Customer Reviews

A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases: Making the Best Business Decisions with Your Photos of People, Places and Things

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Since my book on Model Releases has been published, I've been getting
lots of email asking whether the book applies to non-US photographers,
since I'm American and I cite many US laws.

First, I must point out that, while the book does cite a few laws,
this is not a legal book--it's a business book. Making smart business
decisions (such as whether to make money or to avoid risk) requires
more than just the knowledge of "law." This is especially the case
for all of the laws that apply when model releases would be applied,
regardless of whose laws or what country. What's more important is that
you understand the principles and concepts behind what the various laws
are intended to protect. Never are there conditions so cut and dried that
all you needed to know is the letter of the law and your decision-making
is done. That's why this is a business book--I examine (and explain) the
legal analysis and intent behind the scenes so you can make appropriate
financial risk-assessment decisions on a case-by-case basis.

Now, as for why US laws are so critical here, let's begin by understanding
the role of international trade and globalization. Whether intentional
or not, many more marketing materials companies use end up "landing" in
the US somewhere, somehow, in such a way that US laws could be triggered.
For example, say your local Canadian bank licenses one of your photos
of a farmer in Alberta. If they use it for ads it places on google adwords,
and the bank targets customers that also reside in the US, then that
farmer could have a claim in US courts for the use of his photo without
a release. This is because the bank is said to have "reach" into the
US because it is considered to be conducting business there. Hence, that
aspect of its business that it's doing (the ad) is subject to US laws. It
is not uncommon for non-US entities to file claims in US courts under
US laws, even though none of the parties involved may be US citizens.
The book gets into details about how and why all this works.

The larger point is that photographers that license images are more
likely than not to be selling to clients who could have this very kind
of exposure. Making matters worse is that the US has some of the most
punitive laws, where damages are very high. This all adds up to very
paranoid companies that want extra protection before they license any old
picture of a farmer. Indeed, anyone that does any kind of international
business at all will be very cognizant of US laws, and may only license
images that have releases that satisfy US laws.

Of course, it's true that a local German company that sells local beer
to a limited geographic region is not going to get called into a US
court just because they happen to have a website that has an unreleased
photo of someone and that website can be seen in the US. It'd be hard to
convince a judge that there's any real "presence" there. So, let's not
get carried away with ourselves: not every use of any photo is suddenly
subject to US laws or courts.

But, again, let me remind you of your job as a photographer: to cast the
widest net to catch as many buyers as possible. If you are knowledgeable
of (and comply with) US laws in your photo business, you will not only get
more potential US-based buyers of your imagery (not a small market by any
measure), but you'll have a better reach for your local buyers as well.
And that's really what this is all about.

Besides, if you understand the principles behind US laws, you will have
no problem doing analysis of your own laws, should they be any different.
The purpose of this book is to teach you how to think smart in business
terms, and analytically about law (insofar as you need to as a photographer).
You will come away much better prepared to sell into the global market
that you're already selling into.

No question that this is the most usable and understandable discussion of model releases as it relates to photographers.

A couple of years ago I went to the library with questions about property releases and took out well over a dozen books on photography and the law and photography business. Almost all talked about model releases (for people) and several also had property release examples, but only ONE BOOK said anything at all about property releases and it was only about a sentence or two. All of my prior reading left me with more questions. This books explains the why so that you can more accurately make decisions regarding releases.

Dan Heller's website presents a wealth of information for the digital photographer interested in making a business out of photography, and answers all sorts of questions, in an authoritative way, about model releases, what/where/when can one photo, and how can those images be used by whom. Dan is generous with his information on his website and in personal communications, which helped him perfect his product, in this case his book A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases: Making the Best Business Decisions with Your Photos of People, Places and Things. In some sense I felt I already had all the answers I needed on this topic after reading Dan's material online. But to have it all re-purposed in a logical, complete, consistent vehicle illustrated with many beautiful photos, and crafted for fun reading with humor and post-it-note sidebars and anecdotes... this book is quite simply the definitive guide on the subject. Dan does not simply answer the questions, he explains the reasoning behind the questions and answers so that one can logically apply the "rules" to other situations with confidence. This is the best $20 bill I have parted with in my investment in photography. I would not trade this book for all the others in this category combined. This title will persist for years because its advice is timeless. Like reviewing the basics of any discipline will help any pro, I can't think of one expert in this field who would not benefit from reading this book. Kudos to Dan for a job well-done, from a dedicated fan, Mike Baird

I'm certain that this is an excellent book. In fact, I know it is. However, it also decides that drowning you in 99% useless information is a good technique, with the tendency to repeat some of the important parts in case it (as very likely did) get lost. The last legal book I read covered all of this very concisely within a chapter and very few new ideas are presented here.

However, should you desire some need to fully understand this area (especially since 90% of it only applies to stock photographers), this is your book. Just don't expect the obvious: no firm opinions, no sample model releases, no guidelines on when to use and not use one.

Rather, the book seeks to educate you so YOU can make those decisions. Wise perhaps, but in the end a rather fruitless pursuit since the reader very likely did NOT pick up the book expecting this sort of educational tactic.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK ON KINDLE! This book has all sorts of technical problems and I would suggest that you purchase the actual book. Th problems with this book are:

1. On Android version of kindle the book repeats parts of paragraphs randomly. This seems to be a problem only with this book and only on the Android version of kindle.

2. Chunks of the text are outright missing. For example (and in case someone from Amazon is reading this) if you go to location 968 in this book there is a page that starts a list of items with #4. It seems that numbers 1 through 3 did not get included.

3. There are many pages that are scanned in as graphics since the text was written over a picture. In these pages the text is unreadable and you just miss out on these pages.

With all this said, this is the BEST book that I have read on the subject of model releases. I will be buying it as a book, but wasted $9.99 on the kindle version since its almost unreadable.

Strengths: Comprehensive information about model releases. Full color and additional hints abound through the book. Excellent model photographs highlight nice examples. Vertical tabs at the side of each page highlight main part of the section. Nice yellow like sticky notes are strategically placed throughout the book and the pages, to portray tips and highlight specific concerns or ideas that are relevant to the chapter/ pages or text.

Weaknesses: None



Introduction

Taking photos of people, places and many types of visuals, for publication, is commonplace. However in many lines of work, the necessity and use of model release forms is misunderstood, to say the least. Sometimes the nuances are not quite understood or well defined in many cases, by photographers or the places of business themselves. The book Model Releases: A digital Photographer's Guide, helps to clarify the meaning of much of the process and update advanced in print media and more in recent years.

The author has been a freelance photographer and photo industry analyst. His works have been featured in publicaiotns from news and business media to fine arts books. This book is the result of over five years of his research to model releases. He is well versed in the changing trends that have transformed books, the press, music and much more, in recent years. His knowlege is transmitted to this book in a very readable and understandable way.

The seven part book covers a wide range of important topics within its 288 pages. The titles of the parts of the book highlight the necessity of model releases. These are : Everyone's doing it ; So what's wrong; What's a model release ; Understanding "use"; Analyzing the need for a model release; Dealing with photos of property; The business of Licensing. The book makes it much easier to clarify when releases are needed and not needed. What buyers need in the way of model releases, and those who don't need releases are summarized. Also included is information for marketing and licensing all your photos, whether they have been released or not. Also the author does the best he can in accumulating years of information and distilling helpful information in one book.

The book is relevant to those in the United States and abroad. The author helps to define in clear terms, what should be initiated and followed through, under many situations and circumstances. He is clear and concise so that misinformation does not occur and clarity of the releases are understood. The well illustrated text is a very comprehensive book available on the subject, covering everything you would to know about model releases. The releases pertain to people, places and additional circumstances. Much has changes in light of a photographer's role in the creation of photographs that may be uses on or in conjunction with the internet, with digital photography. newspapers, books and magazines.

Conclusions

This important book is both insightful and a pleasure to read and understand.The book is useful for everyone from professional photographers whose work involves photography to those amateur photographers who take vacation pictures on vacation, take photos of at their children' s teams/games, schools or more. This book also includes information about models themselves and what they can learn about their rights concerning how they can protect themselves and when that is not possible.

The importance of this book is highlighted by the fact that a well known technology firm "stole" (or should we say "did not secure properly"), music from my daughter's business/ firm. Whether it was on purpose or not, she had to set them straight and went through the proper channels. This was an interesting event and it served to highlight what should and needs to be done. In addition, a firm in Africa wanted to use one of my photographs for their greeting cards. To make a long story short, I had to find that person and that firm, after they used my photographs, as the individual did not forward my payment. If I would have the information from this book, I would have know the proper course of action to protect the transaction. This book would have let me know, in advance, the proper procedures so that the situation would have not occurred. Now I am better prepared. And you will be too if you read this well prepared book.

Whether you are in business, work with photographs whether your home, business or personal use or involved in possible interactions with businesses, this book is well worth reading. There is something to be said for knowing and understanding your rights, as well as the rights of clients and businesses. That way you can make the best decision about your photos that possible will end up in businesses, books or other forms.

I have just finished reading Dan Heller's "A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases" from cover to cover. There's no question it is a great book and if you are interested in really LEARNING about model releases I would recommend you buy it. If you're just looking for a quick answer, however, this is not the book.

In the entire 279 pages there is only ONE (1) sample model release form and it is a very basic, simple one. Instead the book is divided into chapters that deal with various aspects of the issues such as: "What's a Model Release?", "Understanding 'Use'", "Analyzing the need for a model release", "Dissecting a model release" (and, no, you can't get the full benefit from this chapter without reading the rest of the bok), "Dealing with photos of property", and "The business of licensing". Yes, the book is indexed.

I found it to be well-written and easy to understand. Mr. Heller writes in normal everyday language and not in legal mumbo jumbo. His presentation is clear and well organized. A minor nitpick - he must have gotten tired as he got near the end as I noticed several grammatical errors and typos seem to have snuck into the later chapters. No matter. They didn't obscure his meaning.

Mr. Heller makes it clear that he is not a lawyer and is not offering legal advice but is discussing BUSINESS DECISIONS which photographers must confront with respect to their photographs. Nonetheless, he presents a great deal of information about the laws as well about the business of photography.

The book contains what seem like hundreds of photos (I didn't count them.) While a number of them could be construed as being examples of the issue being discussed (such as people in public places, buildings, homes, etc.) very few of them are actually referred to in the text. I would have found it more helpful if the author had actually captioned each photo stating whether or not he had obtained a model release for it and why he had chosen to do so or not. Otherwise they are not much more than pretty pictures (and fine ones they are!) which contribute only slightly to the purpose of the book.

I am very glad I bought the book. I doubt that there is a better reference on the subject. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the subject (though I would probably benefit from reading the book a second time to pick up nuances I missed the first time.) I still don't feel as if I know all the answers and perhaps that means the author has achieved his goal. I'm now aware that there are no simple answers but only trade-offs to be considered in an informed way.

I own both the printed version as well as the Kindle version of this book.
This book was very useful and helpful to understand what publishing refers to, and why in some cases a model release is necessary. Dan's model release is one of the simplest I have seen (Remember they say keep it simple).

I like the Kindle version because it allows me to search for a term and get result very fast. This is the version I use the most.

However some of the pages are graphics with a text overlay which is not displayed at a high enough resolution to be able to be read easily ( I have to pull out the paper version of the book at that point, or endure a painful reading moment - Note to the publisher: Could you update the Kindle version with higher resolution graphics please?).

I would have given this ebook four stars if it didn't have these hard-to-read graphics sections.
Therefore my rating is 3 stars.

The real danger here is not wasting money on the book. The danger is relying on it. Heller is clueless about the topic and clueless about the important legal issues surrounding model releases. He is also clueless generally about legal issues.

Some books are worthless. This one is worse than worthless. It is dangerous. Because relying on Heller's advice can get you into legal hassles that will turn your life upside down.

Skip the book. And tell Heller he should be ashamed of himself.

First of all, I found the information very useful. No question about that. But if I had paid the list price for this book (borrowed it from the library), I would have been ticked off. First of all, there are an enormous number of photographs throughout the book and most have nothing to do with the content (it's a book for photographers, so that's a justification - but not much). Secondly, the text itself is padded with Heller recovering the same material multiple times.

This material would make a fine article someplace, but was really stretched out to make a book.

Having said that, I repeat that I got some useful information out of it, so kudos. But I'm really bothered by the padding.