Biggest SHOCK of the day!

[Name]

The photographer does own the copyright, always will(unless they have some contract with someone that expressly gives the other person or entity the copyright). Model releases are necessary to cover the photographer from lawsuits pertaining to the use of the image of a person, its basically a way for the photographer to cover their arse in case the subject of the image decides they don't want their image to be published. The photograper can argue in court that they have a release signed by the model.

The paparazzies generally shoot in public area's, out in the street and use teh guise of "journalism" to make it unneccessary for model releases. Even teh shots of "celebrities" in private places are generally shot from a public location to allow them to keep this blanket of "journalism" intact.

Just my thoughts on the subject, none have been researched at teh time of posting, but were researched at an earlier date and were pulled from my memory for teh purposes of posting. Some inaccuracies may be included in this posting due to memory lapse.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Name

The paparazzies generally shoot in public area's, out in the street and use teh guise of "journalism" to make it unneccessary for model releases. Even teh shots of "celebrities" in private places are generally shot from a public location to allow them to keep this blanket of "journalism" intact.

Yes, the photographer has a lot of rights if they are in a public place and the subject is in view.

This is kind of a tangent, but it highlights how the subject has little rights. There was a case a few years back of a couple that was successfully convicted for corruption of a minor. Why? Well, for some reason (I don't remember the full setup, something about she had seen the couple having sex through their window and wanted to teach her son and them a lesson or some such rot) while the couple was having sex in their own bedroom with the door mostly closed, she brough her son to a place in their yard where they could see them through the window and in their bathroom mirror and proceeded to film them. And instead of this weirdo being convicted of invasion of privacy, this couple was given community service for having sex in their own bedroom.

So yeah, if the photographer is in a public place, they've got the rights.