website images

[emmylou]

Hi, I have just started my photography business and am trying to put together a portfolio, however i am a little unsure about some legal matters. Am I allowed to put an image on my website with random people in in for example: street photography. I am not aiming to sell the image but it is technically being used to promote my work. I have searched and asked everywhere for some help with this matter, but still am non the wiser. i know i need a release form for portraits but that is imposible for people on the street. Any help with this would be gratefully received. Thanks. Also im new here so i hope i posted this in the right place.

[Jim Bryant]

IF it was taken in the public domain, where anyone has a right to be, then you're safe.
Public domain is ballparks, football and sporting events, streets, sidewalks and parks. You just can go into someone's yard and take a picture of them. However, you can take it from the street or sidewalk in front of their house. It's still good to carry around release forms with you.

[emmylou]

Hi, thanks for the info, i live in the uk, is that still the case when there are children/teenagers involved, I wanted to go to my local skate park but dont want people to get the wrong impression. thank you

[Jim Bryant]

Just take some business cards with you, talk to the parents and 8 out of 10 times they'll say okay. When I take feature pictures of kids doing cute things, I always try to find the childs' parents and explain why I took the photo.

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

IF it was taken in the public domain, where anyone has a right to be, then you're safe.
Public domain is ballparks, football and sporting events, streets, sidewalks and parks. You just can go into someone's yard and take a picture of them. However, you can take it from the street or sidewalk in front of their house. It's still good to carry around release forms with you.

This is actually incorrect. Or, at least it falls into the "it depends" category. Right to privacy and right to publicity are two different things.

One can take images of folks in public forever and a day to sell as art, but when that transitions into portfolio (advertising) the game changes.

[~AJ~]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Just take some business cards with you, talk to the parents and 8 out of 10 times they'll say okay. When I take feature pictures of kids doing cute things, I always try to find the childs' parents and explain why I took the photo.

Yep, I agree with this. Have some release forms with you too. If they don't want you to use them, then (& this is the beauty of digital), delete the image right there in front of them, so they know you're not going to betray them.


Yeah, the whole "Public Domain" thing is tricky. There are some places that you can't take photos from if you intend on using them for financial gain - i.e. the Sydney Harbour Foreshore owns the botanical gardens, so a professional photographer can't go down to do (for example) wedding photography unless he has gained (& paid for) permission from the SHF to do so at a certain time.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

This is actually incorrect. Or, at least it falls into the "it depends" category. Right to privacy and right to publicity are two different things.

One can take images of folks in public forever and a day to sell as art, but when that transitions into portfolio (advertising) the game changes.

My opinion (and I'm not a lawyer) is that simply including photos in a portfolio on your web site does not constitute advertising. When I use a photo on my business card or in an ad on Craigslist, Google, Facebook, etc. I use model-released photos for those purposes. But I have many other photos on my web sites as examples of my work, which I do not believe explicitly imply endorsement of my services.

[emmylou]

I think from all of my research there is still no definitive answer, so I think i will take your advice carry release forms for individuals, and in the large crowd situation, i will remove images if requested to do so, but otherwise use as i please. thank you all for your help and input. I think I might put a poster up at the skate park telling them when i will be there, and informing them to bring along parents for release forms if they wish to be included in the shots.