Wow
I wasn't expecting that lot! The main point for the original question was to answer whether or not there were any legal implications of taking and displaying photos taken without somebodies knowledge or consent. The question arose after a conversation I had with a friend, who said he would not be happy if he saw a photo of himself on the internet or a magazine etc. if it had been taken without his knowledge. He pointed out that he would take legal action over it because he hadn't consented to it's publication, hence my question.
The general concensus appears to be that it is perfectly legal to take photographs of strangers without their knowledge or consent and then publish those images either in print or online. So let me give a scenario;-
You take a picture of a stranger you see whilst out in public. You take the picture because the person has very distinguishing features, they are wearing an unusual hat and sitting on a bench reading a book. It just cries out to you 'Award winning shot!' You enter the said photograph into a competition and it gets placed, the pic is then published in a magazine. The person you photographed sees the article and isn't happy about their image being in the magazine. They want to take legal action.
Surely they must have some grounds for taking it further? Has a case ever been brought about?
The more sensitive subject about schools and children etc. etc. is another debate all together and wasn't the basis of this thread.