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Privacy fears hit wedding photographers

The job of wedding photographer seems set to get a lot tougher, as fresh guidance says images of newly-weds signing or presenting the register may breach privacy rules.

Unless a ‘dummy’ book can be brought in, the classic photo of a couple posing over the register could be no more, because it could reveal the identity of past signatories.

Already the government-authored guidelines have forced some register offices to use blank pages, or books similar to the register but devoid of other people’s identities.

At one office, photographs presenting the register are banned entirely, for fear that image-enhancing tools could later be used on the photo to enlarge someone’s private details.

According to the Home Office, which has responsibility for the General Register Office, there are also copyright issues when it comes to snapping the register.

“Taking a photograph could be construed as a copy of the entry and a breach of the Crown Copyright,” a spokesman told the Mail on Sunday.

“There are four entries to a double page so the details of another marriage could also be photographed.”

The spokesman went onto say that the department’s advice against photos of couples signing the register helps fend against them inputting their details inaccurately or in the wrong section.

Reacting to the guidelines, one office reportedly said it would permit certain shots of the couple with the register if the photographer is taking a wide shot, and is standing, say, four to six feet away.

Other offices said they would use the register but cover up the names of past signatories in order to follow the guidance, which is not thought to apply to traditional church weddings.

May 12, 2008
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