Use the Power of Pictures and Follow the Letter of the Law

  • By admin
  • 11 September, 2012
  • Comments Off on Use the Power of Pictures and Follow the Letter of the Law

Using powerful pictures to sale your brand can end up costing your company if the proper release forms are not used.

Release forms provide bloggers, small businesses and nonprofits protection from being sued for using a photo or video of a person without consent.

Release Forms

by Shilynn Setser

According to Webzone.com, you should use a release form “if you plan to use a person’s image for commercial purposes, you need to get a signed video release form from that individual.”

Release forms are generally part of an employment process for most companies.

“All employees of the university have the expectation that the university can use their likeness for any type of promotion while they are at work,” said Daniel Hays, Producer Assistant at the Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Oklahoma State University and sports media subcontractor.

This allows companies to use any media produced internally for promotional purposes.

Anyone outside of the university who lectures on campus signs a release form allowing any media produced from their visits to be used for promotional purposes.

“When we film a guest lecture, we get releases to be able to use that video later for promotional purposes,” said Hays.

Not using a release form can lead to serious consequences.

“The pic was down within minutes,” said Roni Lauren, best selling author, on her blog post about her recent dispute with a photographer over fair use. “He wanted compensation for the pic. A significant chunk of money that I couldn’t afford. I’m not going to go into the details but know that it was a lot of stress, lawyers had to get involved, and I had to pay money that I didn’t have for a use of a photo I didn’t need.”

You do not need a release for all media you produce using someone else’s image.

According to Webzone.com, you do not need to use a release from if you take the picture in a public arena. This includes any area where a “reasonable expectation” of privacy cannot be had.

A great example of this is sporting events.

“It’s a public event,” said Hays. “ There is no expectation of privacy there. Anyone going to those games knows there are cameras there. People are usually excited to be put on a jumbo-tron or on TV. You don’t go to a sporting event for privacy.”

Making sure to get release forms from everyone in your media as you produce it is a great way not get in trouble later on.

Go to Webzone.com to download a release form.

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