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wheelergenealogypages
genealogy of the Wheeler & Blaase families |
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Cemetery photos: Is permission required?The answer to this question is really basic, but it’s one that just about every genealogist tends to forget. It’s the law of property rights.It may seem strange to think of cemeteries as property, particularly when they’re owned by a governmental entity, but any landowner — public or private — has certain rights to control what happens on that land. Even when the land is publicly owned and dedicated to a public purpose, such as a park, the landowner is absolutely entitled to impose time, place and manner restrictions as to what can and can’t be done on the land. States and Canada, property laws — and particularly laws regulating cemeteries — are local laws. In the United States, it’s commonly a matter of state law, and state laws may well delegate decision making authority to municipalities or counties. So what’s important to remember here is that every cemetery — even a public cemetery — has the right to set its own rules and those rules will be upheld by the courts as long as they’re reasonable. If you don’t obey the rules, you can be asked to leave and charged with trespassing if you refuse. What does that mean for photography in cemeteries? The fact is that restrictions on photography in cemeteries are extremely common. They don’t usually tend to be very onerous — often, it’s nothing more than a limit on the type of equipment used or on taking photos of funerals or persons mourning without permission. Occasionally, advance permission and payment of a fee is required. Not every cemetery has restrictions on photography. Many small cemeteries don’t have those kinds of rules; many smaller cemeteries and cemeteries that no longer accept burials don’t even have an active management to contact to ask for permission. But the standard suggestion for photography in any cemetery is good advice regardless: get the rules of the road in advance — know if you need permission, whether there’s a fee, and what the hours are so you don’t accidentally get locked inside the gates. Posted on October 22, 2012 by Judy G. Russell The Legal Genealogist. |
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