Model Releases are forms that a model signs that gives the photographer various rights to the use of the images. In most cases it's a blanket release that gives the photographer the right to do anything with the images they choose to, including selling and/or publishing them for a limited-use fee.
When a model is just getting started in the business he or she will often sign a model release in exchange for pictures to build a portfolio with. That's all fine and well as long as the model is comfortable with the possibility that their pictures might show up in the most unexpected places over the years. As Vanessa Williams learned, those pictures can come back to haunt you, if and when you ever become famous.
I chose over the years not to use model releases because I felt that it would have diminished the trust that my clients and models had in me - especially when I was doing nudes of them. With the exception of the work I did for Playgirl, I had no intention of selling the images you see here to skin magazines so I didn't feel releases were necessary.
Copyright laws in the States are very clear about ownership of an image and those laws are routinely upheld in court.
An image is owned by the photographer who shot it.
Copyright law allows me as a photographer to use an image I've shot or created for all purposes other than commercial gain. So in other words, I can display or exhibit the images but I can't sell them unless I have written permission from the model to do so. And that's what most model releases give a photographer permission to do - sell and/or publish the image if they choose to.
If one of the people I've photographed approached me and objected to their pictures being displayed here on this site, I would thoughtfully consider their objection. But ultimately I'm within my legal rights to display and/or exhibit their pictures as long as I'm not selling them.
The problem with the internet is that it's very easy to download a picture on a site unless there's a script included on the page that blocks the downloading of images. I have included that script on most of my pages to protect these images from being downloaded - as much for the model's protection as mine.
So no, these pictures aren't for sale for the most part because I don't have releases from the models allowing me to do that. One of the exceptions to that are the images of Kevin Lawrence which he and I are in partnership to sell.
Sometimes I regret not being able to sell an image here and there to make a few bucks. But I'm comfortable knowing that the trust I had with my clients is intact and that they don't have to worry about their pictures showing up on a greeting card at the local mall.
Tom Clark
