Model release forms

I was looking to give one of my clients a Model Release Form, but I didn't have any available and wasn't sure how to write one so I went to the web. There are plenty of examples out there some that will create a Model Release form for you just by you plugin in certain information. The only problem is I didn't like the legal wording of most of them. Some claimed that the photographer has a right to do any thing they want with the images for as long as the photographer lives. This includes commercial and promotional instances, etc. the photographer encounters during their life time. In this day and age I find it hard to believe that anyone would agree with that. I more of a once you give me the money for my services the pictures are yours and your to keep. does anybody know of a template like that or should I write my own ?

Why would you bother with a release if you're giving all of the rights to the buyer? If you do write one it should be pretty simple. One thing you might consider if you're photographing people is that if they're not happy with their images or how they are used you could liable for damages. A model release isn't a guarantee that there won't be any repercussions, but your odds improve dramatically if you have a signed release.

. . . I more of a once you give me the money for my services the pictures are yours and your to keep. does anybody know of a template like that or should I write my own ?

 

There is more to consider in that sentence, than attaining a "model release".

 

I advise you need a contract.

 

In simple terms that will set out the terms and conditions for what YOU are responsible and sometimes (importantly) for what you are NOT responsible. It will have a monetary consideration and also note the Client's responsibilities. Where I work it also will stipulate the copyright of the images.

 

On the topic of a "model release": it is not the purpose of the Model Release to designate the ownership of the Pictures (assumed 'prints' in this case) the model release is, in simple terms, about your rights to use the images. For an extreme example, you might want to use one of the images to show someone next year who asks you for a sample of your Portrait work because they are thinking of hiring you: where I work, I risk legal action if show that image to that new prospect without having a Model Release for it.

 

The Model Release forms a part of the Contract, for most of my Portrait work.

 

WW

. . .One thing you might consider if you're photographing people is that if they're not happy with their images or how they are used you could liable for damages. A model release isn't a guarantee that there won't be any repercussions, but your odds improve dramatically if you have a signed release.

 

A solid contract is better - re the phrase about 'not happy with images'.

 

Certainly agree 'how they are used' comes under the aegis of a Model Release - and (possibly) - a solid contract.

 

WW

Thank you William I'll take your advice into consideration.

Henry VI, Part 2 - Act IV, Scene 2

 

DICK:

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

"The First Thing we Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers" - Law Firm of Eckell and Sparks

 

"The accolade is spoken by Dick the Butcher, a follower of anarchist Jack Cade, whom Shakespeare depicts as “the head of an army of rabble and a demagogue pandering to the ignorant,” who sought to overthrow the government. Shakespeare’s acknowledgment that the first thing any potential tyrant must do to eliminate freedom is to “kill all the lawyers” is, indeed, a classic and well-deserved compliment to law as a profession."

;)

Some terrorists took over the local courthouse and threatened to release one lawyer every hour until their demands were met.

As the lawyer awoke from surgery, he asked, "Why are all the blinds drawn?" The nurse answered, "There's a fire across the street, and we didn't want you to think you had died."

"The First Thing we Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers" - Law Firm of Eckell and Sparks

 

"The accolade is spoken by Dick the Butcher, a follower of anarchist Jack Cade, whom Shakespeare depicts as “the head of an army of rabble and a demagogue pandering to the ignorant,” who sought to overthrow the government. Shakespeare’s acknowledgment that the first thing any potential tyrant must do to eliminate freedom is to “kill all the lawyers” is, indeed, a classic and well-deserved compliment to law as a profession."

Thanks for this. Funny how many people quote Shakespeare and think they’re making the opposite point. That’s because quoting is sometimes a matter of illiteracy.

 

And lawyer jokes are cliché and tiresome. Without lawyers then sitting on the Supreme Court, Brown vs. The Board of Ed. would not have been decided, your parents may not have drawn up their will properly to protect their assets for you, and John Scopes likely would not have been adequately defended.

 

Get over the base mockery.