[Leica] IMG: Meli

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

Gerry,
I am with you 100% - Getty wanted a model release from me for a
photograph of an illiterate young girl, from a nomadic tribe, who has
illiterate parents and grandparents, whom none of us can find again,
even if we hunted a few months for them. They also wanted a model
release for this photograph, which had all of my family in hysterical
laughter:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/taj/TM016.jpg.html

I have come to the conclusion that no photograph of a human being I
have taken can ever be sold for commercial use, because I cannot be
bothered stopping the pleasure and flow of taking photographs to take
documentation! So be it! Thank heavens they do not ask for model
releases from tigers, but that day is not far off...(-:

Cheers
Jayanand

On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Gerry Walden <gerry.walden at me.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the pretty full answer Tina.
>
> Please do not take this in any way as a personal criticism, but you have 
> highlighted a point that I have felt so long about the whole model release 
> 'thing' which I have felt for a very long time. Most, if not all, agencies 
> now require releases for any image that shows a person no matter how 
> nebulous. You have a release for the person in a language they do not 
> understand with a signature which means nothing because it is merely a 
> mark. Is there any value to that release at all?
>
> As I said, this is not a criticism of you in any way, but more of the 
> industry and the stupidity of its requirements where a release is now 
> required for a crowd scene which may contain several hundred people, and 
> for what. There is virtually no chance that those people would take action 
> in court for damages, and even less chance that they would win. As 
> photographers we have to pander to the stupidity of their requirements or 
> they will not use our images.
>
> Rant over!
>
> Gerry
>
> Gerry Walden
> +44 (0)23 8046 3076 or
> +44 (0)797 287 7932
> www.gwpics.com
>