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Sweden

Sweden is liberal on street photography but a Supreme Court ruling restricts commercial and large-scale online reproduction of public artworks.

Verified Jun 28, 2026 2 official sources
Permit: conditionalPanorama: Restricted for public art

Guidance, not legal advice

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

Permit

Conditional

Issuer: Site or land manager for commercial shoots; no permit for personal street photography

Cost: No permit for personal photography; commercial crews and managed sites can require permission

Sweden is comparatively liberal on public photography. Commercial shoots and managed or private sites may need permission.

Drone / airspace

Governed by EASA rules via Transportstyrelsen; an EU operator registration is valid

For category detail, see Drone Authority.

Street / public space

Yes, and relatively permissive: photographing people in public is broadly allowed

Limits come from the covert-photography offence, defamation, GDPR on publication, and consent for advertising use.

Freedom of panorama

Restricted for public art

Buildings may be depicted freely, but the Supreme Court (NJA 2016 s. 212) held that making images of copyrighted public artworks available in a database is not covered, even where the commercial purpose is indirect. Selling or building an image bank of public sculptures is risky.

Practical notes

  • Photographing and selling images of Swedish building exteriors is clearly fine.
  • Do not assume you can freely sell or compile an online image bank of copyrighted public sculptures; the Wikimedia v. BUS ruling restricted exactly that.

Sources

Keep shooting

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

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