I love this quote from Kenneth (212);The hunky model with eight-pack abs is suing a gay men's magazine and a Manhattan fashion photographer for bringing him unwanted male attention by publishing a "cruel and vulgar" picture of him nearly in the buff.
The sizzling snapshot listed his first name, where he lives and provided viewers an online avenue to reach Massing - subjecting him, the lawsuit says, to advances from strangers who "solicit him for homosexual sex."
The invasion of privacy suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says Massing wanted the pictures for his portfolio - and never expected Day to peddle them to a magazine that made him look "lustful and sexually promiscuous."
Maybe if "straight" model Benjamin Massing didn't go around yanking on his skimpy undies with those bedroom eyes then the "gays" wouldn't be so inclined to make him seem so "lustful and sexually promiscuous." Read the full story HERE. (Bottom line: did he sign a release or not?) And believe me, this is real. I once had a douche bag of a model demand that a photographer who had given me pics he had taken of him get me to take them down. You know what a stigma homosexuality is in the fashion industry ...Its funny that you don't hear gay models complainting when they have to photo shoot with women, ruining thier careers, so you. I think this is just a PR stunt, also if he signed a release without reading the fine print then its his fault. However I personally don't think those photos harmed his career, I wonder how many job he got after those photos were published...
here is something to read about contracts
What should a Model Release form include and what should beemphasized in it, in order to defend the model's rights?
Models, especially when they are just starting out, often feel intimidated. They fear that if they question the slightest thing in a model release, they will not get the job, more work, or be branded as being trouble. The problem is, if a model simply signs whatever she is given to sign, it will almost certainly favor the photographer and the client and take away almost every right a model may have to prevent the photos of her from being misused.
While it is true that a photographer needs some leeway, if you give an unscrupulous photographer the right to do anything he or she may conceive of doing with their photos of you, they may just use them in a very offensive way, and there is little a model can do to know what is in the mind or heart of a photographer he or she has just met.
Models who are just starting out rarely have confidence in any clout they may have. However, if the client or the photographer has selected you from all the other models they could have chosen, you may have more clout than you realize. And if you are willing to sign away every right you have in your images, you are in the wrong business to begin with.
People will tell you that only as you become more in demand that you can demand your fees for only certain uses of your images and allow their use for a limited amount of time. But it is at the very start of your career that you are most vulnerable to having your images being misused and if they are misused, you may find your career ending before it’s begun. Be prepared to see this type of term in a model release, and to either run from the building, have it altered, or accept the consequences that may result from agreeing to: “I hereby release, discharge and save harmless the photographer or any other person distributing the finished product, even if the finished product is distorted, blurred, altered or used in such a way, intentionally or otherwise, or used in any manner such as to subject me to scandal, scorn, indignity or ridicule and waive any right to approve any use of the finished photograph or its use.”
On the other hand, a photographer must be allowed to enlarge a negative, manipulate the photograph, convert it to digital form, use Photoshop or other software to enhance the quality of the photograph. While it is difficult to obtain the right to approve the uses of the photographs taken of you, you can limit the uses by excluding those uses that would be harmful to your career or reputation. If you want to prevent a photographer from using the photographs in such a manner, seek a provision that in the event of intentional humiliation of you in the use of the photos by the photographer, the release will be void. Some models who are unsuccessful obtaining such provisions will at least write restrictions in the margins of releases such as, “Photos may not be used on sexually explicit web sites or pornographic materials.” Be wary of allowing any use in the release and then limiting those uses only in a separate waiver of copyright. Conflicting provisions are a nightmare for the courts to weigh.
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