When do I need a model release form????

[Jimbo_715]

Ive been asked by a friend to do a promo shoot for him as a Personal Trainer. The model(s) would be himself and g/f and be held at a renown gym. There is a posabilty of a former "sports star" to be involved aswell.

As there is no direct finacial gain for me, but will probably be used for promoting the PT, do I need to get signed consents from models and the gym?

[jet_kit]

Hi Jimbo,
I don't know where you are or what law applies where you live.
In short, it's always wise to get a Model Release for your own safety.
Send me a PM and I'll let you have a pro-forma of the Model Release form I use.

[karenoliver]

Interesting that Martin Parr has never used model consent forms and look at all the books he has had published. He's had no comeback from it yet either. He says that if he spent all his time getting them signed he would never get any photography done. That was in an article on photoradar a while back, sadly they never archived their old news articles when they moved here so I can't link it.

Karen

[dan123]

You Dont need a model Release for Editorial work such as magazines and Books, Only when it comes to Comercial advertising and Selling i think you need one, But if you can get a model Release i would just to be safe.

[Cathus]

You don't need a model release at all. the only purpose of a model release is to protect you should the subject sue you for publishing their photos. the requirement for a release isn't based on whether the shots are sold or given away, merely that you have the subject's permission to publish, though I expect your model release could be phrased in terms of commercial use.

most commercial photographs aren't published by photographers; they're published by third party companies, magazines, publicity people, etc, some won't publish your photo without a release and of course, image libraries require model releases so they are protected.

whether you want to get into the habit of getting one each time, as Jet_Kit suggests is p to you, you might want to consider the likelihood that you will want to sell one of these images to anyone else other than the person you are taking the photos for in your decision as to whether you need one.

you'd probably want a signed agreement that you can use the shots for your own portfolio and advertising to other potential clients, so that may form the basis of a model release.

you can get smartphone apps which the person signs and copy is emailed to you and them without the need to actually carry them around with you. east release on the iphone is one I've used.

[Ian Richter]

MRF's are just for your safety. It's just a permission slip to use the photos as you see fit and most people who volunteer are not interested in hurting you but...there is always that one!

[JulianK]

Always advisable to get a model release form. I wouldn't shoot a model without one.

Here's a little example of why, if you're professional, you must have them:

A while back I shot a proposal set for an eye wear brand. They gave me the contract. Then I shot the actual ads. However the eye wear brand accidentally used a shot from the proposal set and posted it on a 20 foot tall ad on Oxford Street.
The model tried to sue me. I had a release - so she couldn't.

Mistakes like these happen and if you don't have a release, you're leaving yourself open to potential legal problems that could occur via a 3rd party.