Videoing children and selling the CD at Primary school -- do we need parental permission?

[eleusis]

Basically, some parents aren't very happy with all the adhoc videoing going on at the Nativity play. And so there has been a proposal to hire someone to come in and video professionally, then sell the video to parents. Obviously parents would then not be allowed to video.

But, the concern is whether we can actually do this without parental permission. I think the vast majority of parents will be happy for kids to be videoed, but what if one isn't and that child is in the play? And of course we can't get into a situation where a child is not selected for the nativity because we want to video it.

Any advice much appreciated.

I think the usual thing is to send a letter out informing the parents that this is what you plan to do and asking them to inform the school if they are unhappy for their child to be videoed.

DD's old school did this and it was a good way for them to raise funds.

But, what about the parent who doesn't respond or never sees the flyer in the book bag, and then objects to it when she realises her kid has been videoed?

I know that we weren't asked for permission and that although a couple of parents did choose to refuse to allow thier child to be videoed it wasn't a problem.

Perhaps if there is a real concern about this then you can send a letter requiring parents to sign a permission slip. that way you would know who had replied and who hadn't and a reminder could be issued to parents who don't send the slip back.

Hmmm....I have just asked my information security (head of everything) at work about this and the view is: this is very likely not legal. Quote "the case law is not entirely bottomed out and there is debate but I suggest the school should get proper legal advice as I very strongly suspect this is not legal".
What he is referring to here is "ownership of image" plus data protection rules about storing data that can be positively identified as that person (so video images count here)plus the child protection act about storage of data concerning children. Normally this is applied to databases but if a video is sold with the School clearly identified on the cover and the children's faces clear in the pictures, then it is covered by the legislation.
I can't tell you who I work for but we are a very big firm and cover both video and child related data storage items for our company and we would consider this "above acceptable risk" for a company/organisation to do.
Certainly there must be parental consent via a signed form at the very least...
Ask the school if they are aware of these data protection laws and if they realise their liability if there was a complaint/incident at a later date.

The law does not cover personal videos for personal use so parents can still video their own offspring although technically distributing this video to friends could then come under the law!!!!
Does this help?

i think i may be hungry for i read this title as "vindalooing children..."

Oh Custy, do you like 'em hot?

We get to opt out of public use of images of our kids.

when children start at our school we sign a form that says things like "I am happy for my child to go on school trips/to appear in photographs/videoes...etc". photo's of children from our school have appeared in the paper for instance and those that didn't want their children included had to inform the school as such so that their children were not included.

If all the parents of the school in question have given consent for their children to be photographed in school, then taking a video should be ok.

if not, then permission will need to be sought from the parents who have not given consent.

Wannabe, we have that form when the kids start there too. But, one of my concerns is that we plan to hire a profession to do the video, and then sell it for say £5 or so. So, there is a bit of profit for the school. Does that change things?

Oh, and thanks Miggsie. That was helpful (although I'm still a bit confused).

If the parent has not given permission or not responded to a letter asking for said permission, it would be illegal for them to photograph you child.

chocfest is correct...it's a misappropriation of a private image...
Raising money this way is NOT a good idea...what if one of the children is in hiding from an abusive person...or a member of the audience is? And a video is made public which can then identify the whereabouts of that person/child?
If fund raising is the issue get them to charge for bringing a camera in.
Charging for the item then makes it a "sale of misappropriated image" and also under the child protection act you are "passing data about a child" without permission.
All potentially capable of bringing a prosecution.
All parents must sign a consent form for themselves (as audience members) and their child (as cast member) for the school to be legally covered.
Worst case scenario: someone buys a copy and publishes it on the web...they could then be prosecuted for spreading image and information without consent.
I would not give permission BTW if it were my child

This seems mad. In that case you wouldn't be able to take school photos and sell them, which you can. Lots of schools video and sell school performances. You can be forbidden from videoing in a private place, eg, by the school itself, but I don't believe that an individual has that right. I think that the case of children who need to be kept out of photos because of risk to them is a different matter - more of a moral issue for the school.

I think the date protection act has some leeway or grey areas around this - it's not just 'forbidden' as an increasing number of people seem to think.

IT data protection applies to electronic data NOT photos, so school photos are not covered...sounds mad yes but the data protection acts apply to electronically stored items...

...you can video performances but you need consent otherwise there IS a possibility of the school being later held accountable if the stuff is misused in some way.
It's basically about risk mitigation for the school distributing the material.
If no one objects, they can video it and sell it, but they need to cover themselves