My wife runs a community portal / local news site and she frequently writes and publishes articles and photos about school plays, sports, concerts talent shows and festivals. She’s often covering these events on school property. We’ve been concerned about potential liability associated with publishing photos and names of minors. I know I’m covered if I take someone’s picture in a public place but what about on school grounds? There’s also a deeper issue here of doing what’s right as opposed to what’s legal. We need the continued goodwill of the residents in the community and upsetting the local luddite population is not going to help. We’ve tiptoed around it for some time but we’re considering using a parental release form to get permission from the parents to publish articles that contain names and photos of their children, regardless of where it was acquired. The local school system does not have a policy on this (yet) and I don’t want to be involved in a conflict that causes them to make one. Has anyone had to address issues like these? Thanks, -jay
Definitely get a release. Consider having the community or at least parts of it password protected. It would be a problem for a community starting out, but since you are established your end users might appreciate it. Kids on the web is a touchy subject. Everyone wants their soccer star to get recognition, but nobody wants the creepies looking at their kid. Different parents have different ideas about what is ok and what is not ok. Better to do something now than to have the school board ban you six months from now because of parent complaints.
Yes - you need a release. And make sure it is signed by the parent's legal gaurdian. Pay the few dollars and get an attorney to draw it up as well. Since it is a community website - they might even do it pro-bono.