Property Model Releases

chuckinsocal

HI Gang,

If I take pictures of a custom car, say, do I need to get the owner to sign a Property Release before I can sell the photos? I think yes since I am profiting from the owners investment, but everything I read talks about real property, trademarks, copyrighted objects, etc. but not personal property such as a car.

Can anyone enlighten me on the rule here? If I do need one, can someone point to where I can get one? The simpler the better.

Thanks in advance.

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

Angelo

Hey Chuck

At the top of this forum you will find a "sticky" of Photogs Resources and there you'll find a host of information about releases.

chuckinsocal

Thanks
Thanks Angelo, but that's way too much information for me to digest, especially with all the ifs, ands, and buts ... and, again, it's more about people, trademarks, copyrighted works, etc., and not so much about personal property such as someone's $50,000 custom car.

My plan is to shoot custom cars, either randomly at car shows or by appointment with the owner. extract the cars from their existing environment, put them into an environment that's far more appealing and complimentory, and sell the finished work to the owner (long story short).

Examples can be seen at http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com/gallery/4149828#242006859.

I'm thinking that other car enthusiasts may want to purchase copies as well, probably from my smugmug site. I may also submit some work to custom car or hot rod magazines for possible publication. I may use some of the work to promote my business, assuming one evolves from all this. I may think of other uses as well.

My best *uneducated* guess is that I probably should get a release from the car owner to profit from images of his property in which he has a substantial investment, but I'm wondering if anyone has a more knowledgeable opinion on all this.

Thanks again.
Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com

f-rider

You don't need one, given your set of facts. i.e., selling your photos as a "fine art" print or in your own photo book. If the photos are used by, say, Ford or Chevy or BMW, then you might need one if they use the photo to promote their product. It is not specifically about "sales" per se.

But it never hurts to get one. Google model releases and you're sure to find something.

--Doug

Angelo

chuckinsocal wrote:

Thanks Angelo, but that's way too much information for me to digest, especially with all the ifs, ands, and buts ... and, again, it's more about people, trademarks, copyrighted works, etc., and not so much about personal property such as someone's $50,000 custom car.

My plan is to shoot custom cars, either randomly at car shows or by appointment with the owner. extract the cars from their existing environment, put them into an environment that's far more appealing and complimentory, and sell the finished work to the owner (long story short).

Examples can be seen at http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com/gallery/4149828#242006859.

I'm thinking that other car enthusiasts may want to purchase copies as well, probably from my smugmug site. I may also submit some work to custom car or hot rod magazines for possible publication. I may use some of the work to promote my business, assuming one evolves from all this. I may think of other uses as well.

My best *uneducated* guess is that I probably should get a release from the car owner to profit from images of his property in which he has a substantial investment, but I'm wondering if anyone has a more knowledgeable opinion on all this.

Thanks again.
Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com

that's too bad. I find reading to be a great source of education and in the time it took you to write a response you might have found something interesting in the details of the article.

in a nutshell... if you're shooting the car to sell the image back to the vehicle owner you certainly don't need a property release. even if you intend to sell copies of the prints as art prints you wouldn't need a release.

if however you intend to sell the images commercially, say to a car wax company for use in advertisements, then you'd run into trouble without a release.

chuckinsocal

Thanks Guys ...
Your responses are greatly appreciated ..

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com