Property release needed for purchased prepared foods?

[MariaJ]

Hi, I'm pretty new to this and want to make sure I have things right regarding the need for property releases.

 

I have a photo of a lovely birthday cake which was purchased at the grocery store's bakery.  As it was designed and created by the bakers in the store, would it require a property release to be an RF image?

 

And in general, for photos of any prepared foods and beverages - purchased either in stores or in restaurants - do they need property releases?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Vlad]

I'm not a lawyer, but yes, as long as the producer has been "creative". You have the same problem even with buildings! And not only for RF, same for RM if the buyer will use it for advertising etc.

 

To be on the safe side you will have to bake your own cakes and food and don't make them similar to creative ones for magazines, stores etc. 

[MariaJ]

Thanks Vlad.  Could the store bought cake (or other type of food) be used as RM with restrictions against advertising and consumer use?

[Nick Jenkins]

If you state it NEEDS a release for commercial use but you don't have one then you can tag it as RM - you have stated already you don't have one so the purchaser of the repro rights will be aware of that already. (or should be).

nj

[Ed Rooney]

I must agree, Vlad—you are not a lawyer. Nor do you think like a lawyer. Did you know that the ASMP here in the States have never been involved in a case concerning a property release? And you want Maria to worry about a property release on a piece of long-digested cake? You have elevated nonsense to a new level.

[JohnB]

If it's some sort of designer cake - the sort of thing Jane Asher does then it certainly would need a release. If it's a straight forward Victoria sponge with no distinguishing features then you probably wouldn't need one. I would err on the side of safety. If some other bakery used the image and it turned out it did have some kind of distinguishing feature you never know.  I declared ASDA cream horns as needing a release. If I hadn't and I'd seen them on the side of a Tescos van I'd have worried about it.

[Ed Endicott]

Sometimes a cake is just a cake. 

 

As long as you've taken it out of the box so there are no visible name brand tags (i.e. Kroger, Safeway, etc.) then you should be OK. 

 

As has been mentioned if it's something specifically designed for a purposes (as an example an elaborate wedding cake specifically designed for an occasion where the designer can identify it as one of their own), then there MIGHT be an issue.

[Ed Rooney]

If it's some sort of designer cake - the sort of thing Jane Asher does then it certainly would need a release. If it's a straight forward Victoria sponge with no distinguishing features then you probably wouldn't need one. I would err on the side of safety. If some other bakery used the image and it turned out it did have some kind of distinguishing feature you never know.  I declared ASDA cream horns as needing a release. If I hadn't and I'd seen them on the side of a Tescos van I'd have worried about it.

 

I agree with most of the specific, special points you are making, John. But none of that is what Maria was asking, and none of it was mentioned in Vlad's advice. No, I don't think it would be a good idea to snap an image of a pie next to the box it came in with the baker's name printed on the box.

 

Vlad says: "To be on the safe side you will have to bake your own cakes and food and don't make them similar to creative ones for magazines, stores etc." Following this kind of thinking, we will soon find ourselves without a single "safe" subject to photograph. Hey, Maria---what about those strawberries you have in your collection? Did you grow them yourself? Oh oh. 

 

Added: Ah, Ed Endicott, a voice of reason at last.

[MariaJ]

Thanks Nick, Ed R, John, and Ed E. for your further comments on the issue.  From what I'm gathering then, as long as the cake (or any other food item) isn't really distinguishable from those made elsewhere I don't need to worry about property releases. Or indicating that a property release would be required.  Is that correct?   

 

I have seen images in some contributor's collections that have been taken in restaurants with the restaurant identified in the description.  So that is OK as long as it's noted that you don't have the required property release for such, and it's automatically assigned to be RM, right?

 

Thanks again for helping me sort this out.  Fortunately most of the food images I've taken have been of my own creation so I won't need to worry about those.