p>Many of us take and display digital pictures. I have always wondered about legal responsibilities associated with such practices. I derive no commercial income from the images I take and I am guessing this would be true of most individuals reading my posts. Here is an analysis by Mayflor Markusic focused mostly on the documentation necessary for commercial interests.
The critical piece that has always troubled me concerns the release required from a “model” –
contract that is obtained from a person whose face is recognizable in the photograph that will be displayed publicly or used commercially.
It is the “displayed publicly” that concerns me. Many bloggers, including me, have included images that may contain recognizable people. There must be issues that are not included in the Markusic description. For example, I know that when my daughter was involved in high school athletics, her picture would appear in various outlets. Did I as a parent sign something in allowing her to participate that made this acceptable? Is something implied when participating in a public event that differentiates pictures taken of such events from pictures captured “on the street”? What are the implications for students urged to collect and display images as part of educational proejcts?
