Modelling Photos : Copyright and Rights to Use (in the UK)

There are often many questions raised by models about copyright and what rights they have to use photos that they have posed for. The answer is: it depends! The reason is that firstly the law is different in different countries and advice you read on the web could have been written from anywhere based on their laws so that is the first thing you need to check. The comments here are all based on UK law; the situation in the USA is very different and much advice on the web would relate to that purely because the USA is such a large country with a huge web presence.

In the UK in general terms the photographer owns the copyright of any photos that they take. They can do pretty much anything with those photos should they so wish and no model release form is needed. This is one major difference with the USA where model release forms do have a purpose and many online articles confuse models about their requirement in the UK - model releases forms are not needed for a photographer to publish photos of a model here. Some magazines may require them but they are not legally required and a photographer can use any photos taken online as they wish.

If you are a model that has posed for a TFP/TFCD shoot then the photographer will provide you with copies of images from that shoot that you can use for your portfolio. The number will depend on the agreement that you reach with the photographer but you should not expect EVERY photo that has been taken. A good photographer will remove poor photos. An indication to me about the professionalism of a photographer is their worst photo that is shown; studio lighting stands or background edges in a shot show me that they do not care much about their work.

Any images provided to you should be used as provided unless you have a written agreement from the photographer that you can edit them including cropping. Any logo included on the photo should remain wherever you use them as in the example below.

Models Divine / Edge Models

Models Divine quote their office address as

39 Great Windmill Street, PICCADILLY, London W1D 7LX

They also then say "Please note that like any agency, we do NOT accept unsolicited appointments or walk-ins. All visits must be preapproved first" However many agencies DO allow walk ins. I wonder why Models Divine don't?

If you do a search on Google you wonder if this is why... this is what 39 Great Windmill Street looks like

Models Divine Office location

British light-middleweight Boxing- Webb v Prince Arron at Medway Park

Last night the British light-middleweight battle took place between Sam Webb and Prince Arron at the Medway Park centre in Gillingham. Models3.com provided the card girls for the match and Jade and Laura did a fantastic job for the match shown live on Sky Sports 1. Prince Arron won the British light-middleweight belt in the 12th round after the fight was stopped with Webb reeling from Arron's onslaught.

Unlike fake model agencies such as UK Models, we do find well paid work for our models. Previously we have also worked with top UK models such as Katie Green who hit the news over her Size Zero campaign and her friendship with former MP Lembit Opik.

Photos of the British light-middleweight boxing Webb v Prince Arron at Medway Park

British light-middleweight boxing Webb v Prince Arron at Medway Park - Prince Arron celebrates his victory

British light-middleweight boxing Webb v Prince Arron at Medway Park - card girl Jade

British light-middleweight boxing Webb v Prince Arron at Medway Park - card girl Laura

Paying model agencies 50 pounds up front - Is it right?

Some people have asked if paying model agencies 50 pounds up front is right?

The answer is no! A genuine model agency will not ask for any money up front as a deposit. The companies that ask for deposits for shoots are NOT modelling agencies. Examples of non agencies that ask for £50 up front are Form models, Candi models, Edge Modelling and Replay Models.

All of these are companies that will sell you photo shoots and they will not refund your money unless you complete the whole shoot and sale process.

Edge Models & Models Divine - Spot The Difference

Edge Models Modelling Management totally understand and respect that you may have certain apprehensions and unease about your privacy and with this being the case, we value your right to safeguard all the personal information you have submitted to us. In submitting your details and having your modelling profile on this site, you automatically relinquish any expectations concerning privacy you have with regards to any pictures and personal information you have made available to us.

compared to:

Models Divine Modelling Management totally understand and respect that you may have certain apprehensions and unease about your privacy and with this being the case, we value your right to safeguard all the personal information you have submitted to us. In submitting your details and having your modelling profile on this site, you automatically relinquish any expectations concerning privacy you have with regards to any pictures and personal information you have made available to us.

Has someone done a find & replace for Edge Models with Models Divine?

New Model Jade

This is the first photo from a shoot with stunning new model Jade. A fantastic first shoot and someone that I think you'll be seeing a lot more of in future.

Alice in Wonderland Theme Shoot

This is the first photo from an Alice in Wonderland theme shoot with Amy. All makeup for the shoot was done by Amy herself.

National Cleavage Day UK Photos

It may be an April 1st joke but National Cleavage Day is trending very highly on Twitter at the moment. From Wikipedia National Cleavage Day is an event started in South Africa but now come to the UK as well supported (!) by Wonderbra. Photos of our models for National Cleavage Day UK are below.

Edge Models ONE STEP AHEAD LTD

Edge Models/ONE STEP AHEAD LTD

Until recently the company behind Edge Models was ONE STEP AHEAD LTD. As of Jan 2011 this was shut down by the government department Companies House. The company behind Edge Models now is Christals Ltd which is also being shut down by Companies House for breaking the law on company registration.

Edge Models have also been run by various other companies in the past such as Model Essence Ltd, all of which had also been shut down.

Any genuine model agency would not keep changing their company and be constantly closed down for breaking UK company laws.

Some recent model portfolio photo shoot shots

These are a few shots from a recent shoot with Safia

Style Secrets at Hempstead Valley 21-23 October 2010

Models3 have supplied the models for the catwalk shows at the Hempstead Valley Style Secrets shows taking place daily at the shopping centre from 21-23 October 2010. Come along to the centre to see the shows, for more info click on the link below

http://www.hempsteadvalley.com/events/style-secrets-free-fashion-event-21st-to-23rd-october

Miss Kent Competition - Miss Great Britain Finals

We recently had the pleasure of being asked to judge the Miss Kent competition, part of the Miss Great Britain beauty pagent. The standard of the competitors was extremely high and the judging was made very difficult as a result. Howver there could be only one winner and at the end of the evening Chloe was crowned Miss Kent 2010.

Facebook Down - Facebook Error DNS failure

It looks like the Facebook website is down again. The error being given varies from
Service Unavailable - DNS failure / DNS error, The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later to Zero size error amongst others but other websites do not appear affected. The same problem apparently occurred yesterday.
It is very unusual for a multi-country website such as Facebook to ever be down completely and unreachable for DNS. Is this a Facebook server error or some DDoS attack?

We use Facebook for promotion and you can find us under the group

Kube Studios blogroll:

http://kubestudioslondon.blogspot.co.uk/
http://kubestudiosmanchester.blogspot.co.uk/
http://kubestudiosbirmingham.blogspot.co.uk/

The Importance of Posing!

Here are 2 shots from a location model shoot that show how important the right pose is. The first shot was taken deliberately to show how the figure looks when no effort is taken to pose.

The next shot was taken with the model now adopting a pose that flatters the figure and makes a huge difference to the final shot.

Any photographer should be able to pose their model to make the shot work best.

Edge Models Complaints - Edge Modelling Misleading Models By Giving False Information

The main complaint about Edge Models is that the advice pages on their website so are so badly wrong and give legally incorrect information. It makes you worry that if that is the quality of the information that they are happy to give out publicly on their website what other misleading information they supply to models that decided to sign up with Edge Models / Edge Modelling.

A proper model agency should know exactly what the status of photo copyright is - which begs the question why do Edge Model Agency not know this basic information?

Edge Models claim "Over 18? We’ll make it happen. No fees. Start earning good money!" We are unsure how any model agency can guarantee they will make it happen! Modelling is an extremely competitive business so it just isn't possible for everyone who wants to be a model to be successful

For the record Edge Models state that you need a professional photo shoot to own the copyright of your photos. This is totally wrong and just not true, either legally or factually and Edge Models only appear to be saying it to sell photo shoots to models. Paying for a professional photo shoot DOES NOT give you the copyright to your photos!

If you obtain your portfolio photos by TFP/TFCD or paying a photographer there is NO WAY anyone can tell which you did - I challenge Edge Models to prove otherwise!

Which of these images was produced on TFP/TFCD and which was a paid shoot? If you can't tell I suggest you send a complaint to Edge Modelling agency to tell them their facts are wrong!

Do I need to pay for pictures for a portfolio/Paying for Copyright of Photos?

A common answer you may find is no but unfortunately like many things you get what you pay for. We all have bills that need to be paid but a photo shoot does not need to cost a fortune. Our prices for model test shoots & model portfolio starter packages are very reasonably priced and allow you to get a good selection of pictures to start your portfolio. Some portfolio photo shoots may be promoted as being free but you then have to pay £1000 for photos or a CD of images after the shoot at a hard sell sales presentation.

What is Replay Model Management?

Is it an agency? Their terms say so:

Replay Model Management will operate as an employment agency in relation to the Work-seeker.

However they then go on to say:

The relationship between the Work-Seeker and Replay Model Management shall not be one of
employment. Replay Model Management shall be under no obligation to find employment for the Work-Seeker.

So is that an EMPLOYMENT AGENCY that doesn't get work?

SNOG MARRY AVOID? is back and looking for people with unique looks!

BBC Three’s hugely popular

SNOG MARRY AVOID? is back

and looking for people with unique looks!

·      Are you the most glamorous, outrageous person you know?

·      Do you stand out from the crowd and turn heads wherever you go?

·      Are you up for trying out a new look and being on telly?

If this sounds like you or someone you know then get in touch:

Email:       snog@endemoluk.com

Phone:     0333-5777-775

All 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as 01 or 02 numbers, so if you have unused inclusive minutes in your phone package then a call to an 03 number is free. If you have a pay as you go mobile, or do not have inclusive calls then you will be charged at the local rate. Open to all applicants aged 17 years and over. Applicants aged under 18 will require permission from a parent / legal guardian to be involved in filming of Snog Marry Avoid? We will use your information for the purpose of selecting contestant for the programme. We will keep your data securely and we will not pass your information on to any third parties who are not involved in the production without your consent.

CALLING ALL YOU GLAMOROUS LADIES!

CALLING ALL YOU GLAMOROUS LADIES!

Are you out of work and just ‘waiting’ for the right opportunity to come along?

Remarkable Television is looking for girls aged 18 or over to take part in a new TV series

• Do you think life is too short to spend your whole life working?
• Are you living off your boyfriend and proud of it?
• Do Mum and Dad fund your beauty treatments?
• Did you good reports at school but have never realised your potential in the real world?

I've done a photo shoot but don't want anyone to see the photos?

Sometimes we are asked by models who have done a photo shoot but don't want anyone to see the photos.

Once you have done any photo shoot the photographer owns the copyright to the images and can use them as they wish. If you do not want photos to be seen then the safest option is not to pose for them in the first place.
 
If you have been paid for a shoot and the images published then the chances of getting them removed are virtually nil. However most models want as many people to see their photos as possible so this is not an issue.
 
More modelling advice can be found on our website

Modelling shoots in Kent

Just back from a fantastic studio shoot with models Jemma and Rachel. The makeup for the shoot was done by Nicola C.

Photos to follow shortly

Copyright and Licence for use

After the post yesterday about the misleading advice from Edge models I thought it would be of benefit to highlight the difference between copyright and licence to use photos.

No professional photographers routinely hand over copyright to their clients. In the main they grant a limited licence to use the photos for the agreed use; they do not give you the copyright. If a different use is required then often a different fee will be paid. For example the fee for use of a photo for a small magazine advert would be different to the fee for a worldwide billboard campaign.

Misleading advice about TFP/TFCD Shoots from Edge Models

I've recently seen this advice about Time for Prints (TFP) and Time for CD (TFCD) shoots by Edge models

http://www.edgemodels.co.uk/advice9.php

This is totally misleading and incorrect. Paying for a portfolio rather than developing it via TFP/TFCD makes absolutely no difference to whether you own the copyright or not. For example although you pay for your wedding photos in most cases you do not own copyright and have to contact the photographer to purchase additional prints. In some cases when the photographer sells you a CD of photos they grant you a licence to use them; they do not give you the copyright.

As long as the model has the rights to use an image for their portfolio it should make no difference at all how they actually produced that photo. Models do not need to own the copyright of a photo to use it for their portfolio. Suggesting that models will lose out money by doing a TFP shoot is also very misleading. It is extremely unlikely that any model would be able to make money by selling their photos even if they did own the copyright.

It makes you wonder why Edge Models suggest such advice as being true - perhaps to encourage models to "invest" by paying for the copyright of a portfolio with them?

No professional photographers routinely hand over copyright to their clients. In the main they grant a limited licence to use the photos for the agreed use; they do not give you the copyright. If a different use is required then often a different fee will be paid. For example the fee for use of a photo for a small magazine advert would be different to the fee for a worldwide billboard campaign.

Can model agencies take deposits?

Another common question is whether model agencies take deposits?

The answer is no. Model agencies do not need to take deposits as they have no reason to. Model agencies book models for shoots and sign a very small number of models each year. If you don't turn up to an appointment with a modelling agency that is your loss not theirs - so they don't need you to pay.

Generally the company that are asking you to pay a deposit are not a modelling agency at all but a photo studio and they want you to pay a deposit to make sure that you show up for your shoot plus the hard sell they give you afterwards. Make sure that you check - 99 times of 100 you will find that the free photo shoot and modelling portfolio is not for an agency and is not free once you have paid for photos or copyright.

Don't be taken for a fool - make sure that you check first!

Modelling portfolio shoots - out of the studio and on location

These are a few photos from a recent shoot with Rachel and Jemma. It makes a nice change to be able to get out of the studio onto location

A model agency are asking me to pay for copyright of images

Some fake model agencies are now claiming that their shoots are free but that you need to pay up to £800 for the copyright of the photos. This is completely untrue and is just an excuse to charge you for the photo shoot without saying so. You do not need to own the copyright of photos to use them in your portfolio. Most genuine professional photographers would never sell the copyright of their photos except for a very large fee. We do not sell copyright of our photos and it has never caused any problems for our models. You can read more about their tactics for selling photo shoot copyright here

Modelling portfolios in Kent

Modelling Portfolios : how much is it for copyright on photographs as a model

A common question that is asked by models is how much is it for copyright on photographs as a model?

The honest answer is that you do not need to buy the copyright of photos to use for your modelling portfolio.

Unfortunately some studios that are fake model agencies  are now claiming that their shoots are free but that you need to pay up to £800 for the copyright of the photos. This is completely untrue and is just an excuse to charge you for the photo shoot without saying so. You do not need to own the copyright of photos to use them in your portfolio.

Most genuine professional photographers would never sell the copyright of their photos except for a very large fee. We do not sell copyright of our photos and it has never caused any problems for our models. You can read more about their tactics for selling photo shoot copyright here

Answers to the Modelling Portfolio question : how much is it for copyright on photographs as a model? What is the cost of modelling portfolio photos copyright? Do I need copyright of my modelling photos?