The Importance of Written Agreements

What I'd like to talk about is the relationship between photographers and their models, and of course the relationship between models and their photographers.

Now we certainly have plenty of photographers and plenty of models around deviantART, both amateur and professionals both; all of you professionals out there really aren't the subject of what I'm going to talk about here because you all tend to treat what you do as a business, and what I mean by that is that you keep records, you use contracts and agreements and you generally have your act together.

What concerns me is those models and photographers who might not be so serious about what they do and who consequently aren't so interested in release forms, contracts, agreements and all that other documentation.

Over the years I've seen a large number of both models and photographers get a harsh education on how the lack of a signed piece of paper or two can result in a huge headache.

The problems start when photographers and models get together for a session and then leave without any written agreement between them.

Yes, sometimes there is a verbal agreement, and sometimes certain things are assumed, but the bottom line is that assumptions and verbal agreements don't amount to anything; they can't be proven conclusively and in any dispute it boils down to a He-Said/She-Said situation.

And yes, disputes happen all the time

All it takes is an argument and a nasty disposition and a formerly mutual and friendly unwritten understanding can become a weapon to be used against the other party.

Seriously, treat your photography sessions as if the model will uncooperative in the future and have them sign a release form. If you're shooting nudes get age verification on file for future reference.

There are plenty of people and places where you can learn about proper release forms and in the event of a dispute they can save you a ton of trouble.

If you lack any signed proof that the model knew the photographs would be published or used in a certain way then that model could suddenly claim that the photographs were never intended to be published and they never agreed to having them used in the manner which you used them or uploaded to wherever you uploaded them to online.

Unfortunately models tend to get the short end of the stick. While the photograph may be based upon you, the copyright and complete control over the photographs themselves rests with the photographer.

Technically this results in a situation where pretty much all you can do with the resulting photographs, should you obtain a copy, is keep them in a personal portfolio to show.

If you intend to do anything else with them at all, including posting them publicly on the internet, you need to have these rights granted to you by the photographer.

I know many of you believe that posting on the internet is some form of personal use which you are allowed to do, and I know many of you maintain a portfolio of sorts here on deviantART, but unless you have taken the time to obtain the right to display the photographs a photographer with a nasty or possessive attitude is completely within their rights to demand that deviantART remove their copyrighted work.

You all have no idea how many cases of someone "revoking" their unwritten permission we see every month.

I've seen far too many arguments and disputes between models and photographers and I've also seen far too many models and far too many photographers who didn't even know the most basic habits of documentation.

In a nasty dispute one or both sides will resort to attacking your deviantART gallery- I've seen it time and time again and every single agressive confrontation I've seen could have been diffused in seconds by either party taking the time to write things down and get it all signed.

Too many models get slapped with a nasty surprise when a photographer decides they don't want their work outside of their direct control.

Too many photographers are caught off guard when a model claims that they never authorized the showing of the photographs they posed for.

You are both in the same place at the same time; take the extra time to work out an agreement in writing ahead of time and sign off on enough copies for everyone to be able to leave with one of their own, and do it before a single photograph is snapped.

It's professional, it shows that you take your chosen craft or hobby seriously, and above all else it provides a vital safety net which can save you time, effort and a lot of distress should things go sour in the future between you and someone you previously worked with.