Go ahead and break the rules: Photography OK during Stampede

Calgary Stampede visitors upload thousands of their photos to Facebook and Twitter each year, a practice explicitly prohibited by the event’s rules.

A Stampede spokesman, however, said organizers will revisit the rules, and that it’s fine to post photos of the festivities on social media.

According to the Stampede Park’s terms of entry, visitors accept that they can be photographed and filmed by Stampede officials for publicity uses.

But the terms say no one can post their photos publicly.

“To protect, among other things, the personal information of our guests, you agree: (i) not to reproduce, perform, display or upload any photographs, videos and/or recordings, that you may take or record while at the Calgary Stampede; and (ii) upon our request, to immediately remove and/or delete any and all such photographs, videos and/or recording online or from any other media,” reads the terms posted online.

“It’s unfortunate, and that wasn’t our intention, to dissuade folks from bringing their cameras,” spokesman Kurt Kadatz told the Herald.

A user of the online forum Reddit posted the terms to the site’s Calgary chapter Wednesday. Some users voiced outrage, while others said it would probably only be invoke in egregious situations.

“Just because a rule isn’t enforced doesn’t make it a good rule. In fact, if the best defence of a rule is that it probably won’t get enforced, it’s probably not a good rule,” wrote one user.

Kadatz said the clause was likely added this year in an effort to clarify that companies can’t film events such as the rodeo, chuckwagon races or Grandstand Show.

“That was really for a commercial situation where we’d have someone maybe taking photos of patrons on Stampede Park and use that for a commercial gain,” he said. “We’re in an interesting world of changing technology, changing media; we’re trying to manage that a little but with legal language.

“I think we will probably have to revisit that wording,” Kadatz added, imploring visitors to “take some great photos, create some great memories and share them on social media.”

In May, Stampede organizers launched the #InstaStampede contest, which awarded prizes for photos from past years’ Stampede uploaded to Instagram.