One of the first things we implemented when I took over the Media Ministry at my church, was the inclusion of proper release forms. Any time a church uses a recognizable likeness of someone, in any fashion, a release should be signed.
When to use a photo-release
It is a good idea when producing content for the church to do so with consideration for the mission of the church. Remembering that the church is not a photo business or portfolio practice. The result of the church’s involvement in media should first and foremost be the Glory of Christ. In that vein, we want to be diligent to be above all reproach in our business and service dealing inside and/or outside of the church.
To assist you in maintaining these high standards, three major components should be considered:
- Legal
- Ethical
- Logistical
We will cover these components in greater detail but consider this throughout the ministry, “does this honor Christ?”.
While it may seem like a mundane practice to snap a pic and throw it up online somewhere. This could be a serious issue for the people in the photo. This simple social media post could have real ramifications and cause actual legal and physical damage to a member of your church body. With this in mind try to approach the topic of photo usage and releases with grace.
You can download our free photo release template here.
Legal
1. Identifiable likeness
If someone can be “readily” identified from a photo a release should be considered. This is a broad brush stroke statement, but it covers the main point. If you can identify the person in the photo… so can someone else.
- The definition identifiable likeness may vary from place to place but it is clearly defined in the CA penal code:
California Civil Code Section 3344.1:
- A person shall be deemed to be readily identifiable from a photograph when one who views the photograph with the naked eye can reasonably determine that the person depicted in the photograph is the same person who is complaining of its unauthorized use.
I have had to withhold many photos do to a large number of special operations military members in a former church. With this reality, many photos were just never posted anywhere and were deleted. In some cases, the photo ministry had to, on a few occasions, “Photoshop out” a person or two from group photos. We also had many law enforcement member within the church that requested the same accommodation due to security concerns. While these seem like extreme cases we did the same for domestic violence, former witnesses, and politicians.
With this in mind, I rarely include any photos of my actual congregations that are in crisp focus and isolated upon one individual. If an in-focus shot is to be used, I will get a release.
If I do not use a release than we only use event/group shots. The usage of an event or group shot falls into the next section of the reasonable expectation of privacy.
2. Reasonable expectation of privacy
According to the United States Supreme Court, a person has a right to a “reasonable expectation of privacy”. Essentially you have the right to not be photographed in your home or places where privacy is presumed. However, you forfeit that right by venturing into the public. Cornell University has a good overview of the SCOTUS opinion using the Katz test (link).
In practice, you have no right to privacy while walking through a park or having a picnic on a beach, however, the restrooms or cabins at a park would establish reasonable expectations of privacy.
My summary of Katz test
This applies to the church by allowing the church to use photos of events, groups, or gathering without requiring a photo release. These are public and publicized activities, the reasonable expectation of privacy does not exist. Within this context, I will still try to confirm that everyone shown clearly is comfortable with the photo due to the previously mentioned reasons.
If someone is uncomfortable with the photo being used and it falls into a “legal to use without release” category…. I will NOT use it. Again, how is that in any way edifying to the body?
3. Commercial versus editorial usage
Unless otherwise stated somewhere here, it is assumed that a church will fall under the “editorial use” of most media. To qualify as editorial use the media may not be sold to a third party. The photo or video may not be used for “profit”.
For most of the “normal” church photo usage, the editorial usage rules will cover the church legally. Things such as a photo gallery of events on the website or in a bulletin insert, these do not directly drive profit gains. In this normal use case, no release is needed under the editorial rules.
Some of the waters get murky when discussing the definition of content usage for fundraisers or a new giving initiative. These could be argued as being for profit, although the church as a whole is a 503(c) non-profit entity. I try to avoid this altogether and just get the release.
As a rule of thumb if ANY money is changing hands, GET A RELEASE!
4. Minors
ALWAYS get a release for any photo of minors!
Anyone under the age of 18 without formal emancipation paperwork in the United States is to be considered a minor in the eyes of the law. This means they have no legal standing. All paperwork, forms, or contracts bust be signed on their behalf by a parent or guardian.
I would strongly encourage all communication to include the aforementioned guardian to assure there is little to no communication and logistical oversight.
Ethical
The ethical dilemmas will arise if you work in the media ministries long enough. You will get the perfect shot, but for some reason, it “shouldn’t be” used, whether it is a release, consent, or age issue. Just return to the question “does this honor Christ”. If there is an ethical dilemma then the answer is almost always NO!
As previously mentioned there are some potentially serious safety concerns for church members if their photo is improperly displayed. While not all people in your church have a direct impending target on them, in today’s world privacy-minded people are becoming more common. If for any reason a person is visible in a photo I will try to get a release signed. If for any reason someone doesn’t want to have their image used, I will not use it. There is not a single photo ever taken that would be worth the alienation of a member of the Body of Christ and the disparagement of the Gospel.
Logistical
1. Shooting everything
We always encourage the media team to “Get me MORE”!!! All of our staff and volunteers are told to shoot anything and everything, allowing me the opportunity to “cull the herd”. If I find a photo or video that we want to use, I will assure you that the above considerations are weighed and implemented as needed.
It is much easier to figure out a release form than trying to stage and reshoot the perfect shot.
Tech-Tip:
After every photo session, we have the team transfer all photos and videos to our systems and then format the used memory cards. This allows us to protect, organize, and delete media as necessary. Without this, many photos will, (and in the past HAVE) ended up on social media without permission or warnings. This is unacceptable to the attendees of any service or event. We try to honor the privacy requests and considerations of all our members and guests as a top priority.
2. How to get photo approval
After the downloading and first-pass organization of myself or another media leader, we begin the “release hunt”.
- First, if the photo in question needs a release per the above considerations, we will try and contact the person in person. Usually, we do this on Sunday morning or during one of our mid-week services. We have had much better success with face-to-face release forms than any other method.
- Second, we will usually go through the appropriate small group leader to have them “ask and get the signature”.
- Third and worst option we will resort to email. This is fine for some people but inevitably will lead to a technical support issue until the person just says “forget it”.
3. How to get the forms signed
We get forms signed in a variety of different ways. Mostly we will use a printed form and have them sign a general photo release for any and all media used by the church. This is great because it limits the number of forms we will need to keep track of.
Email signatures via a third party would be great! BUT… we can’t afford it. For the limited number of times, we would use it throughout the year, we can’t justify the costs. So we result in the “print it out and sign it, and PLEASE RETURN IT” method.
4. How to maintain forms
As you can imagine the number of release forms has grown steadily along with our congregation and outreach efforts. This has lead to an entire filing cabinet being filled with just various media releases throughout the years.
Recently we went through and scanned and named every form in that hateful cabinet. Now we can search via a person’s name to see if they have a release in a matter of seconds, compared to the half-hour or so it used to take. Also with only a few exceptions, every member of our church has a media release signed!
Ask me how we do it… go on, ask.
5. Adding photo/video release to membership form
Part of our membership application process is the inclusion of a clause for media release. This is not a mandatory factor in the inclusion of the new member-to-be in the church.
Having this on the application allows us to talk about media usage and give due consideration to any concerns a new member may have on their inclusion in our media endeavors. This then allows us to place that new member seamlessly into the general pool of people who are allowed to be included or to place that person on our “no-go” list for media.
In summary
If you are ever unsure, get a release signed. The vast majority of people have no issues with the photos or videos being used for church purposed. Most are flattered to be included on the website or social media post. But we have had a few cases where the usage of a person’s likeness may have actually been a case of life and death. So please be respectful of the church body.
FREE DOWNLOADABLE PHOTO RELEASE TEMPLATE
or CLICK HERE to download a pdf version of a photo release template. Feel free to alter and use as much as you’d like.
