I sure many of you have searched Youtube and Flick'r looking for pics/clips of yourself. Especially after a festival.

I have found a fair bit of myself. I usually save them & put them in a folder as some of the pics and clips are great to look at for my own personal use/album.

This past week I had to scrabble and re-edit a clip of my performances that I gave to a festival and which they posted on their site. Lo & behold I realized that I had accidentally put in a pic and a clip that didn't belong to me. Which brings up an interesting question & got me thinking. Do I have any rights to pics/vids of moi?

If someone films you and takes a picture of you and posts it on the net, do you have any claim to use it. I've always believed that it was their property, ethically and legally. But legally, I'm not sure if this is necesarily true.

So....if during a public street performance/busking, someone films you (without your permission, which being public, I believe isn't required) and posts the video & Pics on the internet.....would you be ethically and legally allowed to use this for your own promotion???????? Without permission?

As a note I've emailed some of the people who took pics several times before and only turned down once.

It is legal for anyone to operate a camera or camcorder* on any one else. But it is illegal for that operator** to use it to make any kind of money with that photo or video unless a "Model Release" is signed. If every clear and visible person on the picture/video is seen but did not sign a model release, that person can sue the operator. The parents sign a "Minority Model Release" if it is for a child under 17. For private houses, public buildings, horse races, pets, etc a "Property Release Form" must be signed.

It is better to give some money (any amount is ok) to that person for being on your picture of video as they sign the "Model Release." That will make it more stronger because you bought their permission to use it. There is no turning back.

If the picture has no "Model Release" or "Property Release", but is not used to make any type of money or make you popular, it will be no problem.

*The camcorder must be in open view, not hidden.
**If the operator is working for the media, they will have a "Press Release." They do not need your permission to use your picture/video on tv or the newspaper or any magazine to make money.

I record myself at times without getting permission from the school. I might just use it to keep for myself to see how I performed a new trick. If I liked the part of the show where the kid was located and want to use it for money, I would go back to the school to ask the principal who is the parent of that certain child so I can have them sign a "Minority Model Release." And I would have the principal or someone on the school board sign the "Property Release". To be honest, I do not ask the principal up front. I always have my camcorder in clear open view. The reason is because if the principal gave me a "no" answer, I would probably miss a good part of my act by myself, no other person included.

For more proof of information read these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_release

http://www.danheller.com/model-release.html

I took a pic of the Superbowl.
Of course, I got all of the 73,000 releases.

You can also buy insurance to indemnify yourself.

LOL

The person that took the picture owns the copyright, not you ... even if it was a picture of you. So yes, you are correct it is legally "their" property and you would indeed need their permission to "legally" use it.

If you are "in public" with no expectation of privacy, they can sell the photographs - an entire "paparazzi" empire is a testament to that. What they can't do us claim you have somehow endorsed their product, like using your picture in a commercial advertisement.

-JoeJoe