A model release, known in similar contexts as a

liability waiver A liability waiver is a legal document that a person who participates in an activity may sign to acknowledge the risks involved in their participation. By doing so, the company attempts to remove legal liability from the business or person respons ...

, is a

legal release A legal release is a legal instrument that acts to terminate any legal liability between the releasor and the releasee(s), signed by the releasor. A release may also be made orally in some circumstances. Releases are routinely used by photographer ...

typically signed by the subject of a

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

granting permission to

publish Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

the photograph in one form or another. The legal rights of the signatories in reference to the material is thereafter subject to the allowances and restrictions stated in the release, and also possibly in exchange for compensation paid to the photographed person. A model release is not needed for most photograph publication because of

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

rights (which vary by country.) A model release is needed for publication where

personality rights Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. They are generally considered as ...

or privacy rights would otherwise be infringed. No release is required for publication, as news, of a photo taken of an identifiable person when the person is in a public place. In general, no release is required for publication of a photo taken of an identifiable person when the person is in a public space unless the use is for trade or direct commercial use, which is defined as promoting a product, service, or idea. Publication of a photo of an identifiable person, even if taken when the person is in a public place, that implies endorsement, without a model release signed by that person, can result in

civil liability In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencie ...

for whoever publishes the photograph.Legal rights of photographers
COB.org No model release is necessary to take a photograph. Rather, the model release applies to potential publication of the photograph. Liability rests solely with the publisher, except under special conditions. The photographer is typically not the publisher of the photograph, but normally licenses the photograph to someone else to publish. It is typical for the photographer to obtain the model release not merely because they are present at the time and ''can'' get it, but also because it gives them more opportunity to license the photograph later to a party who wishes to publish it. The topic of model release forms and liability waivers is a legal area related to

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of ...

that is separate from

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

. Also, the need for model releases pertains to public ''use'' of the photos: i.e., publishing them commercially. The act of ''taking'' a photo of someone in a public setting without a model release, or of viewing or non-commercially showing such a photo in private, generally does not create legal liability, at least in the United States. The legal issues surrounding model releases are complex and vary by jurisdiction. Although the risk to photographers is virtually nil (so long as proper disclosures of the existence of a release, and its content is made to whoever licenses the photo for publication), the business need for having releases rises substantially if the main source of income from the photographer's work lies within industries that would require them (such as advertising). In short,

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

s almost never need to obtain model releases for images they shoot for (or sell to) news or qualified editorial publications. Photographers who also ''publish'' images may need releases to protect themselves, but there is a distinction between making an image ''available for sale'' (even via a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

), which is not considered ''publication'' in a form that would require a release, and the use of the same image to promote a product or service in a way that would require a release.

Types of release

* Adult release: This is the form most commonly referred to as a "model release". The language of this release is normally intended for use by models over the

age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the contr ...

. * Minor release: This variant of the model release contains language referring to the model (who is a minor) in the third-person, and required signature by a parent or other

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...

of the model. A release which is not signed by a parent or guardian may afford no legal protection to the publisher. * Group release: This is a modified version of the adult release, which includes additional signature lines to accommodate use by multiple models or subjects in a single image.

References

External links

Basics of model releases
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Types of release

See also

References

External links

Further reading