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Selling Digital Photos

Make Sure to Read Your Model Contracts!

SUMMARY: Not abiding by photography model contracts can cost you in the long run.

NOTE: I am not a lawyer and am not qualified to dispense legal advice!

If your digital photography work involves the use of models, consider having a lawyer look over the model release contract you and the model should sign before the photos are taken. If you do not abide by the contract and use a model's likeness for other means not explicitly spelled out in the contract, you may be asking for trouble later on.

For example, a recent case involved coffee maker Taster's Choice. Allegedly they took a photograph of an individual and did not correctly abide by their model agreement, using the person's likeness on coffee labels. The person sued and won a multi-million judgment, though at the time this tip was written (2/5/05), the case is still under appeal.

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