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100 in 100: Get a Model Release

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100 photography tips in 100 days: Day 19

By Mason Resnick

September 28, 2007

Know your paperwork!

For more tips, go to the 100 in 100 homepage!

New "microstock" web sites, which will sell your photographs for a few dollars, have made it incredibly easy for you to offer your photos to be licensed for commercial use. But any photos you submit to such sites that have people in them require model releases.

If a person in your photo can be clearly seen and recognized, you must have a release. Without a release, the publisher or agency can refuse to publish it, and if your model finds out you used his image unreleased, he can take legal action.

This model release form comes in pads of 50, is written in standard but easy to understand legalese, and has signing areas for both adult models and legal guardians of child models. Keep a pad of releases in your camera bag!

You need two model releases to sell a commercial use license for this photo. In the case of the child, a parent has to sign a consent form. Photo © istockphoto.com / Joanne Green

A model release states that a person agrees to be photographed by you either for a fee or not. If the subject is a minor, his or her parent or legal guardian must sign it. This gives you permission to use the photo commercially. If you can’t afford to pay a model fee, consider offering free prints as compensation.

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Mason Resnick is the Editor of Adorama's AIRC and 100 in 100.

© 2007 Adorama Camera, Inc.