I'm working on a project aimed at assisting companies and employees in the rights management of photo content - specifically, how they collect, distribute, and protect photos of individuals to mitigate risks such as litigation, deep fakes, and unauthorized use.
In this context, I'm keen to gather insights into the real-world handling of photo release waivers in the workplace:
Have you, as an employee, ever signed a photo release waiver? Could you share the circumstances (e.g., for company marketing, website representation, etc.)?
Who in your organization is responsible for collecting these waivers? Is it HR, legal, or another department?
Additionally, how does your company ensure the proper use and protection of these images once collected?
Your experiences and insights are invaluable to my project, providing real-world perspectives on current practices and challenges. I'm particularly interested in understanding both the employee and employer perspectives on this matter.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
The companies I worked for all had a standard “model release form” which people signed before a photo shooting. These were updated with GDPR requirements some time ago. For events it’s a blanket note in the invitation and a mention in the beginning (opt-out possible).
Management of these is a bit hand-made in my experience. Essentially gathering the forms as pdf in a shared folder close to the original pictures / project documentation.
But that works ok because in the last 18 years or so, I can remember one person wanting to withdraw their approval. We pulled many more pictures from the library ourselves because people were no longer with the company.