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| Photo by JeCCo (CC-BY-4.0) |
The picturesque seaside Italian city of Positano will soon begin charging photographers a substantial €1,000 (~$ 1,150 USD) fee if they plan to shoot photos for commercial purposes. Videographers, meanwhile, will have to pay €2,000 (~$ 2,300 USD) for commercial work, and Positano authorities are also banning drone use in the city, eliminating aerial projects altogether.
Due to its unique position, Positano attracts a large number of photographers, some working for brands or otherwise capturing content for commercial reasons. According to city mayor Michele De Lucia, per the Italian publication Repubblica, Positano isn’t enacting this fee as a way to make money, but instead to deter the photography sets that can disrupt pedestrians and result in “discomforts and bickering.”
It also lends the city an element of control over who gets to shoot there—”not everyone must be able to tie their own brand to Positano,” explains De Lucia.
Anyone taking photos or recording video for non-commercial purposes is exempt from the fee. The city will also allow photographers and videographers to work in certain circumstances without paying the fee, including for documentaries, TV shows, newspapers, and magazines.
The regulation states that anyone planning to photograph or record will need to submit a request at least 30 days ahead of time to get permission. Requests submitted late will require a 50% surcharge. As far as photography goes, the regulation uses the phrase ‘advertising shooting,’ indicating the fee in primarily targeted at brands and advertising agencies.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)