Lawyer Photographer Explains Why You Need a Model Release

Hi everyone. I am a lawyer in California and a photographer. I've been getting a lot of questions about model releases and why you need one and what happens if you don't have one and what language should be in there. So, I put together this outline explaining the laws that you could be violating if you post a picture without a model release, the consequences, break down some sample model releases to explain the language, and finally, walk through some of the common problems I've seen with models vs. photographers when it comes to model releases.

Table of Contents:

1:16 California Law as it pertains to posting pictures without someone's consent
7:12 The categories of money a model can demand for the unauthorized posting of pictures
8:50 Walkthrough of the language in the Getty model release
20:31 My model release
23:09 Using Adobe Sign to get model signatures
24:57 Problem 1: Models with pseudonyms
26:11 Problem 2: Posting pics and the model does not like them
26:48 Problem 3: Are accidental nip slips still consented to if there is a model release?
29:54 Problem 4: Models/h/mua reposting images

Thanks. Feel free to leave me any questions in the comments.

The text of my model release that I explain in this video is here: https://www.modelinfosite.com/model-r...