It's always important to get legal advice. The information I am sharing with you is not intended as legal advice, you need to do that yourself. this article is simply about my experience. In reading this, you understand this and will not
take this as legal advice, or advice of any kind.
take this as legal advice, or advice of any kind.
Lately, I've had the good fortune of shooting a lot of portraits. I've done
everything from shooting posed and staged portraiture to a little more candid. I have loads of them, a few hundred in fact, all sitting in my hard drives and backup system.
everything from shooting posed and staged portraiture to a little more candid. I have loads of them, a few hundred in fact, all sitting in my hard drives and backup system.
So where are they all? How come I am not displaying them for the world to see? They're my photos right? Can't I just post them anywhere I like?
No, I can't. It's not that straight forward.
Each time you shoot a portrait you are creating intellectual property in which two people are involved; you and the model. Yes, you took the photo, but without that persons consent, you can't do with it as you like. Before displaying that image for the world to see you need signed permission otherwise known as written consent.
People under 18 or 21 (depending on what the legal age is in your country) you need signed consent from that child's guardian before you go merrily positing the image on Facebook. That form needs to be understood by the guardians that will use it in your marketing, display on the public domain and where ever else you want to use it, (business cards might be one such example).
Sound like a lot of hassle? After all it's your photo. Well, yes it is, but there is a good reason you need to get permission first. I'll share a made up scenario with you as to why this form is important. lets say you take a photograph of a mother and a child in the park, playing. It's a beautiful image. The light was warm, the colour vibrant and the focus was sharp. You're proud of it and want to show it off.
to find that someone decides to right click and copy it on someones website. That website is seen by everyone and now is no longer in your control. No longer is it in your control but its been uploaded to a website that opposes the personal and spiritual views of the mother who's been photographed. Now, she and her child are associated with something she clearly doesn't like. You are now legally responsible for the distribution of that image.
Okay, it's a dramatic example, but you get my idea.
A Model Release form offers you distrubution protection. It usually explains that you own the copyright to the iage, and want to use it for marketing purposes. It also explains that out of common courtesy and respect to your model, you won't go posting on any non-reputable sites. A Model Release form offers the protection of their reputation.
A Model Release form also confirms copyright protection. Not only does it allow public display of the image but
that you retain full
reproduction and distribution rights of the image. Copyright is an important
part of image ownership. Just because the
image is of a person they don't own it. They can still own the print you made for them, but the rights to the image are yours. Make sure they know this before going into any agreement with you. I encourage you to consider using Model Release forms any time you do portraiture.
that you retain full
reproduction and distribution rights of the image. Copyright is an important
part of image ownership. Just because the
image is of a person they don't own it. They can still own the print you made for them, but the rights to the image are yours. Make sure they know this before going into any agreement with you. I encourage you to consider using Model Release forms any time you do portraiture.
