Image: Depositphotos
Cross-posted from petapixel.com [by Jeremy Gray]
Days before Christmas, the United States Senate passed a wide-ranging bill, the EXPLORE Act, which included provisions to reform how filming permits work within National Parks. President Biden signed the approved bill into law over the weekend, just a couple of weeks before the end of his term.
Within the broader EXPLORE Act, the FILM Act is considered a significant win for filmmakers and creators. Under the previous law, filmmakers were required to obtain a permit and pay a fee to record footage within National Parks that they intended to profit from. These permits could be denied for a range of unpredictable and inconsistent reasons, per FIRE and the National Press Photographers Association, who jointly filed a lawsuit last month alongside photographers Alexander Rienzie and Connor Burkesmith, citing First Amendment violations relating to the now-outdated filming permit laws.