Here's a short comment (a friend of mine sent this to me) from the website of a professional American photojournalist named Rob Miracle... Model Releases/Permission Another common question comes up is the question of what permission do I need to take or publish a photograph. Rules vary by country, but in the United States, as a rule of thumb, if you are taking a photograph for editorial purposes, such as for a news paper, or to document a story, you do not need releases. However, if the image is going to be used in an advertisement, you have to have a signed release by everyone identifiable in the photograph. Thus if you shoot the beginning of the Boston Marathon and you get the opportunity to sell the shot to Nike for a shoe ad, every runner you can see in the photo has to sign a release. The release for children is similar to the one for adults, but it written so that an adult can sign for the child. Any private property in the photograph must also be released for commercial work. On the bright side, we are journalists, and 99% of what we shoot does not need a release.