property release Oxford

[Flick Merauld]

Hi everyone, I live in Oxford and many of my photos are taken there (I'm gradually uploading to Alamy). I can't get a clear answer either from Alamy support or online, as to whether I need a property release for photos taken round the city, given that almost every photo taken in the centre will include at least one college facade taken from the street. Each college is privately owned, at least by a faculty, yet the colleges make up the city scape in the centre of Oxford. This also includes St Mary's church on the high street, the Martyrs Memorial and many other buildings and landmarks. Anyone know the answer please? Especially contributors living in Oxford. I've looked at the many photos of Oxford on Alamy and have yet to see a property release mentioned (I might have missed it!), but I'm wary of trusting what may be lack of awareness on the part of the contributors of those photos.

Similarly, do I need property release for residential narrowboats on the river?

Flick

Edited November 4, 2023 by Flick Merauld

[Flick Merauld]

Well, thank you everyone for your help and advice. Even though I have permission to use them, I've taken down the interior shots of the Radcliffe Camera, just in case I've been wrongly advised. It's a minefield, and I guess I'll be sticking to editorial only. 

[Steve F]

2 minutes ago, Flick Merauld said:

Even though I have permission to use them, I've taken down the interior shots of the Radcliffe Camera, just in case I've been wrongly advised.

 

Have you got written permission? If so, leave them up.

[Flick Merauld]

3 minutes ago, Steve F said:

 

Have you got written permission? If so, leave them up.

 

It was via email, so I'm not happy about it. I'm thinking now that the person who gave me permission may not have known what she was saying. I did a free workshop around the Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera, in exchange for which the Bodleian could use my images for marketing - it was an opportunity to see inside parts of Oxford I've never been in. I'm checking with her to make sure. 

[Mr Standfast]

Some further clarity here

 

https://ablog.wpengine.com/search/Property+releases

Edited November 7, 2023 by Mr Standfast

[geogphotos]

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IMAGES

Public Affairs Directorate 
University of Oxford 
University Offices 
Oxford OX1 2JD 
E: ouimages@admin.ox.ac.uk

 

 

https://www.images.ox.ac.uk

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by geogphotos

[Steve F]

5 minutes ago, Flick Merauld said:

It was via email, so I'm not happy about it.

 

Hi Flick.

Email is a perfectly valid form of written permission - almost all company communications with clients etc. are by email and are counted as 'writing' for legal purposes.

 

6 minutes ago, Flick Merauld said:

the person who gave me permission may not have known what she was saying

 

doesn't matter if they work for the organisation.

 

I would leave your pictures up and not asking clarifying questions. You have come to an agreement with the Radcliffe camera and upheld your part of the agreement. Leave the pictures up, don't worry about it.

[Flick Merauld]

Thanks again everyone. 

[Flick Merauld]

13 minutes ago, Steve F said:

 

Hi Flick.

Email is a perfectly valid form of written permission - almost all company communications with clients etc. are by email and are counted as 'writing' for legal purposes.

 

 

doesn't matter if they work for the organisation.

 

I would leave your pictures up and not asking clarifying questions. You have come to an agreement with the Radcliffe camera and upheld your part of the agreement. Leave the pictures up, don't worry about it.

I've since had further clarification. She made a mistake. I don't want to get her into trouble, so I've taken the images down. It's a shame, but it's only three pics.  

[Harry Harrison]

I've never been a buyer so it's not clear whether at some stage buyers are told whether you, as the contributor, think an image contains property but unless you have stated that you have a property release the default that the buyer sees is always that there are no property releases. The same goes for model releases, the buyer will see that there are no model releases unless you say you have one, although unlike property buyers can at least search by the number of people but this only works if you have actually entered how many people in Optional, even if there are no people. The download csv doesn't reflect this subtle difference when there are no people and no property even though the database 'knows' as this is how it determines which go into Vital and which stay in Uncut.

 

Personally I think the 'tip of the finger' stuff is only relevant if you are selling for commercial use and you have model releases so the buyer can weigh up how many model releases might be required. I suspect that if necessary they'd get rid of that finger tip with a couple of clicks anyway.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Harry Harrison

[Steve F]

2 minutes ago, Flick Merauld said:

I've since had further clarification. She made a mistake. I don't want to get her into trouble, so I've taken the images down. It's a shame, but it's only three pics.  

 

Oh well. I've never obtained a property release. I occasionally license images used for marketing purposes. But Alamy is primarily an editorial agency - no releases needed for editorial.

[Inchiquin]

3 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

 

 

I suspect that if necessary they'd get rid of that finger tip with a couple of clicks anyway.

 

 

Indeed. My comment was purely for illustrative purposes (no pun intended).

 

Alan

[Flick Merauld]

This has been an informative and useful discussion. Every day's a school day it seems

[Harry Harrison]

5 minutes ago, Inchiquin said:

My comment was purely for illustrative purposes (no pun intended).

Yes, sorry, didn't mean to seem to be getting at you, just that the 'finger tip' example if often used. I also ponder about how many people there are but since I never have model releases and say as much in Optional, I reckon that buyer's are genuinely searching for how many actual obvious people there are, if they search that way at all.

[Mr Standfast]

47 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IMAGES

Public Affairs Directorate 
University of Oxford 
University Offices 
Oxford OX1 2JD 
E: ouimages@admin.ox.ac.uk

 

 

https://www.images.ox.ac.uk

 

A few duds in there...

[Charles Stirling]

One aspect to property releases I'm never sure about is who has authority to assign rights. If a building is the the mortgage company, the householder, the architect, lodger, husband and wife, etc. I gather if its a car it could need to be a factory designer not the “owner”. A bit like buying a painting now, the original artist still has some control.
Makes rights management seem virtually impossible to handle as a lone freelance photographer.

[Flick Merauld]

17 minutes ago, Charles Stirling said:

One aspect to property releases I'm never sure about is who has authority to assign rights. If a building is the the mortgage company, the householder, the architect, lodger, husband and wife, etc. I gather if its a car it could need to be a factory designer not the “owner”. A bit like buying a painting now, the original artist still has some control.
Makes rights management seem virtually impossible to handle as a lone freelance photographer.

I don't know either. but it's certainly very tight. Even graffiti is property (unless you're a local authority wanting to remove it!)

[Inchiquin]

22 hours ago, Harry Harrison said:

 

Yes, sorry, didn't mean to seem to be getting at you

 

 

No worries, I've been around online forums for long enough (crikey - nearly 40 years!) to know that people commenting on my posts are not getting at me.

 

Alan