Quote:
Originally Posted by mikesouth
Copyrights default to the creator BUT not in this case.
heres how it works. When a photographer shoots a model he owns a copyright on those photos and she owns a copyright on her image.
The purpose of a model release id to reassign her rights to the photographer. If the model release is properly worded it is air tight. If you don't have a model release you will lose, but so will she because neither of you can use the content without the others consent.
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Actually, you are close, but no cigar.
Absent a work for hire agreement, the copyright ALWAYS is owned by the person who created the work. In the case of a photograph, it is the person who pushed the button on the camera.
The model DOES NOT OWN A COPYRIGHT on her image. What the model does own are her rights to her LIKENESS and her rights to privacy and publicity. The model release assigns those rights to the photographer for the specific purpose of the content produced at that specific photo shoot. Likeness is not only her face, but anything on her body that identifies HER. A tattoo, etc.
If a model DOES NOT sign a release, than the photographer is STILL the copyright holder, he just cannot use the content he produces for a commercial purpose.