Release waivers

Legal release waivers

When do you need to obtained a signed release from the subjects of your movie, video or photography? It depends on the situation, and varies to some degree on where it takes place.

To play it safe, you may want to get subjects to sign a legal form granting permission if they're clearly recognizable in the work. Many videographers, for instance, ask the subject of a video to say at the beginning of a clip that they've agreed to be filmed and grant the producer the right to post it online.

Here's a Sample legal release form as a downloadable Word document. You may want to substitute some of the wording for the specifics of your project.

Photographer Dan Heller has a detailed writeup about when photographers need to obtain model releases.

Related:

• Do video producers need a model release form from their subjects? Ourmedia page | MPEG-4 video

• Publishing public performances

• Bloggers' FAQ on Privacy (EFF — offsite)

Notice: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, compatible with Wikipedia.

Please comment on, correct or expand upon this article. Contact us.