Who should sign a permission form?

• ALL subjects or talent participating in photo or video shoots or in audio recordings need to sign a release form—no matter the purpose of the project (PR, marketing, editorial, magazine, etc.). This does not apply to group photos taken at public events or in public spaces (see that section below).
• And when we say all, that means FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS, and ALUMNI too.
• Occasionally, you may work with donors, pro athletes, celebrities, politicians or other VIPs who have their own contract guidelines and stipulations. They do NOT need to complete our form.
• If a subject younger than 18 is involved, the form needs to be signed by a parent/guardian. 

What type of projects might require we use permission forms?

• Project for which you are taking photos or video of people or recording them for something like a podcast. See a broad list of samples here.

What should they sign?

• UMC’s master release Form A is designed to work for nearly all situations and can be modified for your college or departmental needs. This form is designated for participants who are not compensated.
• If you are compensating a participant, please use Form B.

How do participants sign?

• The easiest way to manage the forms is digitally. We advise using an app on a phone or tablet that people can use to sign digitally, and then automatically emails them and the photographer/videographer a copy of the signed form. We recommend the app Easy Release.
• All U employees have access to Adobe Sign through Adobe Creative Cloud. This is also an easy way to have forms signed digitally through email.
• When you are in a situation where you need to use print forms, be sure to scan them after they are signed so they can be digitally archived.
• There is no legal requirement that you provide participants with a printed copy of the signed permission form. But you may let them know they can contact you or someone from your team for a copy after it’s been digitized.

How/where should we store the forms?

• Come up with a clear and organized way to digitally file the forms. Consider a shared drive or a Box folder. That way if your computer is lost, broken or stolen you will still be able to access the forms. Consider saving the digital release form in the same folder as the images/videos.
• Save with full names, dates, or other descriptors easy to identify later.
• Decide on an organizational system that is easy to search if needed (date, project name, alphabetical, etc.).

 What if someone doesn’t agree to what’s on the form?

• You may modify ahead of time to meet their terms.
• Or questions are raised on location, you may make a note or cross out certain text and ask the signee to initial that area. This may be harder on an app, phone, or iPad, but is still possible.
• Depending on the stipulations, make sure the photos or video footage are handled accordingly. For example, if someone only gives permission for a certain use, note that in the files and folders themselves (metadata) and do not add the images to a public server for others to access.

 How long is the permission good for?

• The permission form attached in this document does not have an expiration date.

 Can a participant who has signed the form revoke permission later?

• Permissions are irrevocable so subjects cannot revoke the permission later. (This protects you from having to track down something already printed and distributed).
• If, however, someone wants to remove his or her photos from a collection going forward, the ethical and polite thing to do is to accommodate the request even if legally it isn’t required under terms of the release.

 What if we hire a freelancer?

• You should provide the freelancer with the permission forms or get them signed in advance. It would also be advisable to share these guidelines with freelancers.
• Freelancers should use our permission form, not their own.

 If we photograph someone for shoot A, and then again months or years later for shoot B, do we need a form for each time?

• The new form doesn’t limit permission to a specific project so you could use photos from shoot A for any other project in the future, but if you take new pictures (shoot B), you should you get a new signed permission form to cover the new shoot.
• As noted above, forms should be saved in same folder as individual photo shoots.

Outside Requests for Taking Photos or Videos on Campus

• If you are a member of the media or represent a non-university entity interested in taking video or photographs on the University of Utah campus properties or in campus buildings, please contact Heather King with your request at heather.king@utah.edu.
• If you would like to make a drone flight request over campus properties, click here.