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What is the deal with model release forms? When are they needed and why?

What is the deal with model release forms?
When are they needed and why?

By Matthew B. Harrison, esq.
PhotosAndTheLaw.com

Essential to our culture is this underlying protection of an individual’s right to privacy; both in terms of governmental interference in personal affairs, but also freedom from invasion of privacy by other individuals. There is a lot of law on the subject and through all the confusion and conflicting precedents; four fairly clear categories of privacy protection have emerged.

· Appropriation: Individuals have a right to protection against the unauthorized use of their name or likeness for commercial purposes

· Intrusion: Individuals have a right to protection against unwarranted intrusion upon their solitude and private affairs

· False Light: Individuals have a right to protection against publicity that places them in a false light

· Public Disclosure: Individuals have a right to protection against the public disclosure of embarrassing facts about their private lives.

Empirically, these protections mean that one cannot photograph something that a person has a reasonable expectation of keeping private, even when the person is in a public area.

While courts have generally sanctioned the photography of news worthy events that are exposed to public view, they have traditionally considered certain subject matter to be private affairs that warrant protection from intrusion. People in their homes, or private areas of their business are a prime example.