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dglp

December 25, 2008 01:36 PM

UK specific: is there a legal ban on photos of vehicle reg plates? Or is it just an irrational myth?

I occasionally read news items referring to photographs of registration plates, as though there's some sort of prohibition on taking or publishing such photos. But I have never seen any mention of a specific rule about it.

A registration plate is just another piece of public information, and is displayed specifically so that the vehicle and its owner can be identified. It follows that verbal, written or photographic methods of recording the identity are acceptable.

If there's a specific prohibition, I'd like to know about it. In contrast, if it's just a social convention, I'd like to know how the argument goes - if only to shred it.

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albanian

December 25, 2008 04:23 PM

This is highly unlikely to be true as so many photos are published. However, the subject of UK registration plates seems to be too complex for me and I'm not a British lawyer either. It appears that their system is highly different from the US, and that people can buy and sell numbers. Also, once you have the number the plates are privately manufactured. To find out more, I suggest asking at the specialty forum in the link. It is conceivable that British privacy or even copyright laws can apply to their registration plates under some circumstances. For example you can take a picture of a persons face, but if you use that photo for commercial purposes and they are not a public figure you would need a release. Something like that might be true.
Source(s):
http://www.carreg.co.uk/forums/

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dglp

December 25, 2008 05:05 PM

Thanks, Albanian. Something like copyright/privacy laws makes a certain amount of sense. It might be analogous to bans on photocopying or photographing paper money.

Thanks also for the link. It's prompted a look around the web, and has turned up a website that collects photos of personalised UK plates. I take that to mean photos are perfectly legal.

http://nice-reg.co.uk/car-number-plates-and-cherished-registrations-uk-photos.html

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