Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Pennsylvania
Publishing a book with photos of children and/or people.
I am starting my own business that involves writing children's book for
remedial readers. The books I am creating involve taking pictures of
children/adutls and adding written text. If I use photos of people that are not
my children, what legal statement or permission do I need to publish their
photos -- if any? Some picutres are of people in parades -- yet some people
are close ups of them partaking in an action (for instance demonstrating how
to bake a cake)
Thank you for your time.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Publishing a book with photos of children and/or people.
Good question. The answer is a "model release." That's "model" in the sense of "photographer's model" and "release" in the sense of "release of rights."
Dan Heller has posted on his website a lively dissertation about model releases, with a bunch of nice photos illustrating it as well.
The New York Institute of Photography has a model release on its website that includes a line for a parent to sign, where the "model" is a minor.