Is it necessary to get a model release for domestic animals that show up on your website? How about if not selling the images but just using them for samples of your work?
It is always a good idea. And now there's an app for that which you can customize to your own verbage even.
Suppose someone sees the shot and thinks that would be great for the cover of their National magazine and opps you don't have permission....
I usually offer them a print as payment, and you get their email address and add them to your subscriber list as well.
This is depending on law in each country and/or state. And it is also depending on situation. For example I take a photo of the cat outside house in residential area, but I don't know who is the owner. Shall I ask the cat fot permit to take and publish its photo? But generally privacy and defamation cannot apply to objects (although defamation can apply to business entities). Things — cars, buildings, statuary, costumes, animals, etc. — don’t have legal rights. But the people who are closely associated with those objects do have rights and could claim that your photo of their property has caused harm. This is a tricky area of law.
Thatwhy I don't agree with Catherine general statement YES.
Fortunatly we don't have such problems in Switzerland, neither in Malaysa.
I'm not an attorney so my thoughts are worthless on this subject. That said, I find it to be ridiculous to need a model release for "domestic animals". Consider a photo of a farm field with cattle. Does one need a model release? What about pigs, chickens or horses?
I seem to recall, reading on Carolyn Wright's site (http://www.photoattorney.com/) that you may want a property release for domestic animals (they are property not people, ie models), but case law on property releases is not set (as it is for model releases), so one may not be totally necessary.
Thanks for the replies. Like most things associated with civil law, I guess it depends. Sounds like it's probably a good idea if one intends to market an image but not something to lose sleep over if one has an image or two of someone elses dog on a web site. With my current sales volume it probably doesn't need to be a priority
Discussion
7 repliesSuppose someone sees the shot and thinks that would be great for the cover of their National magazine and opps you don't have permission....
I usually offer them a print as payment, and you get their email address and add them to your subscriber list as well.
This is depending on law in each country and/or state. And it is also depending on situation. For example I take a photo of the cat outside house in residential area, but I don't know who is the owner. Shall I ask the cat fot permit to take and publish its photo? But generally privacy and defamation cannot apply to objects (although defamation can apply to business entities). Things — cars, buildings, statuary, costumes, animals, etc. — don’t have legal rights. But the people who are closely associated with those objects do have rights and could claim that your photo of their property has caused harm. This is a tricky area of law.
Thatwhy I don't agree with Catherine general statement YES.
Fortunatly we don't have such problems in Switzerland, neither in Malaysa.