Rules for Photographing People on San Diego Beaches

• Photography of anyone on a public beach is legal as long as the image isn't used commercially.beach umbrellas image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
  
  When a person is in a public location or a privately owned location where he has reasonable expectation to be seen by the public, he is considered to be in the public sphere. People in the public sphere, including on San Diego's public beaches, forgo their right not to be photographed. Although photographers may legally take pictures of anyone in the public sphere, they need to receive permission from subjects in order to use the pictures in many contexts.
  
  

Laws on Photography in the Public Sphere

• Because of the legal definition of the public sphere, photographers do not need to secure permission to photograph beach-goers, sunbathers or others on beaches if the photographs that are taken and remain unpublished or part of private collections. This applies as long as the person who is being photographed, either willingly or unwillingly, is in a public space and not shielded in a way where she could assume privacy, such as in a changing room or typing in her ATM PIN code.
  
  

First Amendment Protections on Publications

• The First Amendment covers publication of pictures of people on public beaches without their consent as well. News agencies, magazines and other publications may publish photographs for documentary purposes in a bona fide news setting without receiving the permission of their subjects. First Amendment protections extend only to agencies documenting newsworthy events, and don't apply to commercially reproducing images on posters, T-shirts, greeting cards or other places.
  
  

Laws on Securing Release Forms for Commercial Purposes

• Although anyone may photograph beach-goers without their permission and publish those photos as part of legitimate news coverage as defined by First Amendment laws, individuals have rights the protect their images from being used commercially without their consent. Photographers who wish to use a photograph commercially are legally bound to receive binding permission to do so, and must have subjects sign a photographic release form before placing the image in a commercial setting, such as advertisements.