Obtaining Signed Consent Forms for Photos Taken at the Library

An article entitled, "Laws for Using Photos You Take at Your Library" may be of interest. See www.infotoday.com/mls/sep08/Carson.shtml

The rule of thumb that I have used in the past 10 years is if there is an identifiable person in the photo, you should ask their permission and obtain a signed consent before using it for marketing and promotional purposes. If you are using the photo simply to show the turnout for an event, perhaps with an accompanying article in a newsletter, no permission is necessary. You aren't using the photo to promote or market the library, per se, so this falls under the First Amendment rights; no signed consent needed. The law is more lenient toward photos that are used in a newspaper or newsletter. Those type of photos fall under "news media" and are considered newsworthy content.

Photos where the subjects are not identifiable (faces not visible, photo taken from behind group of people) don't require permission. I always received a signed consent form from parent/guardian whenever I used photos of children under age 18 regardless of how I planned to use the photo.

For more information and to learn what should be used in a consent form, visit the web site I mentioned above.