Privacy concerns lead RPS to launch free to download model release form May 19, 2015

[Photo credit: © Rose Teanby]

The form specifies how pictures can be used and aims to protect the photographer and their subjects in the event of any future privacy dispute.

Available to enthusiasts and professionals, the RPS Model Release Form can be downloaded at www.rps.org/MRF.

RPS director general Michael Pritchard said: ‘The RPS has a commitment to support all photographers, and documents such as the model release, although simple, are important for the protection of photographers and their models in the event of a future dispute.’

The RPS says it worked with a top law firm to produce the template, which comes with guidance for amateur and professional photographers.

Pritchard added: ‘The Society will be developing a range of key resources for photographers over coming months.’

Rose Teanby, an RPS member from Nottingham, was the first photographer to use the RPS Model Release Form.

Rose – who used it when photographing Peter Lord and David Sproxton from Aardman Animations – said: ‘It was a great comfort to have the form available for such an important portrait session, and to feel that I had the reassurance of the RPS behind me.

‘Both Peter Lord and David Sproxton had no hesitation in signing.

‘I found the form very clear, logically laid out and not too overwhelming for the client, which was very important.’