A.7. HANDLE MODEL AND PROPERTY RELEASES

In today's litigious environment, you must secure model and property releases — no matter what. A model release is a legal document signed by the subject of a photograph that grants permission to publish the image — for example, in a book, in an advertisement, as a stock photo, on your Web site, and so on. Failure to obtain a model release before publishing an identifiable photo of a person can result in civil liability on your part — read: a lawsuit.

Some forms of publication — for example, news articles — do not require a model release. If you work as a photojournalist, you are not required to obtain model releases for images shot for or sold to news or qualified editorial publications.