31-Defamatory

You're doing a brochure for an alcoholism treatment program. You take a picture of a 45 year-old man off a royalty-free disc and put him under the headline, "Two Quarts of Vodka a day-- And Still Ticking."

Or you're doing a magazine article about incontinence in the elderly.

Or the headline of your ad is, "Only a Guy this Stupid Wouldn't Buy our Product."

Would these uses be covered by a signed release? Maybe. But in many cases, they absolutely would not be covered. (Again, we're going to avoid the legal mumbo-jumbo, but this has to do with fundamental legal principles that say that a person cannot "sign away" basic rights-- such as the right not to be humiliated.)

This, incidentally, is why the fine print of almost every royalty-free disc will specifically exclude use that is libelous or defamatory to the models.

Do not assume that a model-release will cover your use if that use could conceivably leave the model open to humiliation or libel.

What should you do? Contact the agency and have them negotiate with the models to sign another release for your specific usage. Or go to a different picture that does not have recognizable models in it.