another release question--do i have to pay to make it legal??

Z

Zach

Member
I found lots of threads on releases but I couldn't find one addressing this issue, here or elsewhere on the web. Can anyone help?

Some people have told me that in order to make my talent release legal I have to pay the talent something. Usually $1. It has to do with the legal concept of "consideration".

I'm working on publicity/promotional videos for non-profits. No one is being paid for their participation (well, unless I have to...). These videos have the potential to be broadcast so I want to make sure everything is in order.

Can anyone give me some insight into this? Is there a way to write my release so that it's still binding but I don't have to pay those appearing on camera? I'm planning on using the Videomaker release: http://www.videomaker.com/ftp/pdf/model_release.pdf.





Thanks

Zach
 
Hmm. Does it have to be $1? Could it be like $.25? (One of these projects is being done for free, and these fees will likely have to come out of my pocket, so obviously I want to keep things as cheap as possible.)
 
Are you working for one particular non-profit? If so, maybe get them or their legal team to find this out for you.

I work for a national non-profit, and in the release form I use (which was prepared by our pro-bono legal team) there is no provision for payment, and in fact it is explicitly stated that there will be no compensation for appearing in our programs.
 
I guess where I'm confused is when it comes down to "consideration", which I've been told means there has to be some money given to them for the release to be valid.

Anybody know of a location online where I might find a release written in such a way to still be valid w/o having to exchange money?

(unfortunately this non-profit doesn't have a legal team we can ask)
 
Rehi,

I suggest to EMAIL or call Gordon Firemark, owner of the Law and Video podcast/website. Let him know you're a non-profit and I suspect he will give you some useful "pro-bono" guidance. In fact, you might even find the answer to your question by looking through the archives. Anyway, assuming you're truly a non-profit, failure to obtain a release my not be a big issue - be sure to give specifics on the audience, pricing, and benefit of your upcoming video.

Good luck, Michael

Good luck,

Michael
 
Zach said:
I guess where I'm confused is when it comes down to "consideration", which I've been told means there has to be some money given to them for the release to be valid.

Anybody know of a location online where I might find a release written in such a way to still be valid w/o having to exchange money?

(unfortunately this non-profit doesn't have a legal team we can ask)
Click to expand...

A contract requires an exchange of something in order for it to be valid. It may be money or it may be service or whatever but something of value has to pass both directions. So make it for 1 dollar, how much could that come up to? Probably less than lunch money.
 
There will be, literally, hundreds of people in this video. Maybe for just 2 seconds but there's tons, and they all need to sign. So you can see why I don't want to pay them $1 when I'm being paid a non-profit rate. :)
 
Contracts require consideration to be valid. But releases are just that...releases. It's just a promise not to sue you. They can of course sue you anyway, but your having the signed releases will make their case pretty weak, unless they can prove you misled them or otherwise did something underhanded.

I'm not a lawyer, but I have had to sign release forms at many times in my life, and never once was I paid to do it.
 
TwistedLincoln said:
Contracts require consideration to be valid. But releases are just that...releases. It's just a promise not to sue you. They can of course sue you anyway, but your having the signed releases will make their case pretty weak, unless they can prove you misled them or otherwise did something underhanded.

I'm not a lawyer, but I have had to sign release forms at many times in my life, and never once was I paid to do it.
Click to expand...

I found a lawyer friend and he seems to agree w/ what you said--that I should avoid using any term like "contract" for what I'm doing. He modified a release I found and seems to think I'm in good shape.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I appreciate it and will post more should other questions come up.
 
"Due consideration" is a legal term of art. It's also boilerplate in many documents, which means that people include it without any understanding of what it really means!!

It does not mean you have to give them money. It could be something as simple as a copy of the film or a credit line. I shot a street band for a film workshop and due consideration in that setting was sending them a DVD, but that is certainly impractical if there are hundreds of people in the film. You can certainly consider omitting that phrase if it doesn't work for you.

I'd steer clear of referring to a contract, as others have pointed out. It's a release, nothing more or less.
 
you should be fine, technically you should be giving them something in return for there services. Under common law a legal contract requires that both sides provide consideration. In other words, if an agreement does not specify that each party will give something of value to the other party, then it is not considered a binding contract, and cannot be enforced in court. This requirement does not exist in contracts with civil law systems.

Check wikipedia and search PEPPERCORN, this is everything you need to know.
 
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