Help with privacy and release query

[Grumby]

I recently took a lot of photos at the Sydney Half Marathon, and I have chosen a few of my better ones that I was going to put on the 'net. They aren't the greatest quality - but I was quite pleased with their composition and content...

Now - (apart from one of them) I don't intend to sell them, but since each of the runners is potentially identifiable both facially, and by their bib numbers. My question (first one) is do I need model releases just to display the images through a forum such as this or to hold them in my Photobucket account - which I guess makes them potentially globally public?

Second question is that one of the images could possibly have some (slight) commercial value and so I would like to try putting it up on a microstock site. Obviously, I would need model releases in this instance, but I wonder if anyone can advise me how I go about contacting the runners involved? Would the organisers of the race put me in touch, or are they going to quote some privacy blurb at me?

I'd actually quite like to contact the runners if possible, just to offer them copies of the photos if they wanted them.

Any advice would be welcomed - and if I am doing something inappropriate, please let me know so I can take the photos down again (before I get sued!)

Cheers,
Grumby.

http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=DSCF3104.jpg
http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=DSCF3134.jpg
http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=DSCF3125.jpg
http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=DSCF3145.jpg

[jdepould]

Photobucket and the like fall under "personal use," and as such don't need a release.

I would check the Web site for the race first, they probably have results--with numbers--posted. From there it's just a matter of finding the person.

[OsmosisStudios]

In Canada, the ruling is that if there are 25 people or more in the frame, you dont need one.

This is how newspapers get around identifying everybody in a shot of a rally or similar.

A friend of mine was the star of the front page a few years ago: he was identified only by one paper; the other just called him a "reveller".

[Grumby]

Thanks guys.
I contacted Fairfax Media (i.e. Sydney Morning Herald - who were the event's organisers) but being part of a news media group themselves, their response to me was basically along the lines of... "we employ our own photographers and SELL our photos to the runners, so we won't help you contact them to offer them FREE photos, or do anything that might help you make money off the back of our event" - I guess I shouldn't have expected any cooperation really - I never thought of it that way (poor naive noob).

They ended their message with the comment "It was great you came along and got some good shots, but we've got it covered" - what a nice put-down!!

I'm just wondering - do I really want to get involved in commercial photography...? LOL

Grumby

[freybear3]

Yeah commercial photography is a cut throat business. It is very sad how this industry has gotten. I guess the economy and the internet has alot to do with it lol.