# Do I need a Model Release for this?



## AndrewWilliam (Jan 24, 2011)

I am following a winterguard team this season and going to all their competitions and taking photos of all the kids on the squads as they compete.  I wanted to set up an online gallery where the parents could go and order prints and other photo products of their kid performing.  The photos are being taken on public grounds (not sure if that makes a difference or not).  Would I need a Model Release from all the parents to do this?


----------



## KmH (Jan 24, 2011)

It depends where on planet Earth you are.

Model release laws vary by country, provence, region, county, state, prefecture, etc.


----------



## AndrewWilliam (Jan 24, 2011)

I am in Pennsylvania.


----------



## D-B-J (Jan 24, 2011)

AndrewWilliam said:


> I am following a winterguard team this season and going to all their competitions and taking photos of all the kids on the squads as they compete. I wanted to set up an online gallery where the parents could go and order prints and other photo products of their kid performing. The photos are being taken on public grounds (not sure if that makes a difference or not). Would I need a Model Release from all the parents to do this?


 

I would like to know as well


----------



## KmH (Jan 24, 2011)

Are you in PA too?


----------



## KmH (Jan 24, 2011)

For the US and most states, putting your photos in a portfolio, in a catalog, or on the web and making them available for sale or licensing is self-publishing and is not considered a commercial use that requires a model release from the people in your photos.

If it can be perceived that the people in your photos are advocates or sponsors of your business, those photos would require valid, signed model releases from any recognizable people in the photos.

Model release statutes vary by state.


----------



## craigm (Jan 24, 2011)

It's always a good idea to get a model release even if you don't see any immediate need for one. Someday you may want to sell the photo or publish it and if you don't have a model release your outta luck.


----------



## KmH (Jan 25, 2011)

A good point.

A photographer that shot high school seniors in Louisiana had a local young man as a customer and got a valid signed model release from him.

The young man was Jason Allen Alexander.

The young man later married a Louisiana girl in Las Vegas. That girl was a singer named Britney Spears. The marriage was annulled just 55 hours later, but....

The photographer made a nice chunk of change selling use licenses to various media for those high school senior photos he took of Mr. Alexander.


----------



## orljustin (Jan 26, 2011)

KmH said:


> The photographer made a nice chunk of change selling use licenses to various media for those high school senior photos he took of Mr. Alexander.



For editorial use, you wouldn't need a model release.


----------



## KJlayland (Jan 26, 2011)

No release needed if it was a public event.


----------



## KmH (Jan 26, 2011)

orljustin said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > The photographer made a nice chunk of change selling use licenses to various media for those high school senior photos he took of Mr. Alexander.
> ...


Yes, not for an editorial use.

The definition of 'editorial use' isn't as cut & dried as some have found out, the hard way.


----------



## KmH (Jan 26, 2011)

Newsletter»Articles»Top 10 Misconceptions about Photography and the Law: A Conversation with Attorney Carolyn E. Wright


----------

