Model releases: Why this stuff matters:

If you think buying a "royalty-free" picture relieves you of any liability for model-release issues, you are wrong.

If there is a problem and a lawsuit ensues, the plaintiff (model) will cast a "wide umbrella" and the people with the "deep-pockets" (and that will most certainly be your client, and probably you) are most vulnerable.

How serious an issue is this? In America it is a fundamental, constitutional right of privacy. You absolutely cannot use a person's likeness for commercial purposes without express, written permission to do so-- in the form of a model release. (And not just any "release". The documentation must be solid and "perfected". See If a model release exists-- is it solid and "perfected"?) There are similar restrictions throughout the world.

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