Do you own images of yourself?

[synthesist]

My question tonight is simple. If i take a picture of a person, do I own the rights to it, or do they? Say if I took some photographs of some friends. Do i have the right to publish that photo (maybe on DPS for critique) or sell it? I find it difficult to publish pictures i take on the internet sometimes just because i have doubts that person may not want their face arround the internet.

[Nicole]

Quick answer is pretty much no, you can't publish or sell a photo without a model release. Most places (especially stock photography companies and competitions) will require model releases before you can sell your work. Now, I'm sure that not everyone gets model releases for say critique shots in the forums. However, the difference is that you're not making money off something like that, so you can easily take the photograph down if the person requests it.

There have been a number of discussions here on model releases (hope you're ready for some reading ):

• Model releases... are they really needed?
• Anonymous People
• Model Releases
• Photo Releases
• Photographing Strangers

I realise that most of these links talk about photographing strangers, but that is because this topic comes up most often in the context of street photography. You will have a better idea of whether or not your friends and family would want their picture online. If you have doubts, then you probably have good reason not to post the picture online.

Hope that helps answer your question

[Nicole]

Just gonna add something here. I know that this link is in one of the threads that I mentioned before, but you might want to read this article by Dan Heller on "The Model Release".

[Sime™]

I have thought about this a bit, for example, I have lots of Photos of peoples children because babies and kids are cute to photograph. My brothers daughters for example - very expressive and easy to take pictures of but I was hesitant to put them on my flickR... With people I don't know, I pop them online and have never had to take one down yet... Interms of selling an image of a person who is clearly identifiable in your photo, you should get a model release (people have mixed opinions on this) depending upon whom you are selling to... ie: If your image is for a newspaper you may get away with it, but if it's for book / magazine you may need a signature from the photo's subject to clear you... the rights to the image, I think, would be retained by you but they may have some recourse to $$ if you sell the image without them saying it's ok... (I have just worked another 24hr day, so I may be talking rubbish, but I think the above is true and correct, your honour) s.

Just found this little titbit of info:
"The author is the first owner of the rights on his work. Performers are the first owners of the rights on their performances and sound recording producers are the first owners of the rights on their sound recordings.

Photographs are covered by special provisions. The owner of the original photograph, negative or any other original product, at the moment it was made, whether it is an individual or a corporation, is considered to be the author."

Edit... And like Nic, I like the Dan approach, but read the summary - the rest may overwhelm!..
Summary HERE

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by Sime™

Just found this little titbit of info:
"The author is the first owner of the rights on his work. Performers are the first owners of the rights on their performances and sound recording producers are the first owners of the rights on their sound recordings.

Photographs are covered by special provisions. The owner of the original photograph, negative or any other original product, at the moment it was made, whether it is an individual or a corporation, is considered to be the author."

Just remember that copyright laws vary by country and this may not be true in all situations. For example, if you are hired by someone to take a photograph in New Zealand, the copyright in the photograph belongs to the person who hired you. So always check your local laws and regulations

[synthesist]

Wow, thanks! I'm just overwhelmed by the ammount information that you both provided. Nicole you hit the nal exactly on the head, street photography is exactly what I was thinking of. I'll be sure to take a look at all the links provided.