I thought I would post this here, as I don't know where it would fit in.

As most of you aware I take lots of images of my children, and I have a signed release for both of them. My children's father is the witness on both releases, however since our split up we dont really see eye to eye much these days, Anyway he is now demanding I remove all images of my children from stock sites, or he will contact them and demand that they do. He claims that I am exploiting my children, and this has really upset me. Can he force me to do this?

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I'm not a lawyer, but i think he can yes. For children pictures both parents need to agree and sign the model release to be valid. Unless one of the parents is dead.
I think you better seek professional advice on this.

Patrick.

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Ayesha,

From a legal point of view you have nothing to worry about, a model release in UK law is worth as much as the paper it's written on, it is just a business agreement between the model and the photographer as to the use of the photographs, it is NOT a legal contract however it is a legal agreement (there is a difference), it is there to protect you should there be any disagreement as to the images use at a later date.

Also a model release only requires one parent to sign it not two, and have a witness to the signatures which can be anybody.

So in essence - No he can not force you to remove the images from stock sites.

However from a practical point of view should he contact any of the stock sites I have no doubt that they'll remove them as quick as a flash, they are paranoid about this sort of thing and won't care or be prepared to look into any legal issues, to be fair it's easier and cheaper for them just to delete a few photo's than it is to take a stand.

It sounds to me like he's just trying to be awkward, out of interest does he know which sites you sell on and under what username?

Good luck whatever happens.

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Richard

My hunch is that Richard is right based on a few observances from when my kids were growing up (they are 25 and 21 now).

Here in the States, only one parent's signature is required for releases schools have parents sign granting permission for children to be photographed by the school or the press when they are participating in school activities and then used for publication. I would imagine it's the same in the UK, and the same rules apply for model releases.

On a personal level, after my ex and I split up, about a year later my son went to live with his dad while my daughter stayed with me. Never did either one of us have to provide an additional signature on school releases for photos. One parent's signature was sufficient.

Their father is probably just being a bugger and trying to get under your skin by issuing threats. Mine did the same kind of crap after we split up. Don't let it get to you. More than likely he won't follow through, but do check with your attorney just in case he decides to. Ask him what you can do to protect yourself in case he did decide to contact the agencies, because what you are trying to protect is a source of income that supports your children.

Perhaps personally contacting known reps of the agencies before he does would be beneficial, too. Give them a heads up and find out how they will handle it. I know LuckyO would step up and act on your behalf, so I'm pretty sure the others would, too. Just gotta get to them before he does.

Hang in there, Kiddo. We're here if you need anything.

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