi Louis-Charles,

Your note piqued my interest and I ended up reading various published articles about photographer's rights in Canada. Allow me to share them with you so you can decide how they apply to this particular situation.

Specific to Canada:

1. http://ambientlight.ca/laws/overview/what-can-i-photograph/

2. http://pencanada.ca/blog/public-photography-is-not-a-crime/

3. https://cippic.ca/en/FAQ/Photography_Law

More general:

3. http://www.langleycameraclub.com/photographers-rights/

4. http://content.photojojo.com/photo-technique/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers/

It seems there are distinct rules for (a) taking photographs and (b) publishing them even for non-profit in a site such as this. Having read just three lines of text, I don't feel comfortable giving you any advice on what you should do. You should certainly exercise all your legal rights as a photographer and not be intimidated by any forms of harassment. Your doing so will be protecting the rights of every photographer here.

However, do take the time to study if there's anything specific about the photograph (such as use of their commercial logo, brand-name etc that are protected by THEIR copyright as the MAIN OBJECT of your photograph). Was the shot taken from a public place? Was the shot a place where there's clearly visible signs restricting photography? Can the shot be interpreted as being harmful to anyone (commercially, financially, emotionally, violation of privacy)? Did anyone ask you to stop when you took the shot?

As you can see, it's very complex. I'm not a lawyer and cannot give you any legal advice and you should not interpret it as such. (May be you want to consult a lawyer?). Like you, I feel very very strongly about protecting my rights as an individual and as such will NOT comply with anything that violates my rights in any shape or form.

I'm very interested to know how this pans out. Kindly keep us posted. Good luck!