Hey guys--I think I'm about to enter a legal quagmire of sorts. I'm about to start filming a doc in Oregon and part of my shooting will be at the local high school. I have the cooperation of the school district and of course will get signed releases for anyone I interview directly on camera (I assume their parents will need to sign if they are under age?). Will I have to do the same, get releases, for anyone who appears on camera, though? Here I mean just basic b-roll, where kids may be identifiable but will not be interviewed or talking on camera. I think I know the answer to this, yes, but I'm just wondering if there's any smart way I can get around this. I'm familiar with the posting signs method but of course these are minors so I"m not sure it'd work with them. Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Peter

Some schools I have worked with have blanket exemptions signed at the beginning of each school year. That's probably too much to hope for. I would consult with the school districts attorneys and go with their decision.

Thanks Jeff, great suggestion. Now I will keep my fingers crossed...

Peter,

When dealing with minors, you need to get their parents to sign a release.

No exceptions.

Thanks Richard. Do the students also have to sign, or just the parent/legal guardian?

Peter

Here is my experience. I was shooting for a school. Early on I gave the administrators release forms to be sent home with the students of the classes where I was shooting. (My project was specific to two grades so there was no issue of the school at large.) The releases were never sent out, the project wrapped up and I held my breath. So far no problems. I was being paid by the school. I had provided them with release forms, so I figured it was more their problem than mine. (I know that is wishful thinking, but so be it.)

This year I understand that video and photography release forms are included in the yearly enrollment package along with imunizationand all the other forms to be signed and sent back.

Be sure to check with the school administrators. Many, if not most schools these days include releases like the school I worked for now does. If the school you are shootiing in does not, attempt to get signed releases from the parents, not the students, of everyone who is the focus of the shoot. Students in the background will probably be less of a problem (though anyone can sue anyone for anything.)

As long as you work closely with the school adminstrators, act in good faith and do all you can to get releases, there shouldn't be problems.

Thanks for the advice Rick. Checking with the administrators will definitely be my first step. Beyond that I will probably do as you suggest and just send home releases with parents and cross my fingers that they come back.

Here's another idea that I had, just to make this whole thing easier: taking Polaroids of a person when I get their release and stapling it to the release--this will make identifying them in footage a lot easier so I know who I can and cannot use. Anybody else have any tricks like this that they use? Thanks,

Peter

If the project is for the school then you shouldn't need anybodies permission other than the schools. The general release of the students going to school should cover that area. I know that mine did because we always had photographers at the school taking pictures for the school to advertise and use in promotions.

Other than that get permission from all adults responsible. Otherwise they can at anytime sue you/company. Oh. Make sure the student doesn't forge their parents signature.lol I know that will be hard to check but still. Maybe ask for the forms to be handed out during an assembly.

Rob:D

Thanks Robert. The doc will not be for the school, but thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely be wary of forged signatures, though, so thanks for the heads up. What exactly is my recourse here? Am I basically SOL if the sig is forged? I don't imagine this being an issue, but just in case...

Peter

There got to be some sense of fairness here though, if the release is signed, outside of getting the darn thing notorized, why would it be your responsibility to check if the signatures were forged. I don't think there is a jury/judge that will find you liable if some kid forged a signature, unless you forged it...:) I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.

Thats what I was thinking/hoping Garrett. I don't see how I can be expected to verify all these releases. Does anyone know the rules on this?

Peter

Just spoke with an attorney and emphasizing that this is not legal advice to you or anyone else who reads this. The facts we spoke about was of a hypothetical matter not your specific incident. You should always consult an attorney regarding any legal concerns that you may have. I also would like to clear up that I am not an attorney and is not soliciting or offering to give you legal advice in any way. In other words this is for entertainment purposes and for the purpose of an educational debate.

If a waiver is forged then technically there is no release or waiver. With that said you do stand the risk of being sued. Since you will be the own who would benefit the most from infringing on their rights regardless of the innocence of your intentions are. But then again they may not sue, you may not want to lose sleep over it.

Thanks Garrett. That is what I was assuming/fearing. Honestly I'm not too worried about this, but as we all know we live in a very litigous society so I figure it's best to protect myself as best as possible. I will probably just go to the school first and see what they say, and then break out the releases...

Peter

May I also say what a great forum this is! In the course of a few hours I have gotten a lot of really great advice (that of course is not legally binding) from you guys. Thanks for helping me out and I hope to repay the favor in the future.

Peter

Peter,
Do you have a company? Is this company personally tied to you? If so you might want to think about creating a LLC that way you will be treated as a seperate entity. So they cannot come after your personal property if they do wish to sue. Just a though. Other than that I wish you luck. Also you might want to check out a documentary that was done back in the 60's called High School. Well I think that is what it was called. Maybe something else with 60's or so. If anyone knows and has seen it what a great film. Maybe they can give you the title.

Rob:D

Hi Rob--I don't have a company. I investigated forming one and am certainly familiar with the advantages, but quite frankly just making this movie is more than enough for my brain right now. Depending on how things go I may form one in the future, though, so I appreciate the suggestion. I will look for the film to which you refer. I'm in LA right now, anybody know fo a good video rental place that carries a lot of docs? Thanks!

Peter

BTW advantage for forming a company. Almost everything can be written off. That way you can personally claim a loss and end up paying no taxes. It can work like that sometimes depending on the year. Once your done you should look into forming a business.

Rob:D

Thanks for the suggestion, Rob. Can I still write off equipment on my personal taxes (assuming I didn't form a company) and claim them as a business expense? Thanks.

Peter

The company has to be your name. which if you do treat yourself as a company then you can. It then just falls under schedule C of taxes on your 1040 with depreciable property on 4865 form I think. Cant remember, it all went bye bye from this last tax season. Just remember to keep all receipts. You can deduct 100% of travel 50% of food and entertainment. Remember if you do call your company other than your full name you need to register with the state.


Rob:D

I would still goto the states website and look up the information anyways. I can't remember it all.

Maybe on eof the fine attorney's on this board can clarify the legality of sole proprietorship and taxes. I'll talk to one of the transactional (corporate) types tomorrow get get a better answer, but my understanding is that your sole proprietorship can be under a different name or you can always do a DBA doing business as, the advantage of using your name is that you do not have to file a fictious name statement in the paper, I think, again I will check this out. Another thing, don't be fooled by LLC's LLP's and INC. and S corps, there are other pluses and minus that are associated with these and that the laws are different regarding these types of companies in different state. The first thing a a good attorney would do would be to try to "pierce or veil" by finding anyway or reason that you did not treat the company as an LLC, etc and boom they go after your first born. Each type of comapny also are taxed differently, etc.

We've gone a little off topic here. Much of the forming a business is covered in the FAQ and several recent posts. If you have a question not covered, please post a new topic. Thanks.

Thanks for the advice guys. Forming a sole propietorship is something I'm considering. In Oregon it's fairly easy, from what I have gathered on the Oregon Business website which is very helpful. The one thing I do need to investigate is how taxes change if I do this, but I will probably consult an accountant in Oregon regarding this. I am definitely keeping ALL receipts, though, for when the big day comes.

Peter