Glen, Here in the U.S. we don't need releases for the sort of photography you're asking about. There are basically four things you can do to violate the rights of the photographed subject: 1. Use the photograph for advertisement or trade purposes without their permission. 2. Reveal embarrassing private information. 3. Using the photograph to suggest something untrue. 4. Trespassing to obtain the photograph.
You're doing none of these as far as I can tell. You could conceivable sell the photographs to a news publication to illustrate an article without needing releases. That publication could, in turn, even use that photograph to advertise the fact that they cover local concerts or some such. Still no invasion of privacy. In most cases photographers can use their own photographs to advertise their business without obtaining releases. e.g. - If you ran a portrait studio you could display those photographs at your store front without needing the subject's approval. I don't see how posting them on your web site would be any different. But I'm not a lawyer, so you should probably do a bit more research. You can not make posters, etc. from those photographs and sell them without a release. Celebrities and other public figures have a "right to publicity" which allows them to control how their likeness is used. Once that concert is no longer newsworthy, publication of those photographs starts to become either an invasion of privacy or a violation of the subject's right to publicity. Basically, you can sell your photos for a reasonable amount of time after the concert. Yeah, I know, "reasonable" is vague. When push comes to shove, "reasonable" is usually decided by the courts. Hope that helps. On 8/16/05, Glen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks, for everyone's comments so far. > > I should have mentioned that the city festival and concert that I *might* > be photographing and *might* put on my personal web space is in the USA. > Any references to laws only help if they apply here. (It's my fault for not > mentioning my location earlier.) > > Also, the web site is accessible to the public without any fee, passwords, > etc. I won't be selling the photos. They would be on my site, to share my > experience of what I consider to be a news event. They would also be on the > site to demonstrate my skills with a camera, and perhaps to provide some > illustration for the techniques I used to take them. (Maybe I could offer > some helpful technical advice for people wanting to take pictures under > similar conditions.) > > > take care, > Glen -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com -- "You have to hold the button down" -Arnold Newman
