{"id":73517,"date":"2015-06-09T05:51:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T13:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/?p=73517"},"modified":"2015-06-09T05:51:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T13:51:27","slug":"how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/","title":{"rendered":"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2014, a New York state\u00a0judge allowed model Avril Nolan to pursue her $450,000 lawsuit against Getty Images<\/a>. Nolan, a healthy young woman, experienced extreme distress after being\u00a0depicted as HIV-positive in an ad run by the New York State Division of Human Rights. While Getty motioned to have the case dismissed under the First Amendment, Nolan prevailed on the basis that the stock photo giant\u00a0had not attained a model release from her.<\/p>\n

For large companies like Getty Images, situations like the one above come with the territory, and they have the resources to handle them. But as an independent photographer, it\u2019s important for you to understand that a single, seemingly harmless mistake with\u00a0legal repercussions can severely damage your career, reputation and personal finances for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

The Plain and Simple Importance of a\u00a0Model Release<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re publishing and\/or selling photos of people, a model release (sometimes referred to as a liability waiver) is your shield in case a subject later tries to sue you for using their image. The model release is a standard legal document that every commercial photographer lives by; it looks something like this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paperwork = Clutter<\/h2>\n

As with any paperwork, model releases become clutter in your office or studio. They\u2019re easy to lose track of, and you can guess how much traction a phantom model release has\u00a0in the case of a lawsuit. Unfortunately, \u201cI had one somewhere\u201d won\u2019t cut it.<\/p>\n

Attach a Model Release to Images on Your Website<\/h2>\n

Meet the Model Release extension<\/a> for our Sell Media<\/a>\u00a0WordPress plugin. Our all-in-one package for selling your photos online now includes integrated document management. Using Model Release for Sell Media, you can attach waiver documents to photos on your website for safe keeping and future reference. Your customers will also gain peace of mind when they see a check mark confirming that the image is permissible.<\/p>\n

\"Model<\/a>
Model release\u00a0extension for Sell Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How It Works<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Upload your signed waiver to your website in Sell Media.<\/li>\n
  2. Under Options, click \u201cChoose\u201d next to \u201cModel release.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Choose the appropriate form to correspond with your selected image.<\/li>\n
  4. You\u2019re all set! And you can update your form simply by clicking \u201cRemove\u201d and following the same steps over again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"sell-media-model-release\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Getting Started<\/h2>\n

    Ready to manage your model releases more efficiently?\u00a0Sign up for our Professional Plan<\/a> and download the Model Release extension for Sell Media today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In 2014, a New York state\u00a0judge allowed model Avril Nolan to pursue her $450,000 lawsuit against Getty Images. Nolan, a healthy young woman, experienced extreme distress after being\u00a0depicted as HIV-positive in an ad run by the New York State Division of Human Rights. While Getty motioned to have the case dismissed under the First Amendment, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306057,"featured_media":73294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,211],"tags":[244,240,197],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Add Model Release Forms to Images on Your Website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Graph Paper Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/gppthemes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1003\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"691\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Gordon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Gordon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Gordon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a5a985354d676fe9c19e6aebe7079e93\"},\"headline\":\"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Blog\",\"sell media\",\"stock photography\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\",\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\",\"name\":\"How to Add Model Release Forms to Images on Your Website\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg\",\"width\":1003,\"height\":691,\"caption\":\"Model release notice to buyers\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/\",\"name\":\"Graph Paper Press\",\"description\":\"Graph Paper Press specializes in photo, video and multimedia themes for WordPress.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Graph Paper Press\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Graph Paper Press\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/gppthemes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/graphpaperpress\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCUebYoxUAXkPL9mNoNTMQDg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a5a985354d676fe9c19e6aebe7079e93\",\"name\":\"Daniel Gordon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51e95c611f2b5521ed532c36e536eefc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51e95c611f2b5521ed532c36e536eefc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Gordon\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/author\/danielgordon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Add Model Release Forms to Images on Your Website","description":"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release","og_description":"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.","og_url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/","og_site_name":"Graph Paper Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/gppthemes","article_published_time":"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1003,"height":691,"url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniel Gordon","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Gordon","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Gordon","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a5a985354d676fe9c19e6aebe7079e93"},"headline":"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release","datePublished":"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/"},"wordCount":421,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg","keywords":["Blog","sell media","stock photography"],"articleSection":["Blog","Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/","url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/","name":"How to Add Model Release Forms to Images on Your Website","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-09T13:51:27+00:00","description":"This tutorial shows you how to attach a digital model release to an image on your WordPress website in just a few easy steps.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/model-release-example.jpg","width":1003,"height":691,"caption":"Model release notice to buyers"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/how-photographers-can-protect-themselves-with-a-digital-model-release\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How Photographers Can Protect Themselves with a Digital Model Release"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/","name":"Graph Paper Press","description":"Graph Paper Press specializes in photo, video and multimedia themes for WordPress.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#organization","name":"Graph Paper Press","url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/cropped-logo.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Graph Paper Press"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/gppthemes","https:\/\/x.com\/graphpaperpress","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCUebYoxUAXkPL9mNoNTMQDg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a5a985354d676fe9c19e6aebe7079e93","name":"Daniel Gordon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51e95c611f2b5521ed532c36e536eefc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51e95c611f2b5521ed532c36e536eefc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Gordon"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/blog\/author\/danielgordon\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/306057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}