Finally, here is the news many people have been waiting for! It’s now permitted to shoot video content for free in US National Parks, National Monuments and State Parks without first needing to apply for a permit. The US Senate signed the EXPLORE Act at the beginning of the year to improve everyone’s access to the nation’s extensive outdoors.
One wonderful by-product of this is that individuals no longer need to apply for permits to film content for their YouTube accounts.
Nestled within the EXPLORE Act is the FILM Act. Under previous law, photographers and filmmakers were required to pay for park access if the content was intended to create profit. This tricky law required even casual YouTubers to pay for permits and permission.
The process was often lengthy, complicated, and frustrating, and applicants could be denied permission for a number of arbitrary reasons.
The new law of course still requires that large productions ask for permission and permits. However, this no longer applies to smaller groups or individuals. The new rules state that groups smaller than 6 people who are documenting activities allowed within the park rules are permitted to do so, without applying for a licence. If you want to read all of the legislative material, you can find it here.
This is fantastic news for anyone who enjoys the outdoors and wants to document their time there. It will affect not only photographers and small filmmakers but also anyone who does adventure sports or outdoor activities.
Obviously, anyone filmmaking must not destroy the ecosystem of the park or “negatively affect the experience of other people”. That could be a difficult one to police, however, with the current fad for selfies taking over the world.
[via petapixel]
