Things Models Should Know
About Photos
 

Releases

It is illegal to copy or use photographs without the written consent of the owner. A photographer cannot publish or sell a model's picture without a MODEL RELEASE signed by the model even though the photographer owns the image. By the same token a model cannot publish photographs without a signed PUBLICATION RELEASE from the photographer even though the model paid for the images. Whoever has possession of the negatives constitutes the owner.

Photographs taken at PUBLIC events like Black Bike Week, Football games, Freaknic, etc are considered newsworthy and MAY not require a release.

Public persons vs. private persons. I can photograph and publish a known famous person like The President, The Mayor, Ms. America, Halle Berry, Ali, etc without a signed model release because they are considered public people.

Work for Hire 

Models do you want more control over your photographs? Negotiate a work for hire or contract a photographer. It is going to cost big bucks. Explanation:

A photographer who is employed by a company to take pictures does not won the rights to the photographs taken on the job. That is considered work for hire. All photographic rights belong to the company. EX: If Paul HIRE's Tony Steele to help shoot this calendar, the photographs, rights, and negatives are own by Paul's company. Period.
Some employers require employees who are hired as photographers to sign a "work for hire" contract. Even it there is not a contract the employer still owns all rights, including copyrights, to all creative works produced on the job.

Contract photography which is negotiated between a photographer and a client (not an employer and employee) may fall into the same category as works for hire. The ownership should be clearly stated and agreed upon in writing by both parties as the first item in the contract.

I know of a few models that sell photos who contract photographers. They do this to enable themselves the luxury of having full control of the images. It is hard to find photographers willing to do this, but some will if the price is right. Some models have the loot to do this.

Different rights

There are several terms related to rights that are accepted in the photographic industry. It is common law that full ownership, including copyrights, practically always belong to the photographer except in works for hire and certain contracts. Here are a few "other" rights:

FIRST TIME RIGHTS: Applies to the buyer wishing to be the first to publish or use a particular image one time. Once published all rights revert back to the copyright holder.

ONE TIME RIGHTS: The buyer has the right to use the picture for that agreed to purpose only one time. This does not guarantee that the image hasn't been used before.

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: The buyer has exclusive use of a particular photograph for a specific period of time. It is not unusual for this period to be one to two years or longer. At the end of the period, the photographer regains all rights to the image. Calendar companies usually ask for exclusive rights.

ALL RIGHTS: All rights may be permanently sold to the buyer. This should be avoided unless you are paid very well or if the use will benefit you substantially. The exception could be a picture which might soon become outdated and have no value.

The photographer reserves the right to approve the general use of a photograph EACH TIME IT IS SOLD to a new buyer unless ALL RIGHTS have been sold.