Model Release

[MagicallyDelicious]

Ive just been sat here thinking....

Do I need it to put people on my website?

If not when is it I require one?

Thankie Spankie :)

[sandpiper]

In the UK, there is no need for a model release at all, legally speaking. You can shoot away and publish the shots anywhere you like, with a few provisos.
Firstly, shots must have been taken from public places. You can't sneak into someones garden and shoot them on private property (unless you have permission of course). You cannot use the shots in any way that could be seen as defamatory (either using PS to alter the image or using an image as part of an ad campaign for 'social diseases' for example). You also cannot use it in a way that implies endorsement of a product (advertising polo mints perhaps).

You can sell the images to magazines etc., or stick them on your website, without a release although some magazines will insist on a release, particularly if they sell in the States where releases are much more of a legal requirement.

Having said that you can legally stick them on your website, it may be best to use some common sense in some cases. I personally wouldn't post pictures of children on the internet, without written permission from the parents, as this is a sensitive area and (although I would be within my rights to do so) I don't want to upset anybody. Equally, if someone was to ask me not to post (or remove an already posted shot) I would comply with that request.

In general, if you shoot candids of adults when out and about you can use them without permission or a release, so you don't need to chase after people and ask them for either. If someone is clearly aware that you have taken their pic., it may be worth having a word, telling them your intentions and giving them a card with your web address on it so they can see the pic. This is up to you however, not a legal requirement.

Note that this is UK law and may not apply to images taken or published abroad. The USA is more of a minefield with releases and I believe that the privacy laws in France (as an example) mean that you cannot publish a picture of someone without a release. Note that that includes everyone who can be identified in the image, so if you snap an onion seller riding past on his bike you not only have to chase after him for a release, but all the pedestrians on the pavement behind him who could be recognised. In practice of course, most people will still post their holiday snapshots on their websites, regardless of people being in their shots of France. It is unlikely that they will ever be seen by the people in the shots, most who do see such an image will not give a damn and, if one should be bothered, just take the image down when they object. Again common sense should prevail, don't post images that you feel the subject would object to and you are highly unlikely to have any issues.

In the UK, what you put on your website is more an ethical decision than a legal one (decency and defamation laws apart). However it can still be useful, especially when doing portraits or character studies, to get a release as a matter of course. This is in case you get a great image and want to sell it, UK mags may not require a release but US ones will and so will image libraries if you want to go in that direction. In fact most big stock image libraries require a release for everybody identifiable in the pic, so it may be worthwhile chasing that onion seller and all the pedestrians after all.

I hope this helps.

[condyk]

Man ... that is a great outline. Very sensible. Good job :-)

[MagicallyDelicious]

Thanks Sandpiper.

Very very good info there :)

[rhys]

The BFP always advises obtaining a model release. I had a pile at one time.

[I Simonius]

The BFP always advises obtaining a model release. I had a pile at one time.

DO the BFP have a cream for that?:lol::p

[and.duncan]

Does anyone know if the laws in Australia are similar to the UK laws?

[I Simonius]

Does anyone know if the laws in Australia are similar to the UK laws?

Nobody knows that Im afraid:lol:
( sorry Im in a very silly mood)