[Tango-L] Videos of Dancing at Milongas

[Frank Lupo]

A little research into the right of publicity and the
rights of privacy will reveal that when you go out in
public your rights of privacy are "de minimis."  The
standard set by the courts for what is a newsworthy
matter of public interest is very low. For example the
fact that it is a warm summer's day and crowds of
people are at the beach or park may be illustrated
with photos or videos of people at the beach or park,
it relates to the weather or just how people in the
community are spending their time. 

With the example of the milonga in the park, there
need not have been a crime to justify documenting the
event, the simple fact that there are dancers at a
milonga in the park would certainly be determined to
be a matter of public interest. The same would be true
for a concert in the park or a street fair.

The designation of news organization is not of much
significance in this age of web sites and blogging.
Bloggers who post matters of public interest, a
loosely defined concept, would be entitled to the same
First Amendment rights as the New York Times. But
historically people today are using the web the way
that the pamphleteers of the American Revolutionary
War used their access to a printing press, e.g.,
Thomas Paine, which gave rise to the First Amendment.

If a Tango festival or milonga is advertised or
promoted in any way it would most certainly be
considered a public event. I do think that a promoter
could ban photography and filming at their events. I
have even seen a few restaurants and shops with signs
prohibiting the use of cell phones in their
establishments. I would be very surprised if the
promoters of festivals or milongas started to ban the
documentation of their events, because with palm sized
camcorders and cell phone with video capture it would
be a headache to police.  It is also my impression
that many teachers/promoters are posting photos and/or
videos of their events on their own web sites or
community web sites and have been doing so for
sometime now to promote their events. My guess is that
videos and photos of people enjoying the music, the
dance and each other tends to attract more people to
attend festivals and milongas, rather than discourage
them from attending. Perhaps I am wrong, but I don't
think that most people who go out dancing are too
concerned about keeping their dancing private. 

Frank


 
--- Stephen.P.Brown at dal.frb.org wrote:

> Actually, the public use of images created in public
> places depends on the 
> legitimacy of the relationship of the image to the
> news and on the 
> standing of the news organization.  For instance, a
> news organization 
> cannot claim that crimes are being committed in
> Cheesman Park, Denver and 
> illustrate it with photos or footage of dancers at a
> milonga in the park 
> because the dancers have no relationship to the news
> story.  A private 
> individual also has somewhat less standing in the
> public use of images 
> than does a news organization.