What is Model release?
A model release is the consent of the people recognisable in an image. It is a second right alongside the photographer's copyright and runs entirely separately from it: even someone holding every right of use in the photograph may not publish it without that consent. In Germany this follows from section 22 KunstUrhG, in Austria from the protection of a person's likeness in section 78 UrhG, and the data protection side applies on top, because a photograph of a person is personal data.
A workable consent states specifically what the image will be used for: website, social media, advertising, print, press. Blanket wording such as for promotional purposes is weak, because the person cannot judge what they are agreeing to. For staff the arrangement belongs in the employment contract or a separate declaration, together with an agreement on what happens on the last working day. For minors the guardians sign.
The dispute almost always arises when somebody leaves. Austria is stricter here: the Supreme Court treated it as a violation of the right to one's own image to put a staff photograph online without asking and then refuse to take it down. German case law is more willing to let a consent once given carry on, as long as the image is used purely illustratively rather than in an individualising way. Nobody operating in both countries should build on that difference.
Why does Model release matter?
The model release is the cheapest part of a photo production and almost the only part you can never obtain afterwards. Publishing a team photograph without consent risks not just having to delete it but a dispute with somebody who has just left the company. A form on the day of the shoot costs minutes; sorting it out later costs solicitor time.
Model release in practice
- 01A trades business has every person sign a consent at the team shoot that names website, social media and job adverts separately.
- 02A law firm adds one line to the offboarding checklist: remove the picture from the team page and delete it from the templates.
- 03An event organiser signposts photography at the entrance and provides an area where no pictures are taken, rather than relying on blanket agreement.
