Our models
All the people in our pictures are ordinary people, often the photographer's own family, relatives or friends. In our own productions we frequently use so-called people models, also ordinary people who have chosen to be models alongside their regular jobs. We do not use professional models as we want the images to convey a sense of naturalness and feel authentic, that the people seem to belong in the environments depicted. It happens that the people shown in certain professional roles are actually at their real jobs!
What have the models agreed to?
For every photo shoot with people, they are briefed on how their images may be used. They then sign an agreement called a model release before the actual shoot. This agreement gives us, as the image provider, the right to sell a publication right to you, the client, to use the images for commercial and editorial purposes. However, there is a restriction in the permission from the models that says that you as a publisher may not offend the people in the picture through your publication. In other words, it is always you who publishes who is responsible for ensuring that the model is not offended, regardless of the existence of a modelling permit.
What is meant by sensitive publications and can they be offensive?
Some contexts can be considered a little extra sensitive, where it can be difficult to know where the line is drawn for a person to perceive it as offensive to appear in the picture. Some examples of such contexts may be things related to politics, medicine, certain medical care such as mental illness and the like. It can be difficult to determine whether it is sensitive or not, but if you think that it is you who should be seen in the context and then possibly feel a hesitation about it, you can be pretty sure that the model will too.
What if I need to publish pictures of people in sensitive situations?
There is really no requirement to obtain further authorisation from models if you want to publish in a sensitive context. However, we strongly recommend that you do so, otherwise it may end up in an unpleasant situation with a claim for damages from a model who claims that they have been violated. Obtaining permission directly from the model in advance is then a cheap insurance to avoid any unpleasantness with additional costs afterwards or badwill for your own brand.
What are the implications of the new GDPR rules for people in photos?
A few years ago, the legislation governing in Europe on how we handle personal data changed. A picture of a person is considered personal data and the GDPR applies to how it can be handled. With this change in the law, people in general have become more aware of their rights and how their personal data is used. This places greater demands on all of us who use, provide and publish images than just a few years ago, to respect the privacy of those depicted. We at Johnér value our models highly and therefore it is in our interest to help those who publish to be able to do so safely, even if it concerns so-called sensitive contexts.
We can help you obtain an authorisation for your publication
As one of few image providers, we offer to contact the models concerned and ask them to authorise your particular publication. We then do a job of locating and contacting the model directly, or ask the photographer who has taken the release to get in touch. Should the model say no, we can also produce and suggest an alternative image with another model. As it is a time-consuming process to get this kind of approval, it is something we charge a small amount for, contact us for more information and a cost estimate.
