Work in wedding magazine

<p>One of the planners from a wedding I did wants to submit the wedding to be a "featured wedding" in one of the national bridal magazines.<br>

Has anyone done this before? Do I need any kind of release form for the pictures? Can the magazine, after recieving them, do what they want with them?<br>

This is uncharted territory for me.</p>

I've been published a several times. A few things to remember. There's a fine line here, mainly with kids, but you can't really submit a wedding with a contract from the people that signed, such as the bride and groom and think that this contract covers you from lawsuits from everyone at that wedding that did not sign a contract. So if a guest see's his or her photo in the magazine you could be in trouble without some sort of model release. Parents can get pretty upset seeing their kid in any sort of publication, frankly I agree with them. Most likely you will lose every lawsuit without signatures, magazines can be in trouble and then you get sued from the magazine as well as the people involved.

 

You also need to have in writing that the magazine can only use your image(s) 1 time use only at whatever fee or lack of fee you decide on.

 

Lastly, do not under any conditions give up your copyrights. If you do this the magazine can use your images anytime and actually give your images to anyone and everyone. This makes model releases that much more important.

 

Depending on the size of distribution, the magazine usually has a flat rate fee for the cover or a placement inside the magazine. For example People Magazine pays around $10,000 for the front cover of a famous person. A local magazine geared for something like what the weekend town activities are, which most people throw out, you may only get photo credit.

 

Your final concern is how you submit the image or images. If it's on a cd some smart photographers actually put the contract on the CD, and the CD must be returned to you by a given time, or late fees and fines will be added. When you submit the images on a CD they should be in a tiff format, not jpeg, taken with at least a 12 megapixel camera. These are strange rules, but the better magazines require this.

<p>Consult the Magazine. If it is reportage as in an editorial article verses an advertisement, then different rules may well apply. News reporters do not get releases from everyone in the background at something like a demonstration or high society charity event ... and the paparazzi sure as heck don't get them from their subjects.</p>

<p>Weddings are a public event where privacy is NOT an expectation and the guests are free not to attend. There is a reasonable expectation that photos will be taken and that they may be in the photos ... and those photos may end up in the public domain like on a photo sharing site, or even here on photo.net.</p>

<p>It is best to clarify with the Magazine since they would also be libel should someone take offense to their likeness being published. It's a simple solution to your worry.</p>

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<p>How exciting Betty! That is so cool!</p>

<p>The magazine will tell you what you need to know. You likely can trust them if they are reputable. They do not want to publish anything that will cause issues. They will probably provide their own model release form for you to use to cover themselves. They know will likely tell you everything you need to know.</p>

<p>Whether a wedding is a public event or private is an interesting question. I would bet there are some that would be considered private and others public.</p>

<p>For example, a country club wedding at a private members only country club, in my mind would be more likely to be considered private, whereas an outdoor wedding in a state park would be easily seen as public. I could be wrong in both cases as I do not know.</p>

 

<p>Well, it hasn't been accepted yet. But, here's hoping!</p>

<p>sounds great - hope your get it...</p>

Good advice from both Marc and Jeff. Just remember the laws are often up to interpretation and often there is a very fine line to whats accepted and what requires signatures. I was hired by the National Parks to do a shoot at Bryce Canyon. They wanted people shots, with views of the scenic backgrounds. Even though this was "Open Public," I was required to get model releases.