Keep Britain's Beaches FREE for Commercial Photographers.

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About Keep Britain's Beaches FREE for Commercial Photographers.

I was recently shocked and surprised to find that some Councils within the UK are charging individual photographers exorbitant license fees to photograph and sell on shots of what is by rights public land.

It appears that not happy with the growing number of stealth taxes already at their disposal, some Councils have decided to enforce the need for licenses. These licenses are designed to raise funds from stills photographers wishing to make commercial use of photos taken on some of Britain's beaches.

It appears that little distinction has been made between film groups shooting video and an individual stills photographer. In some cases licenses have been banded as to where the photos will be sold. These 'daily' licenses range from £260 for UK sales to £620 for Worldwide sales.

Now I can fully understand the environmental arguments, the potential privacy arguments and so on but feel that these licenses are simply designed to profiteer. I am unsure why a painter can create their art for free but a landscape photographer must pay such charges ? At Camber Sands, Winchelsea and Bexhill where Rother District Council enforce these licenses I could understand the need to license film crews for they often arrive in numbers and with equipment. It is not the case of the majority of individual photographers.

At Camber the superb dunes system is a conservation area but could one stills photographer post more threat to the environment than the packs of sunbathers allowed to roam free, often leaving their litter and sometimes acting with scant regard for their surroundings ?

I may have missed the point but I strongly feel the need to highlight this practice as I feel it is on balance unfair, descriminatory and sets a very dangerous precendent. What if Big Ben were too charge ? The Thames River authority ? Where might it end ?

Photographers choosing to capture the beauty of Britain's Coast are helping to promote the areas they photograph. I know that photograph's I have seen inspire me to visit locations around the UK. In turn, when I visit these locations I contribute to them.

I am simply an amateur photographer looking to cross over but this aggressive licensing is highly restrictive and unfair to those looking to start out.

I hope this group highlights this or any other act of licensing Britain's public spaces for profit. I would love to hear of any other examples.

I seek to have these unfair policies overturned.

Thanks

Richard Clark