Model release...?

[f_p]

Hi. I am wondering if model releases are necessary for

images that appear EXCLUSIVELY in a portfolio. I have

model releases signed by a few, but there are several

that I'd like to put in my portfolio that I have no

release for, nor is there an opportunity to obtain them,

as some are candid, man/woman on the street images.

 

I only intend to use the portfolio for obvious reasons:

to show potential clients and get work. What is generally

accepted practice? Thanks in advance

for help.

[elliot_n]

no

[scott_davis5]

You are better off using only released images if possible. Technically speaking, putting the photo in your portfolio to display to clients of yours constitutes "publication", and nobody would contest that it is for "commercial" purposes (yours! you are trying to make money off the image). Those are the tests for needing a model release - will the image be published, and is it for commercial use.

 

What if the client you are showing the portfolio says, "I would LOVE to use THAT image in my next national ad campaign for xxx product!". If you don't have a release, even if it is a random street photo, you can't sell that image to them without risk of being sued by the subject.

 

If the image were being used in a magazine to illustrate a news story about what is going on in the image, then you would be on solid ground. Other than that, you are at significant risk for liability, and depending on the nature of the use/abuse of the image, you could be on the hook for more money than you made from the sale.