CBS 2 Talks to Council Member Kallos about Vessel's Photo Policy
Channel: New York City Council Member Ben Kallos
Date: 2019-03-20

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

VESSEL TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY EFFECTIVE: February 15, 2019

"I will be introducing legislation in the City Council to ensure that when 60 million tourists visit our city their photos, videos and identities are not taken and sold to the highest bidder.

"You don't own me, you don’t own my identity, and you can't own the photos in my smartphone just because I took them at your tourist attraction.

 "We've all been to museums where you can't take a photo or to a sports game where you might end up on TV, and that's usually a good thing, especially if you caught a home-run in the bleachers.

"This is the first time I've heard that visiting a tourist attraction means that any photo or video you take is owned by the attraction and that's too far. They can always retweet or share your content on Facebook, but claiming ownership is ‘theft through terms and conditions.’

"Security cameras can help keep us safe, but storing footage for marketing is a nightmare.

“The proposed bill would stop tourist attractions from forcing visitors to give ownership of their identity or any photos or videos they take whether through terms and conditions or other agreements necessary to visit.