How do copyright licenses and model/publicity rights interact when reusing a photo?
Asked 6/19/2013
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2 answers
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If I license a photo under Creative Commons, does that only cover my copyright as the photographer, or does it also affect the subject’s model/likeness/publicity rights? For example, if someone wants to republish a photo of a person, do they generally need both my permission and the model’s permission, unless an exception applies? I’m trying to understand the general relationship between copyright licensing and model releases.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
3
Whoever is going to use the image needs permission from both the model (for their likeness) and the photographer (for their copyright). In some circumstances (mainly journalism, but I believe there is one or two other exceptions) a model release is not required, in which case only the license for copyright is required.
Disclaimer: seek photographic advice from photographers and legal advice from lawyers (and I am not a lawyer).
Originally by user9510. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user9510
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In general, these are separate rights. A copyright license from the photographer covers use of the photo as a creative work; it does not automatically grant rights related to the subject’s likeness, privacy, or publicity.
So a reuser may need:
- the photographer’s permission (or a valid license such as Creative Commons), and
- the model’s permission, if the intended use requires a model release under the applicable law.
If the law provides an exception—commonly mentioned examples include some journalistic/editorial uses—then a model release may not be required, and the copyright license alone may be enough.
If you obtained a model release, that can cover the model-rights side for the uses allowed by that release. Without it, a downstream user may need to get the model’s permission separately.
Exact rules depend on jurisdiction and on how the image will be used, so this is a general explanation rather than legal advice.
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