In the MediaRights news we have posted an alert about some troubling proposed regulations from New York City Mayor’s Office of Film and Television. The New York Times covered the situation thoroughly so I won’t go into too much detail here. Suffice it to say that the city is proposing requiring a film permit and a $1 million liability insurance package for any “group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than half an hour” or “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”, according to the Times article.

The city quietly proposed these new regs over a month ago, but only in the last couple of weeks has the issue started to get coverage and public attention. Tonight a group of concerned filmmakers are getting together to brainstorm a plan of collective action, for all those interested. The New York Civil Liberties Union was one of the first entities to formally protest the new regulations on many grounds, but particularly on the basis that the regs violate the First Amendment.

This disturbing development gives independent documentary filmmakers an opportunity to appreciate how crucial our First Amendment rights are to our ability to do our job well (see this month’s Fair Use article for another great opportunity to prevent those free speech muscles from atrophying). On any ordinary day, we indie filmmakers might just take it for granted that we could head to a city street, set up a camera and film any number of public events or situations that we wish to document for the purposes of our work.

But these new regs remind us that such a freedom is something we need to identify and protect, in fact. By taking it for granted, we may well lose it. Both the Daily News editorial and the NYCLU’s critique cite the problem the proposed regs will pose for tourists with handycams. The city is meanwhile trying to reassure folks that tourists are not the intended targets for enforcement. So who are the targets, exactly? Us independent filmmakers? I hope not, but maybe so. I would argue that for the small crew on a low-budget documentary, a city permit should not be required. Currently, independent docs do apply for city permits for certain productions, such as commercial shoots that take up lots of time and/or space in the city’s public areas. On the other hand, many independent filmmakers are shooting “on the fly” in public places for the purposes of informal, nascent or no-budget projects, and few of these artists are equipped with press passes or hefty production insurance packages. Lack of funding or lack of professional credentials should not stand in the way of an individual’s ability to document events in the public space.

And as with any infraction against our civil liberties, additional problems lie in the potential for selective police enforcement of these new rules. Beyond being denied a fundamental constitutional right, amateur and professional filmmakers will now join the ranks of New Yorkers subject to the perils of unchecked cop power.