SO doesn't allow you to take pictures of other team's works

[sr243]

So I was at the competition in WI yesterday and I was taking some pictures and video of some of the better building projects(towers and Battery buggy). Then an event supervisor comes up to me and says that I cannot do that. There is some new rule which says that you cannot take pictures or videos of other people's works. I asked when they made this rule, and he said they just made it this year. He said that too many people show other team's works and something about copyright infringement. You can only take pictures of your own works. So what do you guys think? I think that they should have made a more known announcement about it.

[prelude to death]

I don't know if it's allowed or not, but when my team went, for like, towers and stuff, the people who didn't have events at the time went and briefly sketched and recorded the data that other towers placed and things like that. But I don't know if it's allowed, but no one stopped us.

[robotman]

You are allowed to take pictures of pretty much anything at competitions. There was a bit of controversy a few years back and here are some qoutes that are relevent

2. Photos taken in a public place are the property of the person who took them. They don't need to get permission to post them. By displaying the vehicle in a public place, the owners are giving implied permission to photograph it.

Reading this: http://krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf, may help clear the air.

Since Science Olmpiad Comps are public there is really no backing for them to stop you taking photos

[chalker]

So I was at the competition in WI yesterday and I was taking some pictures and video of some of the better building projects(towers and Battery buggy). Then an event supervisor comes up to me and says that I cannot do that. There is some new rule which says that you cannot take pictures or videos of other people's works. I asked when they made this rule, and he said they just made it this year. He said that too many people show other team's works and something about copyright infringement. You can only take pictures of your own works. So what do you guys think? I think that they should have made a more known announcement about it.

Note that I'm not aware of any national rule that says this. There might be individual tournament director or event supervisors rules in place though.

[sr243]

Ok, I found the link stating the copyright stuff on soinc.
http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... ns10_1.pdf

[sr243]

sorry to double post, but I want people to know about this so at nationals, they would be shocked to find that they can't take pictures. So can people confirm what I am saying or does SO not have a right to do this?

[chalker]

Ok, I found the link stating the copyright stuff on soinc.
http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... ns10_1.pdf

Interesting, although it seems to be focused on people and tests. I'm not sure that it would be a problem if you just took a picture of say another team's tower (as long as it wasn't used for a competitive advantage).

[fleet130]

Ok, I found the link stating the copyright stuff on soinc.
http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... ns10_1.pdf

I see no language in the above reference prohibiting individuals from taking photographs, only limitations on what they may do with them.

The following is my understanding of situation and it may differ from the opinions of tournament organizers/officials. Tournaments probably have the right to place any sanctions on teams/competitors they wish for the actions of competitors and people associated with them (e.g. coaches, parents, other relatives). On the other hand, they have little control if the photographer is in a public place and is not associated with a team. Bear in mind that many campuses are privately owned and may/may not (under the law) be considered a "public" place. It is in the teams best interest for competitors and others associated with them to comply with any policies. These policies should be clearly distributed to teams in advance of the tournament.

Note: Individual event supervisors do not have the right to make polices unless it is given to them by the tournament organizers. If so, the policy should be clearly distributed all teams.

Bottom Line: If a tournament publishes a policy, it's usually better to comply than to fight it.

[chalker7]

The media recommendations, at http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... ns10_1.pdf clearly outline this policy. Specifically unacceptable scenario number 4.
"Unacceptable Scenario 4 - A student brings a recording device (a camera phone, a microphone, any digital recording device, whether sound, still or video) into a tournament event and uses those images for a competitive advantage (such as selling the information to a team advancing to the next level; passing the information along to another team; giving the protected content to a rival science competition or publishing entity). Any proof of this kind of activity will disqualify a student from Science Olympiad for a period of time determined by the State Science Olympiad organization in which the prohibited activity occurred, with ultimate oversight by the Science Olympiad National Executive Board."

It's kind of buried on the national website, and definitely does not have even enforcement across the country but it is the policy.

[bearasauras]

Yah, this was the policy we had at our State this year. This question came up both last year and this year at the State tournament and we had followed the media recommendations as our policy.