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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina permits street photography, but its freedom of panorama excludes commercial use, and drones over 249 g must be registered with the BHDCA.

Verified Jul 1, 2026 2 official sources
Permit: conditionalPanorama: Non-commercial only

Guidance, not legal advice

Rules change and enforcement varies. Confirm with the issuing authority before you shoot. Drone law depth lives at Drone Authority.

Drone Authority

Check the flight side

Photography access and drone permission are separate questions. Drone Authority covers the flight-law side for this country.

Permit

Conditional

Issuer: Municipality or site manager for commercial productions; no permit for personal street photography

Cost: No permit for personal photography; commercial crews need location clearances

Personal photography needs no permit. Commercial productions coordinate with municipal authorities and site managers; Mostar's old town and religious sites set their own conditions. The Sarajevo Film Fund and entity-level bodies assist productions.

Drone / airspace

National rules via the BiH Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA): drones over 249 g must be registered before flying, with separate OPEN (non-commercial) and SPECIFIC (commercial) regimes under the 2020 rulebook

Non-commercial flights are capped lower than commercial ones; BHANSA manages airspace. For detail, see Drone Authority.

Street / public space

Yes to photograph; publishing a recognizable person generally needs consent under personality-rights principles

Not an EU member; data-protection law follows European models. Public events, public figures, and journalism are the usual exceptions.

Freedom of panorama

Non-commercial only

Article 52 of the 2010 Law on Copyright and Related Rights permits free use of works permanently located in squares, parks, streets, and other publicly accessible places, but the works may not be reproduced in 3D, used for the same purpose as the original, or used for economic advantage. Attribution is required where indicated on the work. Historic architecture (including the rebuilt Stari Most, a 16th-century design) is out of copyright.

Practical notes

  • Mostar's Stari Most and Sarajevo's Bascarsija are the marquee shots and raise no copyright issue; modern monuments and murals are where the non-commercial limit applies.
  • Unexploded mines remain a real hazard off marked paths in rural areas; stick to cleared routes when chasing landscapes.
  • Do not photograph military installations; some religious sites restrict interior photography.

Sources

Keep shooting

Knowing the rules is half the job. The craft side:

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