Legal question
 

Hi there

If you shoot lots of good looking girls (non nude) dancing and partying in clubs or on the street, and then put those girls on a site that promotes porn, is that illegal?

I mean even if you shoot at a club where the minimum age is 18, the doormen aren't that picky if a stunning 17-year old girl want to get in... So if you have a clothed girl, shot unawere in public on a site that promotes porn, is that illegal?

If you want legal then you need proof. Proof comes in the form of a model release and proof of age documents. Unless it is never disputed you will have no trouble however if you were questioned you could pull it out.

thanks lock, but how does this work for all of those springbreak and partysites? There's no way in hell all girls featured on those sites have signed a model release...

Research the definition of "Public", at one time as long as you were 10 feet away, you were free and clear, alot of tabloid pics are shot this way....

Make your own decision, I am not attorney and not giving you legal advice, I am saying look up the parms for "Public" shot photography.

Then I am saying get a camera phone and shoot some upskirts in the restrooms like Asia folk do now :-)

Jesus..

Any public display is considered public content. No need for a 2257 or ID?s. I would not suggest you posting up any public sexual acts, but everything else is legal. I also would not suggest putting those pictures on a cover of your Videotape or DVD box. But for your web site they are fine.


This is not the place to ask for legal advise. Retain a lawyer.

You also can get sued by the person you shot. You dont have rights to use their photograph.

This is what I'm wondering about. How does this go with all those springbreak and party sites?

Any of these people, they are not celebrities . So you have no right to their image. Also its not the ballgame or a concert where on the ticket you waive that right. 99 times nothing will happen but that 1 time can be very very painful.

He's wrong, but I suggest you retain a lawyer.

They cannot sue you. If someone is in public, and you take a picture of them, it is legal to use for public use. It doesn't matter if they are a star or not. There is not a law that says, "If you are famous, you can not sue for your picture being taken by some tabloid, if you are not famous, you may sue." Public shots like that are considered "news" content. Imagine the mess the papers would be in if what Tony404 said was true. Jesus I would be a millionaire for all the pictures of me that have been posted in papers with out my written consent.

Girls have tried to sue Girls gone wild for using their non-2257'd picture for the cover of their box. Not for using their picture on the film.

I do public shoots all the time, I know what I can do legally, that is what I am telling you. I suggest that you drop a grand or so and retain a lawyer.

Anyone can sue anyone for anything. They might not prevail but it does keep lawyers entertained. My advice, if you are in this business you need a good intellectual property and a good First Amendment lawyer. I also might not be a bad idea to keep the phone number of a decent criminal attorney also.

Thanks for the replies :)

What I'm mostly wondering about though is if a girl on the site happens to be 17 years old... I really hate that CP stuff, but when shooting in public theres no way to know how old the girls are. And as I said before, door-men seems to let minors in (I know, I've also been 17 some time ago :) ) if they look good enough...