 Ron Sloan |
What hoops do I need to jump through? I am planning on doing a book based primarily of images of "my town" (i.e.,businesses,parks,landmarks,etc.)What releases do I need in order to sell it?
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Mark Feldstein |
To sell it? None. To act as a defense if you get sued for invasion of privacy, commercial appropriation of an image or likeness or someone or their private property, yes, you need releases. Model releases should be signed by recognizable adults over the age of 18 years, and parents or legal guardians for recognizable kids under 18. Private property owners of businesses and homes should be signed by the owner or agent of the owner (not a renter). Public buildings or structures or statutes or parks or landmarks parks, etc., are in the public domain and no release is required. Some towns require shooting permits, however, when you're doing commercial photographic work on public property. That, in turn, usually requires posting an insurance bond, usually around a million bucks, with the people in charge of filming permits. Some towns are worse than others these days. San Francisco, for one, Chicago for another and NYC always has seems to be trying to get their hand in the till. This has gotten worse since 911 when cops use a photographer with a tripod (even without) as a pretext to stopping and asking for ID when shooting (photographically anyway) in public. For more info, you should contact a lawyer in your area who specializes in intellectual property and/privacy laws for your state. The images should also be copyrighted (registered with the copyright office) AND for that, there are tons of books available along with the info sheet at copyright.gov. That's it in a very tiny nutshell. The laws of privacy as they pertain to publishing are varied and somewhat complex. Talk to a lawyer where you live. The internet generally is is a bad place for getting legal advice.
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Christopher A. Walrath |
Yeah, Mark (tips cap) as usual is dead on. Model releases are a must if the people in the image are recognizeable in anything up to an 8x10 to avoid possible 'pay-me-for-my-face' problems down the road. Probably would never happen but why invite trouble. When asked how much they might earn from their face being printed/published et al., reply that you expect to get nothing for the picture and neither should they. If they sign it, se la vie. If not, 'NEXT!' As to permits required and such, another valuable resource might be to follow in other's footsteps. Or at least bug those to whom the footsteps belong. Find a local photographer who has taken/sold/displayed/published images similar to yours in idea and subject matter and ask them what they had to have in order for their projects to proceed. Might give you a direct answer and keep you from running around from one 'how-much-can-we-get-out-of-this-one' bureaucrat to another.
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Raymond H. Kemp |
Christopher, where did the 8X10 rule come from? I've never seen anything at least in a legal sense that uses that as a guideline. Ray
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Christopher A. Walrath |
Just a personal little thingy. Figure not much of anything I use is going to be done larger than 8x10 or so, so I figure if it's OK there, I should be alright. Not a rule, per se. Just something I go by. That's all. Now if you're going to be going bigger than that then, of course, disregard my advice on that front. Cheers.
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