Hello I am currently considering to buy pictures from a photographer. I however have one consern that I am wondering about. Is he allowed to sell the pictures and could I get in trouble with the people that are on the pictures? The thing is that this guy is getting payed by girls and boys to take their pictures. He is not paying them to take the pictures. They then get the pictures in a printed form and are happy about that. These pictures are not adult related in any way (does that mather?) These pictures are exactly in line with a website i have and what i would like to do is buy these pictures from the photographer. Is he allowed to sell them? Thanks for answers...
I. Ask to see his release contract. If these people are paying to have their pictures taken, they own the pictures unless there's something in writing saying otherwise. II. If he has the right to sell, get it in writing. Make sure you cover all the bases in your contract.
Thanks for the answers... I. So if nothing is stated in the contract about this then it is the buyer and not the photographer that owns the pictures. Right? II. If he does not have the right to sell (and i know about this) and we still write a contract where he claims that I have the right to use these pictures any way i want. Am i clear then or could i still get in trouble (not that i would do this, just want to check). III. I guess we are talking laws in USA now, does anyone know how this would work in Asian countries, like China? BRs Johan
Actually that is not true! The photographer owns the copyright to to image. How else could the Olan Milles of the world stay in business if you could get copies made at WalMart. People who appear in a non news or extremely public scene may have some say in how their image can be used. In those cases a model release may be required. News and street scenes are exempt from the model release requirements.
I should have clarified my answer. Serves me right. I need to stop writing responses as I'm going out the door. You need to make sure the people paying don't own the copyright and that the photographer has the right to sell. It's very possible that the paying party made the photographer sign a contract that relinquishes copyright and/or bars the photographer from selling copies.
Where minors are concerned you would definitely also need a release from their parent/guardian to make use of their images.
Actually that would depend on the written agreement between the photographer and the "photograpee". As the "photographee" is paying the photographer for their services this could easily be construed as a work for hire agreement in which case the "photographee" would own all the rights, not the photographer.
Okey, this means that it will be almost impossible for me to buy his pictures, having the approval of every person on the pictures will not be possible. Only thing left is to see for future photos that he will take if he is interested in changing the contract he has with his subjects to include that they agree to have the pictures resold by the photographer. Does the model release have to be a special paper or is it enough to have something like: "I agree to that the photos taken of my can be sold without my authorization"?
The fact that they signed the agreement would mean that they are giving authorization but you've basically got it right. Any professional photographer will have access to release forms.