Someone asked about shooting pictures without releases, or without permission. Here is a link to Krages' Photographer's Rights Card. (i've added a link on the right)
One key to remember is that it is generally a civil issue, meaning just because you have "the right" to shoot doesn't mean that you won't get sued.
You may also look in the Kobre Photojournalism textbook for a couple of chapters on law and ethics. I can bring a copy to next class for someone to borrow. just remind me please!
-Bobby
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This is an issue I'd really like to explore more, specifically laws that apply to shooting people and using those images. Like everything else in the world, it seems to not be black and white issue. Even if you have a model release that gives you generic full rights, you can still be sued if you used the photo publicly with the caption: "Hi, I'm Joe, and I'm a rapist," for example. And while I was taught in school that you can use candid shots of people for editorial purposes without releases, you can get in trouble for that, too. The relevant story I heard was a photo of a derelict on the street was printed in a newspaper. But the "homeless man" was actually a judge whose wife had just left him and he'd gone on a bit of a bender. The paper got in trouble for printing the photo/caption.
ReplyDeleteIt just seems to be a gray area. Get releases whenever you can. Having a release doesn't mean you can do anything with the image. But not having a release doesn't mean you can't do anything with the image at all.
Please jump in and tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about if you disagree!
Erik
Erik,
ReplyDeletesorry for my delay in getting back to you. You've raised some very good points/questions -- it can be very tricky business shooting strangers -- especially when you go to publish the work. I think we should have a part of a class dedicated to this. I have a lot of handout material that we can read and talk about. Some examples of people being sued, and also that text book of photojournalism which has two large chapters on ethics & the law. I also have a number of personal examples I can talk about.
so in class tomorrow night when we discuss our schedule let's be sure to block off some time for this.