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Dear Ken and list, The issue of, 'strong resistance from the building owners' may in fact be one of drawing attention to the building itself; it's state and location. By making this widely available on the web, an owner may feel that this singles them out for attention by prospective criminals. Could this encourage a 'would be burglar' to undertake further research? In which case, does the owner have good grounds to object? Fleur Soper | Communications Officer Digital Preservation | National Archives -----Original Message----- From: Ken Roberts [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 30 June 2004 14:10 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Photos of Listed Buildings and FOI I think there should be no problem if the LA wish to include the photos provided they own the copyright in the photo or have the permission of the copyright owner. As the photographer was standing in a public place he could photograph anything in sight without needing to obtain the permission of the property owner. A would be burglar doing research on a prospect could legally stand on the same public spot with a telephoto lens and photograph every visible window catch and door lock if they wanted. Ken Roberts Cardiff University >>> Dik Allison <[log in to unmask]> 30 June 2004 11:45:17 >>> We are performing an FOI audit for a local authority in England. They have raised an issue regarding photos of listed buildings at risk. These photos are all taken from a public highway or public footpath and show the existing state of the building to act as evidence if any unauthorised alterations are made. The authority want to publish the photos as part of the publication scheme, but have met strong resistance from the building owners, who are concerned about security issues - potential for break-ins etc. The authority have consulted their own legal department and English Heritage and have not got an answer from either. Has anyone come across this issue and if so what was the decision? My own opinion is that they may be exempt under s38 - 'Health & Safety' - i.e. not publishing anything that may endanger the health and safety of an individual. This section is conditional, so it may not be cut and dried. Dik Allison 4th Resource Consultancy Ltd ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ ********************************************************************** National Archives Disclaimer This e-mail message (and attachments) may contain information that is confidential to The National Archives. If you are not the intended recipient you cannot use, distribute or copy the message or attachments. In such a case, please notify the sender by return e-mail immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message and attachments that do not relate to the official business of The National Archives are neither given nor endorsed by it. **********************************************************************