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Proud parents filming their children’s performance at end-of-year concerts told they are breaking the law.

There is actually a range of issues when videoing children performing, including child protection issues and the consent of other parents to have their children incidentally filmed, reports ABC news.

Parents preparing to watch their children perform at a concert in Western Australia’s Kimberley region were told they would be breaking copyright law if they filmed their children.

Parent, lawyer and copyright expert, Fiona Phillips, said she could see how this might seem like an imposition on families, but that it can mean a fairer deal for artists.

“I can understand as a parent why you might be concerned if you’re told not to video your own child,” Ms Phillips said.

“Think about your average performance. There might be music, there might be scripts, there might be background scenery or costumes, as well as any choreography, and there will be separate copyrights in each of those elements.”

In the world of copyright taking a video of your child that happens to also include copyrighted music, or any other copyrighted creation, is called a reproduction and requires a licence.

If you are thinking that it is unlikely that you will be sued for breaching copyright by videoing you child’s concert, you are probably right.

But if the video unexpectedly goes viral, then we may have another dancing baby case, and you may be in trouble.

Does your school have strict guidelines about filming students?

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  • Who are these people? the ones that have nothing better to do then to find everything they possibly can to ruin life for others. Get over it people.

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  • I would be demanding to know if anybody else filmed my child after being told that. Did the complainants ask your permission to apply for copyright to film your child?? I’ll guarantee they didn’t. ……I’d love to know if there was another reason behind it. e,g, was there anybody in the hall who suffers from Autism, Epilepsy or other medical problem. Bright revolving , flashing or faulty flickering lights can trigger seizures for some people. Some with other illness have sensory issues and don’t cop with that type of lighting either. Camera flashes can cause exactly the same issues for some. There should have been an announcement and signs up saying no photography.. or no photography using lights.

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  • It is all getting rather crazy now.

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  • I think still quite a lot of photo’s and video’s can be found in the school news letter and webpage.

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  • The copy write thing seems a bit crazy but I wouldn’t like lots of randoms filming my child.

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  • I can understand people not wanting their child filmed by someone without your consent (even though this never used to be a problem) but why should it be made fairer for other artists. Either the children can be filmed or they can’t. If my child is to be filmed it is by me. The world is getting crazier every day.

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  • As long as you are there to watch then that’s what matters most. Sad if you need to show someone who cannot attend though.

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  • I prefer to be in the moment than video any performance. I struggle to get a photo!! There would also be the issue, I imagine, of filming other kids. It would be hard not to, and that may be a problem for some schools. Just be in the moment, be in the present, and enjoy the memory.

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  • The world is going crazy. Bring back the good old days when you could happily photograph or video your children without feeling like you were doing something wrong.

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  • Just shows how much influence on your lives posting to social media has these days.
    Somehow everyone will just have to commit to memory these wonderful memories. Hope no-one gets dementia.

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  • It used to be ok back then but not now

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  • Our school has told us it is okay as long as it is not made public, someone records the whole thing to sell if any parents want it, but that copy usually has faces blurred to protect kids

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  • I’d object to other people filming my kids and making it public.

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  • Must always remember children’s safety so it’s best we keep memories in our head unless we’re just able to film them on there own as for filming with other children is a NO! For many reasons

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  • Child protection is one thing and I fully support that. But being fair to the artist? This is a child’s school play not ripping off a Hollywood production or a stage show on Broadway. And on the flip side, how would a talent scout find out about this magnificent performance if it’s not shared around?

    Reply

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