Facebook images

band.booster · Dec 4, 2011

I am involved in a high school band booster organization in the USA and we have established a facebook page to promote and support the band. There are lots of pictures from our public events over the last year and a half. We established this so the parents could collect photos of their children and to support the band. No one has mentioned that they have a problem with anything we are doing but there seems to eventually be 1 in every group. Is what we are doing ok? As many of you probably know, these photos can be tagged. I would hate to undo what we have already done because it seems pretty popular but I really dont want problems.

Any feedback is appreciated!

cgipson1 · Dec 4, 2011

If you have the permission of the schools, and the band directors.... maybe. I would also send a model release form home with the band members to get the parents to sign. Just to cover yourself! The random people that might show up in your shots probably won't be a problem... but anyone that is underage, and is emphasized in your pictures.. you might consider trying to get a model release for.

Kerbouchard · Dec 4, 2011

You don't need a model release form to 'share' photos that were taken in a public place.

The only time you actually 'need' a model release form in the United States is if you are selling the images to companies for advertising...for instance, selling an image you took to 'tuba manufacturer' so they can imply endorsement. That is what a model release is...a release to use their likeness for endorsements.

That isn't what you are doing. You are simply sharing photos that you have taken. There is nothing you have to do to allow that.

The only time you could run into trouble with what you are doing is if you add silly captions that misrepresent what was actually happening. That could be slander or libel. As long as your images aren't misrepresentative and are in good taste, I would say you are good to go.

invisible · Dec 4, 2011

I work as a paralegal and, while this is clearly not my field of expertise, I can share some somewhat informed thoughts.

It's not clear to me who's taking the photos and who's uploading them to the Facebook page. Are you the photographer, using the Facebook page to showcase the images? Or is it the public (parents and otherwise) who are sharing the photos on your Facebook page's wall? If it's the former, there's always the chance you might run into privacy complaints, and you might be asked by the offended parties to take down the offending photos (and you should probably comply ASAP); if it's the latter, the people uploading the photos would be responsible for the privacy violation (but since it's your page, you might want to take the photos down yourself as soon as you learn about the complaint).

You mentioned that there are children portrayed in some of the photos; this adds a layer of risk while some parents love seeing images of their kids on the net, others are the exact opposite and can get pretty emotional about it.

People living in big cities seem more concerned about these issues (and also tend to be more litigious) than those living in small towns and such. Your risk of receiving complaints is higher if you're doing this in the Chicago area than if you're doing it in rural North Dakota (just examples, of course).

Can you link us to your Facebook page so we get a better idea of what's going on?

Kerbouchard · Dec 4, 2011

invisible said:
I work as a paralegal and, while this is clearly not my field of expertise, I can share some somewhat informed thoughts.

It's not clear to me who's taking the photos and who's uploading them to the Facebook page. Are you the photographer, using the Facebook page to showcase the images? Or is it the public (parents and otherwise) who are sharing the photos on your Facebook page's wall? If it's the former, there's always the chance you might run into privacy complaints, and you might be asked by the offended parties to take down the offending photos (and you should probably comply ASAP); if it's the latter, the people uploading the photos would be responsible for the privacy violation (but since it's your page, you might want to take the photos down yourself as soon as you learn about the complaint).

You mentioned that there are children portrayed in some of the photos; this adds a layer of risk – while some parents love seeing images of their kids on the net, others are the exact opposite and can get pretty emotional about it.

People living in big cities seem more concerned about these issues (and also tend to be more litigious) than those living in small towns and such. Your risk of receiving complaints is higher if you're doing this in the Chicago area than if you're doing it in rural North Dakota (just examples, of course).

Can you link us to your Facebook page so we get a better idea of what's going on?

You should probably stick with your field of expertise. In the U.S., there is no expectation of privacy at public events. There are no privacy issues. There is no lawsuit. There is no layer of risk. There is no anything. It's a freaking facebook page.

The only thing I would agree with in your post is that if a parent doesn't want their kid on the page, the OP should take them off. Not for any legal reason, just because it's the ethical thing to do and fighting it isn't worth the hassle.

invisible · Dec 4, 2011

Kerbouchard said:
You should probably stick with your field of expertise.

I'd rather be wrong than full of myself.

To the OP, props for being proactive about this instead of taking the easy road hoping that everything will be fine. I suggest you do some online research, maybe looking for "appropriation" legislation within privacy laws. Our resident expert Kerbouchard might tell you that you'd need to be famous to file a claim about image appropriation, but jurisprudence might or might not agree with him. Better to be safe than sorry.