I Shot "Guerilla style" could the city sue me

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Funkyfilms

Last year I shot a feature length film a guerilla style in Washington DC. I had very low budget for the film so I couldn’t afford the insurance or location permit fee. I went head and shot all my exterior locations with out any city permit including one a park. We were shooting very low key and we didn’t have any problem while filming no Police stopped us or asked for any permit at all.

My question is after the film is finished & released can the city come after me for not acquiring proper permits for the exterior locations. I might add some of the locations are very recognizable.

Any tips or past experience would help. Thank you.
 
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You cannot be sued for shooting guerilla-style.

You can only be shut down while shooting. So, if you succeed, and get the footage, provided you didn't murder anyone or break the law, that footage cannot get you into trouble.
 
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Great thread! I've stolen a lot of location shots, but didn't actually know if the footage could later be used as evidence. There is a beautiful small town, with obvious landmarks, that I want to shoot in. I didn't want them to come after me. later, and say, "we see the footage, but have no record of permits."

On the other hand, the Disney shot movie could have probably received flak, if some shots showed the Disney logo or other trademarks. So, one point of this thread could be, that it's cool to steal shots of landmarks, but not trademarks.
 
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Also a lot of people in the background at these public locations, could legally come after you I hear, since they were not hired or agreed to be in the movie. So as long as you can't see their faces, or you shallow focus them out, I think you should be safe. That's just what I heard, but just bringing it up, so someone more experienced can address it.
 
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Funkyfilms said:
Last year I SHOT a feature length film a GUERILLA style in Washington DC. I had very low budget for the film so I couldn’t afford the insurance or location permit fee. I went head and SHOT all my exterior locations with out any city permit including one a park. We were shooting very low key and we didn’t have any problem while filming no POLICE stopped us or asked for any permit at all.
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Say hello!
 
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Haha ^

regarding some of the other questions and points made in this thread...

You can't compare Disneyland to public city property, because Disneyland is private property. Disney probably could sue under some term or condition stated in their policy when you buy a ticket.

Also, if memory serves, Escape From Tomorrow did show trademarks, for instance The Disneyland balloons with the logo, name, etc. -- they haven't taken legal action however, most likely because it would be a PR nightmare.

I'm not actually sure if a city could sue you for filming. I think they probably could if they REALLY wanted to. You broke the law and they have evidence. But I don't think they would, and it probably hasn't happened in the history of filmmaking.
 
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I've never heard of cities suing for money owed for not pulling a permit. Never. I have heard a story about an off duty officer shutting down an indie film shoot in Beverly Hills. If you have a big operation (lights and lots of people) then that will draw attention. Smaller operations might not draw attention.

I once shot B-roll footage with a "crew" of just myself and the camera guy. We were standing right on a busy corner on Sunset Blvd with a big ole' Panasonic Varicam and at one point a cop drove right by us. The partner cop in the passenger seat looked right at us with just a look of curiosity! So that saved me about $835 for what would have been the cost of a permit. No wonder 50% of the film business has been scared off and left town. The City of Los Angeles should hang a sign outside their film office that reads "GO AWAY! WE DON'T WANT YOU FILMING HERE".

BTW how much does the city of LA gouge people for permits these days?

As far as shooting on private property (ex- Disneyland) the business can only sue you for what they should have been paid as a reasonable rate. That's what a lawyer told me. No punitive damages or anything like that.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
The problem with a place like Disneyland is that everything you see is trademarked. The intellectual property owner could seek damages for violation of each individual trademark.
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Yes. In addition to rental of property issues there's always IP and trademark issues. That's a whole separate can of worms. The much much bigger issue for sure.
 
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moonshieldmedia said:
I think they probably could if they REALLY wanted to. You broke the law and they have evidence.
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No, honestly, they cannot. Research it. The only thing a city official or law enforcement representative can do if you don't have a permit is shut the production down. That doesn't mean shutting the film down, or post-production, it just means that scene that is being shot at that moment. It boils down to either asking you to vacate the premises, or issuing a fine (The bigger cities like NY or LA would be more strict about this) But once you are finished, it doesn't matter whether or not you had permits.
 
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Interesting thread because I have always wondered that myself...if you film it with no problems can they later come after you for it...that said...I would never shoot anything in Disney that wasn't for family fun...never...

A person told me that in NYC 'they' can come after film makers by forcing you to have a permit to film on a tripod...if they see a camera on a tripod than you need a permit...however if you handhold your camera they will not because there is no way of determining if you are a tourist or a film maker.


Oh and another thing...if you did shoot something without a permit and submitted it someplace...would 'they' ask to see all permits related to the film? Surely they would for shooting something in Disney?

I do remember a few years back I was filming something (with a hand held camera and nothing big at all) ... it was at the Hershey lodge in Pa...a convention...I got permission from the convention to film and the lodge itself gave permission BUT to not show ANYTHING related to Hershey at all...no logo no candy no nothing!
 
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mussonman said:
No, honestly, they cannot. Research it. The only thing a city official or law enforcement representative can do if you don't have a permit is shut the production down. That doesn't mean shutting the film down, or post-production, it just means that scene that is being shot at that moment. It boils down to either asking you to vacate the premises, or issuing a fine (The bigger cities like NY or LA would be more strict about this) But once you are finished, it doesn't matter whether or not you had permits.
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This is not 100% accurate. It all depends upon where you are shooting. In Louisiana there are criminal laws that a film crew shooting on public property and or roadways would be violating. Could you be charged after the fact in Louisiana? Yes, these laws are misdemeanor offenses. Is it in any way likely that would happen? No. Louisiana is trying very hard to attract film shoots and nobody wants bad PR.
 
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We are shooting a feature soon in Spain and for a few private exterior locations the local Town Hall are demanding a fee... even though we have a permit with the private owners. Is that legal? Thanks for any help! Ali
 
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That's going to be a matter of local law.

In the US, you sometimes (varies by city/town) need a permit to shoot on private property if you're going to be parking trucks on the street, need police officers, block the sidewalks, etc.
In one case, I got around it by scrupulously keeping everything/everyone off the street, etc.
 
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I think it's kind of ridiculous that you have to have a permit in the first place. Cities are area open to the public, no-one should have the authority to stop you filming there.

Plus, where does the line get drawn?

Can you film a street performer on your phone in a city?
Can you take a photograph of your friends in a city on a high quality camera? If so, can you take lots of photos of your friends in quick succession acting out some sort of 'scene'? Maybe 60 photos a second?
Can you stand just out of the border and film the city, or film something outside of the city from the city?

As long as you aren't on private property, filming pretty much anywhere should basically be fair game IMO.
 
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