Why the Opera House answers this question
The Opera House treats its image, likeness and name, with its trade marks, as one brand, and the Sydney Opera House Trust manages that brand for the NSW Government. The page describes the Trust as a not-for-profit cultural institution of the State. Its rules on photos sit on its brand use page. A wedding photographer’s question is answered there, in a list of questions and answers, beside questions about postcards and logos.
On the day
The answer for wedding photographers is short. Photos outside the building are permitted where they are for the clients’ own use. The same answer asks for three things while you are on site:
- work safely, and keep disruption to other visitors to a minimum;
- remember that you are subject to the direction of Opera House Security at all times;
- keep bags and equipment with you at all times, where they will not block access or trip anyone.
The answer speaks only of photography outside the building, for the clients’ personal use. Beyond that, the page’s general rule is that all commercial filming and photography on the site, interior and exterior, needs prior written approval from the Opera House.
Afterwards: the photos in a portfolio
Here the page holds two answers that have to be read together.
The general rule is strict. Among its examples of promotional use that needs the Trust’s permission and a licence, the page lists professional photographers selling photographs of the Opera House, or using photographs to advertise their photography services.
The wedding answer is gentler. The page accepts that wedding photographers commonly use some client photos to promote their services, and where the Opera House merely forms a backdrop to the couple and takes up only a small part of the photo, it permits that use to advertise your services.
So what matters is the frame. The couple as the subject, with the building a small part of the background, is the case the wedding answer allows. Where the Opera House is the exclusive or dominant feature of a photo, the page says approval should be sought from its Brand team.
The rule of a third
In answer to a question about filming the building for an advertisement, the page gives a test. Where the Opera House is part of the incidental geography of the harbour or skyline, takes up less than a third of the image, and is no more prominent than other landmarks such as the Harbour Bridge, the page says its depiction “should not be a problem”. A separate answer says a photo that places the building in its harbour setting, in equal representation with the Bridge and the city skyline, would be permitted for commercial use, and repeats that where the building is the exclusive or dominant feature, approval should be sought.
Uses the page treats as commercial
- Stock libraries. Uploading photos of the Opera House to a stock library for sale to others counts as commercial use, and the page says the Opera House does not approve commercialising its image.
- Merchandise. Postcards, picture books and other merchandise built on photos of the building need the Trust’s authorisation first.
- Logos. Where the building is the dominant or exclusive subject of a business’s logo, the page says people may be misled into thinking there is an association, and it recommends including at least two other well-known harbour features in equal measure.
Personal use is a different matter: the page encourages visitors to photograph their experience, and says a photo you take is your own property.
Asking for approval
Requests for filming and photography go through the Opera House’s Brand Use Request Application Form, and the page asks for at least three business days to review a request. If approved, a brand licence is entered into. Media work is separate: all on-site media activity needs prior approval from the Communications Team.
The foreshore around it
The Opera House’s approval covers filming and photography on its own site. The ground around it has other managers. Place Management NSW issues filming and photography licences for the Circular Quay Promenades, The Rocks and Darling Harbour, as the guide to those places explains. A Botanic Gardens of Sydney photography permit covers the Garden and The Domain, set out in the Royal Botanic Garden guide.