Refugee Festival Scotland promotes diversity and brings people from different backgrounds together for a joyful celebration of colour, culture and creativity. Sharing photos and videos is a fantastic way to spread this positive message.

But before taking or sharing images, there are a few important points to consider.

Permissions

If a picture was made by someone else, you must make sure you have permission to use their work. This applies to all photographs, diagrams and illustrations, including ones you can find using an online search engine like Google.

If you share an image without permission from the person who created it, you could be infringing copyright laws, which could lead to a court order or a fine.  

Read more about copyright rules here

Consent

Please remember that some people may not want to have their photograph shared publicly.

It is important to let people know if photos will be taken at your event, how those pictures will be used, and where they might appear.

This will ensure everyone can make an informed choice about whether or not to be photographed.

To help you do this, we send event organisers some stickers and a photography notice.

• If photos will be taken at your event, please display the photography notice in a prominent place where everyone can easily see it
• Please make sure that anyone who does not feel comfortable about having their photo taken is given a sticker to wear. This will help people taking photos to identify them.
• Ask people photographing your event not to take pictures of anyone who is wearing a sticker.
• Ask people who do not want their picture to be shared publicly to avoid posing for photographs which might end up online
• Any photos taken at your event which include people wearing a sticker should not be posted on social media or shared publicly

Children and young people

You must be especially careful when photographing children or vulnerable people who cannot give consent for their image to be shared. Please make sure you double check with a parent or guardian before taking or sharing any photos of children.

Taking photos that don’t identify people

There are lots of creative ways to take photos that show off your event without identifying people who do not want to be recognised in publicly shared pictures.

• Close ups of hands or feet demonstrating an activity like sport, arts and crafts, or cooking
• Photos of large groups of people
• Pictures of artwork, exhibitions or a table laid out with a delicious meal
• Photos taken from a bird’s eye view, from behind or with faces in soft focus

Sharing your photos

If you take photos at your festival event, we’d love to see them. You can share pictures and video clips with us on social media by direct message, or by tagging us in your posts.

You can also send us images by email at festival@scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk

Please remember to include the name of the photographer and a short description with any pictures you send.

Removing photos

If an image of you has been shared on the Refugee Festival Scotland or Scottish Refugee Council websites, or on our social media, and you would like it to be removed, please let us know.

Even if you have given consent for your image to be shared, you can change your mind at a later date and ask for it to be taken down.

Just email festival@scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk to ask us to remove or delete a photograph.

Please try to include a link or a screenshot of the picture, so we know which one to take down.