Laws regarding taking photos in public places - can shop/stage staff prohibit it?

[hml]

This is a case of your word against his as no actual accident occurred. So the cops couldn't have done anything even if they wanted to (which they didn't no doubt). As regards the photographs, the police were right. The guy probably told them it was invasion of privacy and asked for them to be erased. As there was no crime ― therefore the photos were not evidence ― you were legally obligated to delete them. It sucks but that's the way it goes.
If the police had actually caught him going through the stop sign he would have been fined.

Yah... but what was surprising was that the other shop owner says, "Oh there's a security camera on that intersection!" And he's all like, Yeah! We nailed this foreigner b*stard! I said, really? Great! Get it out 'cuz it's gunna show your friend running that stop sign! I told the cops about the camera and that I would love for them to look at it, but guess what - even if they saw the video, they would NOT ticket the guy because they have to see it themselves! Unbelievable! Absolutely, EMF Unbelievable!

I guess, I should invest in a camera mount for my bike and just hook my phone up every time I ride...

[ttokyo]

Thanks for sharing the info. This completely matches my experience with the local cops from the Koban who usually 'can't be bothered' and have sweet ties to the local shop owners. Filing a report with a larger police station is usually better, but without any hard evidence, such as a broken bike it's difficult anyway.

[hml]

Thanks for sharing the info. This completely matches my experience with the local cops from the Koban who usually 'can't be bothered' and have sweet ties to the local shop owners. Filing a report with a larger police station is usually better, but without any hard evidence, such as a broken bike it's difficult anyway.

Hmmm... yah you must be right. The shop owners park on the street in the same places that you and I would pick up a ticket in minutes.

But it's not a good idea to park on the street in some areas where the roads are so narrow. ones car might get keyed or something...

[hml]

check out the movie trailer for Premium Rush. Aside from the fact that it looks like a dumb movie, there is a lovely clip where a hot chick on a fast bike takes out a taxi's mirror with a chain.

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

[Sterling]

So on the way to work today, a 4x4 Bentz blows through a stop sign, and I manage to hit the brakes to avoid it - until at the last moment, I thought "feck it. I'm tired of these jerks doing this sh!t" and released pressure on the brakes just enough to give the Bentz a thump. The guy stops, looks at me, sneers and takes off. I thought, okay, I can play this game and followed. I thought I was in for a chase and I know he can't out run me in the city, but turns out he was practically already at his destination.

I catch up to him and stand in front of him with my bicycle and call 110. Cops come and we have a 30 minute shake down. Well, this guy was a typical you-foreigners-shouldn't-be-in-Japan twit and was pretty pissed, thinking I was trying to get money from him and claiming that he had stopped and grabbing another shop owner and telling him what "happened" so he could back him up when the cops came. I just stood there saying nothing except "Yes" when he asked if I spoke Japanese. Oh, and I took several photos and shot a lot of video of the guy before and after the police arrived.

In the end, the cops told me I had to erase it because it "wasn't fair" that I had photos of the guy's car and he had none of mine. I argued back for a bit, but the truth was I had to get to work. So I played with the cops a bit more while my phone was emailing the photos/video to my hotmail account and *then* I showed the cops me deleting everything on the phone. SUCKAS!!!

One cop was fairly adamant that I was legally required to delete the photos but he couldn't quote the law or tell me what law it was.

They also tried to get me to exchange name and phone number with the guy, but I said no. They said I had to. I said I didn't. Back and forth. Finally they admitted that I was not legally bound to do it and they could not force me. They were "concerned" that if I needed to contact the guy about bike repairs or injuries that I wouldn't know how to get a hold of him, but I explained that we were standing in front of the guy's restaurant and I had made a note of his license plate (anyone can get owner info from license plate no.) so I would have no difficulty "getting a hold of him" should I need to.

I explained that similar incidents have happened before, and I didn't mind exchanging contact information, but this guy was acting like an azzhole so I didn't want to do it.

So, in conclusion, the cops say IT AIN'T FAIR! b*stards. Why did I even call them...

If anyone wants a fun experience at a gaijin-hating restaurant, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction!

Could you post the pics of his car here or direct us to a link? Thanks.