shooting street portraits and modeling contracts

[StuckInParadise]

so this is a newbie question, but after watching this video Street photography in Tempe Arizona -Video by Clay Enos of street photography, I was wondering if these strangers would have signed any sort of contract.
If you were building a portfolio, and wanted to print (or sell?) these portraits, do you need a written agreement? or is the fact that they stopped to pose for you (and gave you a verbal go-ahead) good enough?

 

[tirediron]

Since they appear in video which could be considered a commercial product, I would think that they would have signed releases. If I were street-shooting and thought there was any possibility that I might be able to use the image, I would definitely ask for a signed release. As for a verbal release, that could be dodgy. Like verbal contracts, it would likely not be worth the paper it was printed on.

 

[Hatch1921]

I'm not sure what Clay did as far as a release... I know he had one as mentioned in the video.

We had one as well... for the people to sign...... we explained what the images were going to be used for and we also provided a gallery of high res images for them to download. This was a way of saying thank you for their time. They were free to do with the images as they saw fit.

Hope this helps.
Hatch

 

[KmH]

so this is a newbie question, but after watching this video Street photography in Tempe Arizona -Video by Clay Enos of street photography, I was wondering if these strangers would have signed any sort of contract.
If you were building a portfolio, and wanted to print (or sell?) these portraits, do you need a written agreement? or is the fact that they stopped to pose for you (and gave you a verbal go-ahead) good enough?

A properly executed release is only needed if the images/video will be used for a commercial purpose. Selling images/video to individuals as art is an editiorial use, not a commercial use, unless the individuals who bought the art subsequently use the images commercially (by the legal definition of commercial usage, not the online, urban legend definition of commercial usage).

A release legally protects the people in the images/video, and the publisher of the images/video. The photographer/videographer is not always the publisher, but can be.

In other words, a release is only needed by the photographer if the photographer will also publish the images/video. However, images/video that have proper release documentation have more commercial market value than un-released images/video.
Putting images/video online may not constitute publishing by it's legal definition.

Note: Release laws vary by state, and states that have significant entertainment industries may also have additional "Right of Publicity" statues that have to considered.

I highly recommend A Digital Photographer's Guide to Model Releases: Making the Best Business Decisions with Your Photos of People, Places and Things
and a consultation with a qualified attorney(s) licensed to practice law in the states where you shoot.