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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Walmart - Photography Not Allowed
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 08/19/2008 05:02:25 PM · #51
Just to chime in...I used to work at Wal-Mart and they train the employees to watch for anyone standing or going through the store writing prices down. They are to assume it is a competitor checking their prices. They have two reasons for not allowing photographs...one mentioned earlier, their diaplays. They pay thousands of dollars for someone to design the entire layout from shelf distance, product order, and label placements. There is a lot of market trend research that goes into each display before it is changes. Another reason is so no one can go in and use a digital camera to get their prices. One more thing that comes to mind but is not mentioned during employee training is all of the packaging for the products is copyrighted.

Many businesses are going this direction. Burger King has signs up that prohibit photography or video taping of any kind on the premises. Although, it is up to each individual store as to how they are going to enforce the rule. Some will use common sense and others will enforce it strictly
08/19/2008 05:07:50 PM · #52
Spy / Hidden cams are small, undetectable and cheap. Competitors are not going to bring attention to themselves, I would think.

...actually that sounds like a fun job.
 08/19/2008 05:10:33 PM · #53
Originally posted by rbryan22:
Just to chime in...I used to work at Wal-Mart and they train the employees to watch for anyone standing or going through the store writing prices down. They are to assume it is a competitor checking their prices. They have two reasons for not allowing photographs...one mentioned earlier, their diaplays. They pay thousands of dollars for someone to design the entire layout from shelf distance, product order, and label placements. There is a lot of market trend research that goes into each display before it is changes. Another reason is so no one can go in and use a digital camera to get their prices. One more thing that comes to mind but is not mentioned during employee training is all of the packaging for the products is copyrighted.


Now that does make sense, but not only should they post their policy, but inform their employees to be cordial about enforcing it. The cashier wasn't rude, but he was far from friendly. If had said, "Excuse me, but it is Walmart's policy to not allow photography in the store" I would have felt better about it.

I think I'm going to call the Walmart number and see if I can get permission to take a photo of my daughter by the big M&M and see what they say.
 08/19/2008 07:40:40 PM · #54
Originally posted by muckpond:
Originally posted by Ken:
I understand the trespassing, but what law would be broken if I were to take a picture in a mall?


malls are, for the most part, private property whether or not they have their doors open to the public.


Yeah but we all know it's a crock.... They use trespassing as the way to get you out the same as tax evasion against gangsters has been more popular in the past. They use trespassing here on the subway if you refuse to be searched - same deal. It's a pseudo - do what I say rule nothing more and free public access like malls & subways are should not be allowed to be private property while they are generally open anyway IMO.
 08/19/2008 08:05:20 PM · #55
I took some Walmart photos awhile back but I think I deleted them. Shucks. You saying they're worth money now?
 08/19/2008 09:17:40 PM · #56
i guess this could be likened with the "freedom of speech" thing where i suggest fellow speech-makers be careful of what they include in the speech, even though they have the rights to do so. nobody wants to end up with a slap in the face for saying something wrong in front of a lady :)
 08/19/2008 09:47:19 PM · #57
Originally posted by robs:
...free public access like malls & subways are should not be allowed to be private property while they are generally open anyway IMO.


So a mall or store owner should just put up with whatever folks want to do, as long as it's not strictly illegal, with no recourse?
 08/27/2008 11:20:16 AM · #58
I can soon see that cell phones will be banned in Wal-mart. They not only take photos, but perhaps the people talking on them are telling the "competitors" what the prices are. If someone wants to find out how the competition works, they will. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to put up with it.

Message edited by author 2008-08-27 11:20:53.
 08/27/2008 01:03:37 PM · #59
Originally posted by togtog:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
You know, I've never even BEEN in a Walmart... Does that make me strange (for an American, at least)?

R.


... freak


... Patriot
 08/27/2008 04:16:25 PM · #60
Originally posted by JDubsgirl:
Originally posted by crayon:
heard it is supposed to protect the store's product displays from being copied by competitors - something along that line. i'm happy you didnt make a fuss out of it in front of your daughter - good decision.


couldnt the competition jsut walk in and look at the displays?


exactly someone was on their high horse I"m thinking.
 08/27/2008 06:51:10 PM · #61
Well there certainly are no privacy issue involved. From a chat with a store employee a couple of weeks ago it came out that they have cameras all over the store so they can watch and review the film looking for shoplifters and the like, be they employees or "customers."
 10/16/2012 01:34:55 AM · #62
I have been a semi-professional photographer for well over 30 years. I am now almost retired and working part time at WalMart in the Connections, Electronics, and PhotoLab departments. I got in heck a few weeks ago for showing up on a day off and taking some pics of some of the pretty young ladies. The manager found out and I was called into the office. He told me that it was policy that photos are not allowed without a manager's permission and that I should never do it again. I said ok, but where is the policy published? He said he would find it but he has not come back to me. I have looked through ALL the policies that are published online and there are none that mention anything about photos.

1) taking of photos depends on your state/province laws. Where I live, driving on a highway is defined as driving on any surface that the public has a reasonable belief that they can drive on. According to that logic, a public place is any place that the public has a reasonable belief that they can be in. That makes it a public place!

2) How do stores such as Walmart, Wendys, A&W, etc., explain their security cameras? Every single one of them could be taking downblouse pictures which is certainly an invasion of privacy to the person, not the store. In the store that I work at there are well over 50 cameras in the ceilings and there are only about 8 posted messages saying that there are there. And those messages are very non-obvious.

3) Policy is not law. Even if a company has a policy that photos are not allowed, I have a policy that I can do it anyway.

If you are in public, you are subject to having your image taken. Period. That does not mean that I or any newspaper/magazine can publish it without your permission. But attempting to ban the taking of a picture is wrong and illegal. It is, after all, a public place. Policy notwithstanding.

Loaner

10/16/2012 02:12:03 AM · #63
Originally posted by loaner:
It is, after all, a public place.

Walmart (or any store for that matter) is not a public place.

At least here in Germany the owner of any store has the right to forbid taking photos when inside. So it's not a bad idea to just ask whether they have any issues with you taking photos.
 10/16/2012 07:03:11 AM · #64
I take pictures in Walmart/target/other stores all the time. and... GASP... of the displays.
with Christmas right around the corner... when my boys see something they want, I take a pic of it, with the price clearly shown, so I can remember for later. writing takes too much time, and my memory is shot... so its the most convenient way for me.

so far, no one has said a thing.
10/16/2012 07:41:11 AM · #65
as mentioned, a store is not a public place, it is private property. The store owners allow the public to enter and are subject to their rules. Same principal as a museum or gallery for example that almost always forbid photography, the public are allowed in but it is not a public place

If a stores policy is to not allow photo's they are well within their rights to ask you to stop. I'm fairly certain it's not actually "illegal" and I don't think they could prosecute you but they would be well within their rights to ask you to leave the premises and ban you from re-entering

I suspect most staff couldn't be bothered to stop anyone
 10/16/2012 08:04:11 AM · #66
Management of retail stores tend to be really protective of their displays, and they don't want their competitors copying them. So they are touchy about people photographing them.
What's funny is, they often do "espionage" by taking pictures of competitors' displays!
 10/16/2012 11:41:30 AM · #67
Please explain peopleofwalmart.com Is that not obviously a public place? I understand the logic behind stores not wanting to allow competitors to take photos but again, why is it ok for them to take videos? I don't need permission to enter the store and that makes it a public place. Sure, it is privately owned, but they opened it to the public.
10/16/2012 11:43:51 AM · #68
Public, private, legal, illegal - it all comes down to something I learned as a juvenile delinquent: Don't get caught.
 10/16/2012 11:44:56 AM · #69
The competitors idea is a complete joke.

If a competitor wanted to see the displays walmart puts up, they don't need a picture. They could VERY EASILY go in and look at the displays.
If they wanted to know prices, they could WALK RIGHT IN and look at them.

I don't understand the "competitors" idea on no photography in the store.


10/16/2012 11:46:51 AM · #70
Agreed. Besides that, competitors would be clandestine about taking photos.
 10/16/2012 11:58:50 AM · #71
Walmart probably just has that policy because of the people of Walmart website. Ha!
 10/16/2012 12:18:21 PM · #72
My understanding was that in general a grocery stores won't allow photographs indoors because of a liability issue. Regulations on food storage and supply tend to be extremely detailed, to the extent that is impossible to followed them strictly in a daily basis in a functioning store. Therefore, almost any image taken inside the store can potentially be used to as a prove of broken regulations with the consequent fine and bad publicity.

The same holds for almost any food business (restaurant, fast food, food cart ...) if you get into any of their kitchens and compare regulations to what they actually do, they should be shut down immediately.

At least, this was the situation many years ago, in a different country, in a different culture...

Anyways, as long as you don't get caught there is no crime.....

10/16/2012 01:59:09 PM · #73
Gotta love the necro thread revival! The more things change, the more they stay the same. Check back in 2016 for round 3.
 10/16/2012 02:35:42 PM · #74
We should distill this discussion down to the public place issue. For sure, by law, in the province I live, the parking lot at WalMart is covered under our traffic laws as being a highway because the public has a reasonable right to believe they can travel there. That is even though the parking lot is owned by WalMart. It is still, under law, considered to be a highway. Why should the right of access to the store itself not still apply? It becomes a public place as soon as they allow the public in. My home is not a public place because I do not allow anybody but friends and expected retailers in. Not the case with stores who expect the public to enter.

10/16/2012 02:43:49 PM · #75
It is open to the public, but they can set the rules governing your attendance. For example, you (probably) cannot enter a Wal-Mart if you are nude, or if you're carrying a flaming torch, or playing music out of a boom-box at top volume, or unless you're wearing shoes ... the rules may be as arbitrary as desired, as long as they are applied to the public without discrimination (on the basis of race, etc.).

In most places, merchants are required to post a notice of video surveillance; your entry constitutes your consent to be photographed for security purposes.

Originally posted by mpeters:
Gotta love the necro thread revival! The more things change, the more they stay the same. Check back in 2016 for round 3.


People who revive an old thread to add to or continue a relevant discussion are following Forum Rule #3 -- I wish people would quit commenting as if it is some sort of forum faux pas ...

Message edited by author 2012-10-16 14:57:47.
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