Film recordings

If you want to film in the road areas in Copenhagen, you need to get a permission. This also applies when setting up objects or blocking the road.

As the road authority, the City of Copenhagen considers the original purpose of the road, including traffic safety and traffic purposes, when assessing the applications.

A permit does not give an unequivocal right to the road, but the right to use the road to a limited extent, which complies with the conditions and time period set by the City of Copenhagen. The permit therefore assumes that the users of the road area and its original purpose are considered.

In the application, you must include the film location, name and purpose of the production, parking of production vehicles, start date and time and end date and time for one or more periods of the film recordings, company's CVR no. and P-No. A roadblock plan together with a description of the scale of the film recordings must be uploaded too.

It is the applicant's own responsibility to make sure that the conditions on site are suitable for the film recordings. You can use the coordination map Coordination Map PRO (in Danish)  to see, if there are other activities on the road area, which may prevent you from filming.

The administration's intended decisions on film recordings are sent to the parties involved for consultation. The Technical and Environmental Administration is legally obliged to do so according to the Danish Public Administration Act. The parties involved in the case are typically the registered owner of the land register. The consultation of the parties involved takes approx. 15 working days, as all parties must have adequate time to submit their views. 

Please note that the processing time may be longer if the parties consulted object. When this proces is over, the application must be approved by the police before the permit can be issued.

Case processing by the police can also result in extended case processing time. The processing time, however, can also be shortened if the applicant obtains prior approval from the parties involved in the case.

Consultation of parties involved and prior approval

The applicant can shorten the case processing time by obtaining prior approval from the parties involved in the case, i.e. most often with the owner of the land register. Prior approval must be attached to the application for setting up equipment to the Technical and Environmental Administration.

On this page, you will find guidelines on how to find out if a road is a private shared road. You will also find information about the owner of the land register.

Download guidelines here(PDF) (in Danish) 

On this page, you will also find a pre-approval template, which you can use to obtain a pre-approval. Please note that prior approval must – as a minimum – include information about the applicant, timeframe for filming, location and confirmation of prior approval, for example by a signature. If the exact dates are not yet certain, make sure state to an extended timeframe for the recordings. 

Download pre-approval template (PDF) (in Danish) 

When the administration receives an application with prior approval, it is inspected in order to make sure that the right people have been consulted and that the information in the prior approval is in accordance with the information stated in the application for filming on private shared roads. In cases where prior approval is insufficient, obtained from the wrong person(s) or the information does not match, the intended decision will be sent to the parties involved for consultation. 

As a starting point, it is important that the neighbouring residents on the road in question are informed about the film recordings a week before the recordings begin – but preferably as soon as possible.

This is done by distributing an information letter to all the residents, businesses and landowner associations involved.

The letter must include the reason and period for the roadblock, incl. what time of day the film recording takes place, the name and address of the production company, as well as the name and phone number of the contact person.

A filming permit does not allow film recordings of private persons, properties, etc. This type of film recordings requires explicit consent, which is agreed between the parties involved and not the City of Copenhagen.

It is allowed to film the City of Copenhagen’s buildings, when a film permit has been issued.

More information and instructions can be found at datatilsynet.dk.

Drones in connection with film recordings require a separate permit from the City of Copenhagen.

Current rules and guidelines, which can be found at droneregler.dk, must always be followed.

Film recordings on road areas requires a roadblock plan. There are a number of standard roadblock plans available. Please note that if they do not match your specific project, you will need to make a roadblock plan on your own.

If the film recording/production requires full, partial or momentary roadblocks, this requires the permission of the subdepartment Container and Digging Permits and the police, cf. section 92 of the Road Traffic Act. 1 and 2.

Momentary roadblocking must last a maximum of 3 - 4 minutes at a time.

Traffic may only be regulated by the police or personnel with relevant formal training wearing safety vests. If the police must be present during the film recording, it is the applicant's responsibility to make the necessary arrangements with the police directly.

When using equipment for roadblock – typically a stop ban – this must be set up min. 24 hours before the project start and must only apply during the period of film recording only. 

The parking spaces for disabled cars, shared cars, electric cars, embassy cars and taxis must always be maintained. If it cannot be avoided to block such spaces, a replacement space must be established in the immediate vicinity, and the Parking Department must be contacted in order for them to notify the car owner in question.

Click here to contact the Parking Department

A film recording permit gives permission to reserve road space for production vehicles that are approved for commercial purposes only in addition to cars that are necessary for the production. Road areas cannot be reserved for private personal parking, incl. parking spaces for personal transport of actors etc.

In the event of changes to the parking conditions, the prohibition signs must be placed at least 24 hours before they come into force. It is the owner, who must pay for and ensure that the signs are put up. Remember that all equipment must be marked with the owner's name and phone number and comply with the rules according to the Road Traffic Act.

This means that only the number of parking spaces that have been applied for may be blocked, and when registration is finished, signs must be put down so that other motorists can use the spaces. Please make sure to pay particular attention to this, as the majority of the inquiries received by the administration involve parking spaces.

In connection with setting up the prohibition signs and equipment, the registration numbers of cars already parked on the site must be noted and submitted to the Copenhagen Police. If some of these cars are still parked when the project starts, the owner/driver of the vehicle is not at fault. If other vehicles have arrived and ignored or overlooked the signs, the police can assist you in getting hold of the owners of the vehicles.

You can find the form to the Copenhagen Police here (in Danish)

At present, no fees apply for film recordings on road areas. Please be aware that fees may apply when using other areas in the City of Copenhagen such as cemeteries and parks.

If you are planning on filming in a municipal park, you must apply for this separately and as an event. This applies for the following places: 

• Gardens

• Sports facilities

• Cemeteries

• Local parks

• Natural areas

• Regional parks

• Areas with water

• Other green area

The online application takes place here:

Step 2: Seek permission for outdoor event | Copenhagen Municipality's website (kk.dk)

Special rules apply for film recordings in cemeteries in Copenhagen.

Please note that it can take up to 10 working days before you receive a response to your application.

You are allowed to film or photograph within the cemeteries' opening hours, which are from 7-19 in October-March and from 7-22 in April-September. It is not possible to get a permit to film on public holidays or on Sundays out of respect for the grave owners.

Permits are not given in cases of:

• nudity

• violence, blood, weapons

• disrespect

Prices

If your recordings last the whole day, a cemetery attendant must be present at your expense. The hourly price is DKK 524.00.

If your footage is to include digging a grave, it must be done by the cemetery staff at your expense. It costs DKK 5,439.00.

If your film recordings are to take place in a chapel, you must pay rent. You should expect to spend at least half an hour cleaning the chapel again when you are finished. Renting a chapel costs DKK 940.00 per person. half an hour on weekdays. Vestre Nordre large chapel, however, DKK 1,880.00 for one hour (the chapel is rented for a minimum of one hour).

All prices are incl. VAT and valid for 2023.

Once you have your permit

Once you have your permit to film, the following conditions apply:

• You must remember that you are in a cemetery or crematorium and show consideration for other visitors or relatives.

• Grave sites may not be used as the main motif without the permission of the families. We do not disclose the names and addresses of the families' contact persons, but we can assist in contacting them on your behalf.

• You must not disturb cemetery activities such as funerals and urn lowering. If your activities conflict with the activities taking place at the graveyard, the latter will always have priority.

• In the crematorium, you must not film coffins and decorations as the main subject.

• In the crematorium, you must not disturb the staff while they are working.

• You must not film staff who do not wish to be filmed.

• You must follow the instructions from staff.

Note: The City of Copenhagen operates Assistens Cemetery, Bispebjerg Cemetery, Brønshøj Cemetery, Sundby Cemetery and Vestre Cemetery as well as Bispebjerg and Sundby Crematories. The above guidelines only apply to these cemeteries and crematoria.

The area must be handed over in the same condition as it was before the film recordings began. If damage has occurred in connection with the filming or equipment setup, this must be repaired.

It is therefore required that the location of the project is documented before and after the project. This documentation must be available to the administration.

A permit is revoked if the regulations are not followed, the municipal conditions have changed or relocated or if there are obstacles that prevent the film to take place at the location in question.

The administration cannot be held financially responsible for costs in connection with revoking a permit.