I am volunteering (it's only a volunteer job but I want to try to get my name out there)to be the event photographer for the Morale Welfafe & Recreation division on the Army base here in Baumholder, Germany. I have a shoot coming up of Scott Stapp (X-Lead Singer of Creed) and his new band. It is a free concert for soldiers and their families. I asked the the guy in charge of MWR on the post who will own the rights to the photos and he told me that I will as the photographer. My question is, do I need Scott Strap to sign a release for to be able to list any of the photos of the band for sale on my site?
I'm not an expert on this topic but I would guess that you would not need a release as it is a public performance by a celebrity/public figure type person in a setting where it would be expected that pictures would be taken. I am sure others will chime in here with more informed information.
I asked the the guy in charge of MWR on the post who will own the rights to the photos and he told me that I will as the photographer.
You say right there you don't own the rights to the images. So you can't sell them - anyplace, or even use them in your portfolio without the permission of the rights holder.
You can shoot the pictures and being that he's a public figure, you can use them for any kind of editorial use. This means web page and portfolio. You can not use them for any kind of monetary gain without his approval. Basically a signed release.
One thing to be careful of, is big people like that may have licensing agreements as part of their performance contracts, and any 'money' to be made has to go through them so they can get their cut.
Haha, that I would think would be the wrost thing to do.
Hey Scott, nice to meet you, im gonna take your picture, and oh hey, do you mind if I sell these so I can get some loot off of you doing a free concert for soldiers?
If you're in the service, and you're authorized by the base commander to take pictures, the band will have NO say what you do with them. They're there by permission, and they must abide by the base rules set forth in their agreement. Only if there's any special considerations, which would likely only be provisions for them to have their photographer have permission to be there might you not be able to not own the images.
And since he said that you'd own them, it sounds like a done deal to me. Good luck and happy shooting!
