A model release is signed permission from a person who appears in a photo, or from a parent or guardian for a child, that lets the photographer use the image in the ways it lists.
General information, not legal advice. Laws differ by country and state — check with a lawyer where you work before you rely on it.
A release records who agreed, to which uses, for how long and in return for what. Whether you legally need one depends on the country, the use and whether the person can be recognised, but advertising and other commercial use almost always calls for one, and stock agencies ask for a release for every recognisable person.
Editorial use, such as news, often doesn't. Being specific about uses ("my website and social media, and the client's online ads") is clearer for both sides than "any purpose".
A photographer shoots a café owner for the café's new website. Before the shoot, the owner signs a release listing the café's website, social media and printed menus, worldwide, for as long as the café uses them, in return for the session fee.
A year later a coffee brand asks to use one of the photos in an advert; that isn't on the release, so the photographer asks the owner for a new one first.
Write posts that bring in clients
Spotlight's Get clients mode turns a photo from a shoot into posts for every platform that say what you shoot, where you work and how to book or license from you.
Get clients is a mode of the Spotlight workspace on CAPTD's paid plans — see pricing.
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