When Does a Photoshoot in Sweden Need a Permit? A Client Checklist

Using a public place in a town often requires a permit from the police under the Public Order Act (ordningslagen). The police list film shoots among the uses that normally need one. Their guidance also says no permit is needed if the place is only used temporarily and to a minor extent, and that the requirement applies within areas covered by a detailed development plan.

In practice that puts a small handheld session on the right side of the line. A crew with lights on stands, rails, a tent, a generator or a cordoned-off pavement is a different matter. A wedding party standing on a quay is not usually an issue; a commercial campaign shoot on the same quay may be.

Who to ask. The police process applications through polisen.se and may consult the municipality. The application carries a fee, which is not refunded if the permit is refused, and processing can take time. If a road has to be closed or signs changed, the police advise applying at least four months ahead. The City of Stockholm says the permit must be in place before shooting starts and must cover everything placed on site, and it lists a charge for film, TV and photo activity on public land.

A place can count as public even when it is privately owned, for instance a pedestrian street through a commercial development. In that case you need the landowner's agreement as well as any police permit. If you are not sure, ask the municipality and the police before you plan.

Private land means the owner's rules. That covers courtyards, rooftops, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres, office buildings and a housing cooperative's garden. A place being open to the public does not give you the right to run a shoot there.

For a business portrait session in Stockholm at your own office, the permission is usually yours to give, but check the building's rules for shared areas such as the lobby and the roof.

For churches, the parish (församling) decides. If you are marrying there, raise photography with the priest at an early stage, as many have views on where a photographer may stand during the service. This often comes up for wedding photography, and it is better settled before the day than at the door.

There is no single museum rule in Sweden, and the differences are practical. Two current examples show the range:

• Vasa Museum, Stockholm. Visitors may photograph and film for their own purposes, flash and tripods are allowed and selfie sticks are not. Commercial use must be cleared with the museum first.
• Malmö Museums. Photography is allowed under house rules. Commercial photography with simple equipment, without flash or tripods, has no fee but must always be notified in advance. Staff assistance or shooting outside opening hours costs extra and needs an application at least a week ahead.

Elsewhere the rules can be stricter still. The Palm House in Gothenburg's Trädgårdsföreningen, for example, welcomes private photos and does not permit commercial photography.

One question comes up again and again, and the answer varies: does a paid photographer shooting your private session count as commercial? Ask the museum directly and describe it as it is, rather than assuming.

Three different bodies are involved here, and it helps to keep them apart.

The royal palaces (the Royal Court). Published terms allow photography and filming for personal use inside and outside the palaces, without flash, lighting, tripods, selfie sticks or other fixed equipment. Commercial shoots are not permitted inside the palaces or in their immediate vicinity, and organised wedding, engagement or graduation sessions are not allowed indoors. In the palace parks, the Royal Court's guidance allows wedding photos for private use with handheld equipment, but not commercial photography or photography with props. Requests beyond personal use go to the palaces' marketing department.

Classified sites. The same terms state that aerial photography is forbidden at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, Drottningholm and Haga Palace, and that Haga Palace may not be photographed or filmed from the ground either. That concerns the palace itself, not the wider Hagaparken, but plan your frames accordingly.

Royal Djurgården. The land is administered by Kungliga Djurgårdens Förvaltning, part of the Royal Court. Walking and taking pictures on the island is an everyday thing. For anything organised, commercial or involving equipment, contact the administration before you commit.

Haga and state-owned parks. Responsibility for Hagaparken is shared, with Statens fastighetsverk (SFV) and Kungliga Djurgårdens Förvaltning both involved, so ask SFV first and let them point you on. SFV lets out its properties for film and photo shoots under temporary agreements. Applications go to its locations team, it recommends applying at least three weeks ahead (with an earlier deadline for summer events), and fees depend on the project. On public land it owns, you need SFV's agreement as well as any police permit.

Sweden's reserves and national parks each have their own regulations, and they differ. Some restrict where you may go at certain times of year. Some restrict organised activity. A few name commercial activity outright: one nature reserve's regulations in Jämtland, for example, require the länsstyrelsen's permission for it.

To check a specific place:

1. Open Skyddad natur, the map service from Naturvårdsverket, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. It links to the decision and regulations for each protected area.
2. Look for anything on organised activity, commercial activity, events, setting up equipment or access during nesting season.
3. If in doubt, ask the länsstyrelsen (county administrative board) responsible for the area. For a municipal reserve, ask the municipality.

Applications for a permit or exemption go to the länsstyrelsen. Some cases carry a fee, cases are often queued, and you must wait for the decision before going ahead. A two-person portrait walk on marked trails is a very different thing from a campaign with a crew, so describe the plan accurately, including how many people will attend and what you will bring.

The Stockholm area adds one special case. Kungliga nationalstadsparken, the national city park that includes Djurgården and Haga, is protected under the Environmental Code, so new or unusual uses may raise questions for the länsstyrelsen in Stockholm as well as the landowner.

The right of public access (allemansrätten) lets you move across most land in Sweden, as long as you do not disturb or destroy. It is often misread as a general permission to photograph anywhere. A few limits matter for a shoot:

• It belongs to individuals. As länsstyrelsen guidance puts it, the right is tied to the individual and not to groups, and the organiser of an activity is responsible for what the participants do.
• Commercial use is not automatically excluded. A 1996 Supreme Court ruling accepted that the right can be exercised in organised, commercial form, as long as each participant stays within its limits and the use causes no notable harm or nuisance. Naturvårdsverket notes that there is no clear case law on exactly when an organiser needs an agreement with the landowner.
• Anything fixed needs the landowner. Putting up markers or changing the terrain requires consent. A wedding arch, a dance floor or a generator goes beyond simple access, so ask.
• Homes are off limits. Allemansrätten does not let you onto someone's garden or close to their house, and it does not cover crops or planted land.
• It does not override protection. Reserve regulations take priority. In reindeer herding areas, larger organised activity can also need the landowner's permission.

If an activity could significantly affect nature, for instance a large event, you may have to consult the länsstyrelsen under the Environmental Code. Our elopement guide looks at what this means for a two-person ceremony.

Taking pictures of people in public places is generally lawful in Sweden. There are limits: secretly photographing someone inside a home, a toilet, a changing room or a similar space is an offence, and behaviour that harasses someone can be one too. The harder questions usually come afterwards, when the pictures are published.

GDPR. Sweden's data protection authority, IMY, states that photos and films showing identifiable people can be personal data. Publishing them on a website calls for a legal basis, and a company can often rely on legitimate interests, but it must weigh those against the people pictured and document its reasoning. For events, IMY says consent can be unnecessarily cumbersome, and that attendees should instead be told their picture may be used and how to object. For employees, consent is often not suitable because of the employment relationship. Sharing beyond a private circle falls outside the private-use exemption, and children get stronger protection.

Marketing. The Act on Names and Pictures in Advertising (1978:800) says a business may not use a person's name or picture in marketing without that person's consent. Breaching it can lead to a fine and to compensation for the person pictured. A recognisable passer-by in your campaign image is therefore a real problem, so choose frames carefully or get written consent.

Art and buildings. Swedish copyright law lets you depict buildings freely and allows images of art permanently placed outdoors in public places. Art indoors, including in many public buildings, is not covered by that rule, so a campaign built around a specific artwork needs the rights holder's agreement.

The licence. Your right to use the pictures comes from the professional. Say in your request whether they are for private use, a website or advertising, and the licence is set out in your proposal.

A skyddsobjekt (protected site) is an installation given stronger legal protection, such as a military area or an important piece of infrastructure. The länsstyrelsen decides on civilian ones. They are marked with prohibition signs, usually yellow, which state what is banned. Access is restricted, and a separate decision can also ban photographing, drawing, describing or measuring the site. Breaching such a ban can be a criminal offence.

If you see a sign, do not photograph the site, and do not include it in the background. If you are planning a shoot near a harbour, power plant or military area, ask the länsstyrelsen or the site's operator first.

Drones are a separate question with separate rules. Allemansrätten gives no general right to fly, and many protected areas restrict it. A pilot checks zones before every flight; see our checklist on drone rules in Sweden and drone photography for what to ask.

1. Write down the exact places you hope to use, including backups.
2. Say what the pictures are for: private use, a website, advertising or a listing.
3. Mark each place public, private, museum, royal, state-owned or protected, using the table at the top.
4. Describe the setup honestly: number of people, tripods, lights, props, an arch, a drone.
5. Ask the right body for anything beyond a handheld session, and allow time for it.
6. Get the answer in writing if the shoot is commercial or the location is sensitive.
7. Plan consent for anyone recognisable, especially staff and children, if the images will be published.
8. Keep a fallback location that needs no permission. It is useful for weather too; see what happens if it rains.

Put your places and purpose in your availability request. We reply personally with a proposal that names the professional and sets out the licence. Our guide to Stockholm's photo locations can help you choose places that keep this list short.