Eek! I'm on candid camera!

Yeah, if they're taking pictures of us urinating, then I'd like to know, too. But then, those wouldn't be pictures I'd ever happen to run across in my other usual peregrinations throughout the internet. Maybe we're all on the 'net in compromising poses, but they're posted on porn sites we aren't interested in! "Men Urinating Dot Com" isn't high on my saved Google searches list ...

I saw myself in the background on the news a few times when I was going to college. It wasn't anything I did, I just happened to be where the news was happening. I believe I was in a Calculus II class with a meteorologist from the local tv station. He probably didn't think it was any big deal to be on tv since he was doing the noon weather broadcast when he wasn't in class.

As far as possible filming goes, one thing many years ago I thought was really suspicious was a wire going down to one of the men's urinal. I was thinking why is there a wire going down there? It made me wonder. I don't know if that would be legal or not. If it is legal, it's certainly not ethical.

I guess if they announced that they were filming, plenty of guys wouldn't enter in the first place. Though I'm guessing it's "legal" for someone who OWNS a building to FILM in his OWN goddammed building (especially if it's a "public" event), but it's still kind of below-the-board of them, nevertheless, not to be up-front about it.

I have my picture on a number of sites that I know of, but none are strip clubs. Other clubs, yes, usually in a crowd shot.

Years ago on a hot summer day after I was thirsty and drank and bought some beers rather quickly at Myrtle Beach, a bartender was going off saying I was the fastest beer drinker at the beach. I thought surely he was joking but he seemed somewhat serious. I drank the beer like water since I was thirsty. He said he was going to take my picture and put it up on his bulletin board. I thought that was amusing at the time.

I remember running into a dancer who claimed she knew me but I couldn't remember her. Then she told me there was a picture of me in a club I used to go to years ago sitting at the stage. I didn't know they had a picture of me in that particular club. I couldn't remember her either but she claimed she knew me. That wasn't all that bad since she was a bit more friendly than most strippers.

I went to visit one popular club at the beach and it was very crowded. The dancers were doing special performances and it looked like they were being filmed. I didn't know what that was about. One dancer offered to find me a chair and took it to the stage and sat in my lap. A few months later I ran into a dancer who says she still works there and that I'm on their DVD. I don't know if she recognized me from the DVD or visa versa. I'm thinking either she has good eyes or perhaps they zoomed in on me when filming a dancer. I went to that club one time.

BTW, I'm no lawyer, but I've worked with a few photographers over the years.

ArtCollege: I would say your videographer was being cautious to a fault. Model releases aren't supposed to be necessary for crowd shots, but many professionals err on the side of getting releases to prevent frivolous hassles down the road. Without having seen the images in question, if Book Guy truly feels violated by their publication, he might be able to pressure the club into removing them, but I doubt if he could collect damages. Yes, the club should have shown the courtesy of notifying patrons, but I don't think they left themselves vulnerable to anything serious by not doing so.

I've made some marketing videos in a group setting, and my videographer always insisted that I needed permission from anyone in the film. He's not a lawyer, and neither am I. You might want to consult with one. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, send them a letter demanding that they stop using your image. I'm guessing that would be trademark infringement. (you could also offer to compromise with some free laps.)

I was once in a club with my ATF. There were cameras everywhere. Seems HBO was filming one of their shows, but I have forgotten the name of the show. She would not dance or be in the show, so we hid out in a dark corner waiting till they finished. I never did see that episode on TV. One of the feature dancers they filmed, I knew. She had even dated a neighbor of mine.