Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It depends on you jurisdiction. In the U.S., and in theory, you need a release for everything, no matter what. In practice, you can get away without a release for all but a few purposes. Current jurisprudence holds that commercial or advertising use of an image requires a release; editorial, informational, and artistic use does not. The guideline seems to be that any time you are making money _directly_ from the use of someone's image (as by presenting him as someone using a product, etc.), or any time you are deliberately misrepresentating a person (as by using him as an example in a fictional essay or something like that, something foreign to the real circumstances of the photo), you need a release. The gray area is sufficiently large that a specific lawsuit can often go either way; it's almost a roll of the dice. A release provides considerable protection, but at the same time it is a pain to obtain, so you have to balance the risk against the effort required to get a release. Unfortunately there are no unambiguous rules. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "G. Michael Paine" <mickeyp35@earthlink.net> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 18:31 Subject: [Leica] Releases > I know nothing of releases, so I ask for some help or guidance is > getting correct info. Or maybe someone can point me toward sites or > sources of info. > I take lots of pictures of total strangers, and have for over 35 > years. Suppose I get a chance to display or have one of these > published. Must there be a release granted by the subject of the > picture? > > Michael