Group talent releases. How to do?

[justmarvin]

Ok say you are shooting a film or some project (documentary, commercial, etc) and you are needing to get a group shot..... crowds, etc. It doesn't seem practical to try and hunt everyone down or get a separate talent release on each of them.

Or let's say you are shooting footage in a school for a commercial the school is doing. How do you get a release on each student? Can we just make a formal letter informing that there will be a commercial? And unless someone in particular objects, then that means everyone gave an "understood" consent for a release.

Please let me know. The latter is my situation.. going to shoot a commercial for a University.

Another thing.. why don't newspaper photographers (and maybe even new videographers?) ever get releases? All they do is get the info (name, etc) so they can write a comment under the photo. The same applies for people taking photos around a school campus for the school (for the yearbook, etc).

JM

 

[Will Clegg]

News/Journalism has different protection against privacy laws than Commercial production. There is a bunch of information about privacy and fair use in this forum: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/forumdisplay.php?f=26

You should definitely be in touch with a lawyer about your questions, but I can tell you from experience that you can't get group consent. Other means of obtaining consent are going to have various levels of enforceability. For your best protection, you need to have each individual sign a consent form that clearly states the name and intent of your project. If you are willing to expose yourself to the risk of being successfully sued, you could try sending out a letter ahead of time, but implied consent just isn't as strong as signed consent when it comes down to it.

I can't stress enough that you should have a lawyer review this scenario though - it may be that the school is in fact liable, not you, and you don't need to worry about it. Or it may be that you need to take every precaution possible. That link above to the Journalism/Documentary forum will help you find many more resources about privacy rights, fair use, etc.