![]() Their chief purpose is to inform and educate. TV news and newspapers, are considered “editorial sources” rather than “commercial” operations. This means if you’re shooting for editorial purposes for a news organization, you shouldn’t have to have permission or releases, either. Newspapers, TV news stations, and online reporters aren’t required to obtain permission to take people’s pictures at newsworthy events. Photojournalists don’t need releases, they know they are protected under the First Amendment, and if you’re shooting for editorial purposes, neither do you. ![]() (I know what you’re going to ask next, but let’s not debate the accusations of right-wing or left-wing news slant today that’s for a different story for another time!) The photographers or videographers aren’t allowed to “stage” anything within the event to capture the image they want – they are merely the extension of the eye of the camera. The images must be impartial, honest and tell the story in a way to complement a newsworthy event. If photojournalists had to get a release form for every shot like those, it certainly would have killed the spontaneity of the moment, and many a camera would have stayed capped due to legal concerns.Īn ethical photojournalist works within very well-defined rules. Had those who posted Occupy images all over the web been detained or expected to provide model release forms, we might only have seen a few select shots that were ‘approved’ by the government or Wall Street leaders – images of “scary dangerous long-haired crazy people” – rather that the moving shots of senior citizens using walkers, young families, and average business people. Consider all the video we’ve witnessed coming right off Wall Street and across the country when the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations unfolded. Imagine the horrific images of the realities of war captured by Robert Capa at Omaha Beach and Normandy during World War II. Imagine all the breathtaking photos taken by noted TIME and LIFE magazine photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, who traveled the country during the Great Depression, capturing the drawn faces and look of loss and hopelessness of the subjects she photographed so richly. The gray area comes about with non-journalists who are in the dark about their implied ‘rights’ and don’t exactly know when or why they might need a model or talent release form. When it comes to video production and the law, it’s essential to cover all of your bases.įor more than a century, photojournalists in the United States have had the pleasure of shooting in almost any situation wherever and whenever they please, because they know that the First Amendment protects their rights to get coverage for their story. The question is, when do you have to cover your assets, and when can you shoot freely? Hopefully, we’ll be able to shed some light on some of the confusion. The truth is, you don’t always need a model release form.
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