Legal Question in Business Law in California
I am a photographer building my portfolio and I've been contacted numerous times by a model and she really would like to do a shoot but I believe she may be under 18. She has parental permission I believe but our company is going to require her to wear a bikini and stuff and I haven't done a shoot with her yet because of this what should I do?
4 Answers from Attorneys
As long as the photos are not sexually suggstive, there should not be a problem.
Exercise cauthion in an exaggerated form on the sexual protective area.
Why don't you find out how old she is with a government issued photo ID?
You should be using a standard model release. Perhaps in this case, you would want to modify it to include parental signatures and discussion about the specifics of the shoot?
Any of the following, or combinations thereof, will add to your level of protection: (a) Have the mother or father present; (b) do the shoot at an appropriate location such as a professional studio environment, not a hotel, motel or private home; (c) have other employees, preferably female, in the area; (d) be sure you have an appropriate private dressing room; (e) do the shoot within normal business hours; (f) identify the type of costume the model will wear in your documents; (g) discuss the project with your business insurance agent.