Do I have any rights to pictures taken of me by a photographer?

[Melanie]

I hired a photographer for an engagement shoot. We've gotten all of our proofs and prints back, but do I have any more say with the pictures? or does he have the freedom to use them as advertisements, website, facebook, etc.?

[Portable app freak]

he isn't allowed to use your face in anything without your permission

[john]

since you hired him. they are your pictures.

unless you signed something somewhere that says otherwise

[Nicholas]

All depends on the release... if you signed a release that states that he has rights to the photos then yes he can do whatever he pleases with them as long as it doesn't cause any emotional distress (example: cut your face out and place it on the body of a nude person giving the impression that you are in the nude or involved in something discriminatory) if you didn't sign a release then he has NO rights to the photos but if he did the photo shoot for free he may be able to sue you on something called "consideration"

"Consideration: is the central concept in the common law of contracts and is required, in most cases, for a contract to be enforceable. Consideration is the price one pays for another's promise. It can take a number of forms: money, property, a promise, the doing of an act."

Normal talk.. lol he provided a service (promise), and your end of the deal is ??? (the fee for his promise)... whether that fee is rights to the pictures or money.. courts will say nothing is free... and there is the "consideration"...

[Tom]

Legally, he needs your permission to publish (show) them. Some photographers have this agreement (model release) in their sales agreement.

On the other hand, the photographers own the copyrights to the images as they created. It is not legal for you to reproduce/copy them w/o permission (copyright release).

[οίνου]

did you sign a model release? if not then they have no rights to publish, if you have what did the release say?

[fade2blak80]

His only restriction regarding usage is commercially.

He actually owns the photos and can do pretty much whatever he wants outside of using them for monetary gain.

That's assuming that you didn't sign a model release. If you signed a model release he can pretty much make a billboard with it if he wants.

[Tim]

As long as he took them with your permission and isn't selling them then they are his to do what he wants. But he can't sell them unless he has a model release.

[photog]

In the UK (the US is similar) within the copyright act clause 85.(private and domestic purposes)
which states

A person who for private and domestic purposes commissions the taking of a photograph or the making of a film has, where copyright subsists in the resulting work, the right not to have-

(a) copies of the work issued to the public,

(b) the work exhibited or shown in public, or

© the work broadcast or included in a cable programme service;



This means that those pictures, although the copyright still belongs to the photographer, they cannot without permission use the photographs for advertising or public display.

The vast majority of wedding and portrait photographers will have a clause in their terms and conditions which will say something like "you agree that the photographer can use the photographers for display, competition and advertising of the photographers business"

Make sure you read the terms carefully and if you do not want your shots used for anything then tell the photographer.

Again, unless there is something in writing which states otherwise, you are not allowed to do anything with the pictures you have either.
So you are not allowed to put them on facebook or the like without their permission.