{"id":163,"date":"2010-01-07T09:27:37","date_gmt":"2010-01-07T14:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2010-01-07T09:27:37","modified_gmt":"2010-01-07T14:27:37","slug":"can-you-revoke-a-model-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"Can you revoke a model release?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walter left a great question<\/strong> on the “70’s are back” article yesterday.<\/p>\n

“Is there a method by which a model can revoke the authorization they granted in an earlier release?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Great question and one that we are frequently asked.\u00a0 With rare, very rare exceptions, a\u00a0signed model release permitting use of a person’s image\u00a0in a photo, which was not the product of fraud, coercion or duress, cannot be rescinded.\u00a0If the release does not contain a time limitation on usage it may be valid forever.\u00a0 \u00a0Generally speaking you would have better odds of putting Krazy Glue back in the tube the day after you fixed that broken plate than withdrawing written consent already given.\u00a0 With apologies to\u00a0law school professors everywhere, I will now attempt to compress several classes of contract law into just a few paragraphs.<\/p>\n

Assume for this discussion, that\u00a0the release, contract or\u00a0model voucher that was signed is in itself a valid and kosher document<\/strong> and the signor an adult.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here we go…\u2028\u2028A person must be acting\u00a0with free will\u00a0to sign an agreement in order for the agreement to be valid.\u00a0 Free will is generally assumed by the law if\u00a0the document is signed.\u00a0\u00a0 (Note: A Notary Public does not add legitimacy to the document’s contents but\u00a0rather serves to confirm the identity of the signor or\u00a0additional evidence that the person\u00a0whose signature appears, “really” signed the document.)\u00a0 In order to rebut or “knock out” the assumption of validity, one would have to demonstrate that the signor was (pick one or more of the following): drunk, mentally incompetent,\u00a0acting under coercion or duress, was defrauded (tricked) into signing, the agreement\u00a0or that\u00a0performing the agreement had become “impossible”.<\/p>\n

There exists a very strong presumption against the person seeking to establish any of the above in a court room.\u00a0Merely\u00a0being drunk does not necessarily mean that the signer was unaware of what he\/she was signing.\u00a0 Total inebriation to the extent that the person clearly had no idea what he or she was doing or even in what city they were in might suffice.\u00a0 Classic “duress” is typically described as having a loaded gun pointed at the signor’s head coupled with the\u00a0threat of “sign or we kill you” or worse “sign or we shoot your dog”.\u00a0 Under those type circumstances, the signor’s true consent has clearly not been obtained.<\/p>\n

The law requires a fairly low level of\u00a0mental competence to sign a model release.\u00a0 A person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease might\u00a0not meet that minimum as he\/she may have no idea as the nature of the document or even be aware of the act of signing. Fraud is a particularly difficult thing to prove in real courtrooms.\u00a0 There is a\u00a0higher level of proof required\u00a0than in other types of\u00a0civil cases\u00a0to establish that the signer was reasonably deceived and “but for” that deception would never have signed the document<\/em>.\u00a0 Sounds sexy but the bar is set very high by the Courts – intentionally so.<\/p>\n

But let’s say a man represents himself to a model as a professional photographer shooting pictures on spec for his portfolio and website.\u00a0Model is taken to a professional studio where shoot ensues with assistants, hair and make up people and all the trappings of a full-blown high budget shoot.\u00a0A form\u00a0release granting expansive usage rights is signed by model. Turns out “professional photographer” is really a part time plumber and full time registered sex offender.\u00a0 He then\u00a0Photoshops nude bodies\u00a0for use with the\u00a0model’s face and sells the resulting\u00a0porn to unsavory sites or publications.\u00a0 Model has a pretty good case in fraud.\u00a0 She reasonably relied on the representations made, the appearance of the circumstances and ‘but for’ the lies and deceptions above\u00a0would never in a million years have signed the release.\u00a0\u00a0 She\u00a0thus has a valid basis to rescind the consent given by her and obtained under false pretenses.<\/p>\n

The key thing to remember is that the legal presumption that a signed document is\u00a0valid is essential for the day-to-day conduct of\u00a0commerce and virtually all aspects of society.\u00a0 If that presumption did not exist and could not routinely be relied upon by each of us, every day,\u00a0chaos would ensue. Every case is different and we could explore possible scenarios till the year 2525.\u00a0 Bottom line remains, if the document itself is “legal” and the consent validly obtained, legally and\/or unilaterally rescinding that consent, is a very rare event indeed.<\/p>\n

Edward C. Greenberg<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walter left a great question on the “70’s are back” article yesterday. “Is there a method by which a model can revoke the authorization they granted in an earlier release?” Great question and one that we are frequently asked.\u00a0 With rare, very rare exceptions, a\u00a0signed model release permitting use of a person’s image\u00a0in a photo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copyright-info"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecopyrightzone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}