Release form?

[poker]

PJ got me hooked on the idea for journalism. I had the pleasure of shooting some of the video from the last PMA. I recently did a little video from the E3 Expo and now I'll be shooting video for an Expo this weekend.

I was wondering if I needed release forms signed for every interview. It will only be shown on YouTube.

[jetrim]

Poker,
The purpose of release forms centers around "use". When a photo is used in such a way as to suggest someone is endorsing a product or service, a release is critical, but for a strictly editorial piece (I.E. an interview where they state their own opinions) it appears from everything I've read, not to be required. I'm NOT a lawyer, so this is NOT legal advice, and my personal opinion is that if you can get a release, you're better protected in the case where some interviewee changes their mind later; but as long as you're not using these for any reason beyond reporting news of an event, you're probably OK without.

Since getting the ipad, I've installed an app called "easyrelease" which I've found to be awesome - digital release they sign with their finger which gets e-mailed out as a PDF that you can drop into the same folder as the images from the shoot. It also allows me to keep a whole array of different types of releases on hand for specific types of shoots (including property releases for cars, airplanes, houses, etc)

[poker]

Thanks for your response! That easy release app sounds interesting. I don't have an IPad though. I just got my wife the Iphoe 4 but I'm not allowed to use it. Hahahaha...

I read some fine print from the event and it appears that attends are to be expected to be recorded without compensation for the purpose of promoting and reporting the event by authorized individuals. This gave me some peace of mind.