A Way for Freelance Photographers to Avoid Legal Troubles
You’re happily snapping away with your new camera, building a portfolio for your freelance photography career. Suddenly you’ve hit the jackpot, capturing an image so wonderfully that many are willing to pay for its use. Congratulations! You’ve created a money-making asset!
Unfortunately, it turns out someone in the picture is convinced that you’ve failed to ask for permission to use his image in your photograph. Especially after he realizes that you’re making a lot off it. Prepare for a lawsuit!
It’s actually easy to prevent such a headache. Dan Heller has helpfully made an entire chapter of one of his books available online, and it deals mainly with the model release. A great resource for freelance photographers, or any contract worker who takes a lot of pictures for his work. Two points that stand out:
Shoot first, ask questions later. Unless you live under an iron fist (which probably means you wouldn’t be reading this post right now), taking pictures in public places is perfectly legal. What matters is how you use them. Building a large archive of images gives you more options later on, and it’s something that won’t happen if you intentionally limit your photographic opportunities.
Verbal agreements are useless. An agreement is only binding when it’s on paper. If you know you need a model release, get it in writing. Even the best or most honorable of intentions are forgotten in the confusion. A written reminder keeps this from happening.
It’s easy to turn freelance photography into a lucrative career. A bit of foresight and planning is needed to make sure it’s smooth sailing most of the way.
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