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Page 9 of 9 MORE INTERNET MODEL RELEASE MYTHSDoctors, lawyers, accountants, dentists, engineers and countless other occupations require both formal training and the obtaining of a license demonstrating a level of competency in a chosen profession. Unsubstantiated professional advice cannot be dispensed by these professionals with impunity. Thanks to both the First Amendment and the Internet, bloggers need not be educated, trained, tested, vetted or even proficient in the use of the English language. The sole requirement each must possess is the ability to use a keyboard. Thanks to the proliferation of uninformed photo bloggers, there is no shortage of aggrieved, troubled or broke photographers and illustrators at our office door or attending our seminars. Such bloggers drive more paying business to lawyers than they could ever imagine. We write this post by popular demand as the uninformed bloggers continue to multiply. So here is yet another in our never-ending series on model release myths. Bloggers perpetuate these myths and photographers, prone to accept the unvetted anecdotal experiences of their non-lawyer comrades, vacuum these myths up generating more business for lawyers and thinning the ranks of professional photographers. My wife says I should thank the bloggers and she thinks me an idiot for writing this post. She says we need a new washer/dryer. Thanks to the legions of photo bloggers, the following myths are currently floating around the internet. It may surprise you that some of their respective authors are also trying to sell you their books on the topic of model releases. Most disputes never go to court. This factoid is intended to give you peace of mind. It is, as one blogger says, “to put you at ease”. Let’s dissect the phrase “go to court”. If the author means “actual trial to verdict” – then the statement is accurate. The reason why relatively few such cases are tried to verdict is that the law is so clear, so very crystal clear, that typically the only issue at play is who is going to pay and how much is to be paid. Clear cases get settled. Settled cases do not for the most part, become public. Just because a case was not tried, one would be foolish to assume that lawyers were not paid (lots) and parties including photographers did not have to go into their savings to pay claimants. Cases where liability is not crystal clear are the types of cases that require the time, money and efforts of judges and juries. Model release cases are generally easy and are thus typically settled at some point well prior to trial and occasionally during trial. Such results are not “officially reported.” It is generally accepted by the legal community that approximately 95% of all filed cases of all kinds are settled or terminated without resort to trial. Unlike most lawsuits, the winners and losers in model release cases are easy to predict. Predictable results create settlements. If the blogger using the phrase “go to court” is referring to the service of papers and the filing of a lawsuit, then the blogger’s views are even more dangerous to your financial health. No blogger can offer any statistical or empirical evidence to back up such a ridiculous statement. No national court or lawyer service keeps any such statistics as to do so would be impossible. There is no Elias Sports Bureau to verify or discredit such a statement. If a blogger wants to put you “at ease” about how these cases “don’t go to court,” offer the blogger a written contract wherein he/she will agree to indemnify you from all legal fees, judgments and costs incurred by you as a result of your strictly adhering to his/her advice. Not gonna happen is it? “99% of these claims are without merit.” On what empirical data, statistics or legal study(s) can such a claim be based? How would anyone be able to determine the veracity of such a statement? One cannot. It is simple to make claims which cannot be supported or contradicted by the use of replicable data. The scientific method cannot be applied here because all claims are not public nor are the results/fate of such claims public record. It would be impossible to determine what percentage of such claims has “merit”. The statement is vague and unverifiable. My own opinion is that 99% of those people who are partial to the color lavender are really swell people. Prove me wrong. The following can easily be verified, by referencing third party source materials and empirical data:
Now I know that some bloggers claim as much as 5 or 6 years “experience” in model release issues. None of that time was spent in law school. While I would hate to cut into their book sales, their advice is largely absurd, unverifiable and if accepted blindly by you, dangerous to your bottom line. Jack Reznicki and I will be addressing many, many more such bloggers’ blunders in Las Vegas in September at the PhotoShop World Conference. Your questions will be welcomed and we would love to meet you there – even the bloggers. None of you should accept blindly anything that I have written here. You could do as Mr. Berra suggests and “look it up,” or you can follow my oft-repeated suggestion from the sainted President Reagan, "Trust, but verify."
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