Posting Photos of Teenagers?

steoc

Hi all,
I was asked to take photos of a teenage disco last Friday.
The event organizers wanted me to cover various shots of acts that he had on for the evening.
e.g a fire eater out side while the teenagers waited to get in.
also they had jugglers,dancers and zombies on stilts inside. They also wanted photos of the Dj.
During the evening the teenagers keep asking for their photo to be taken which i did.
Now my problem is if it is a problem...
I gave all the images to the events people (over 200 images) which they then posted on facebook. I was surprised that they posted the photos of the teenagers and a lot of them where dressed emm kinda raunchy if you know what i mean. The ages are from 13-16.
Do you think it was ok to post them? I didnt watermark any of the images?
But they did mention my name as the photographer.
I see a lot of the teenagers used their photos for profile pictures ect.
Is it a greay area?
Should i have watermarked the images?
What do you guys think?
Thanks for taking the time to read.
Steoc.

Biggins

I would suggest watermarking them. At least if they show up on other sites (some of dubious nature, if some kids are looking under dressed) you might be able to show they are yours and (hopefully) get them removed.

Antomus Prime

OP Was it a paid gig?

steoc

Yeah they paid me a small fee.
€50 for 3 hours at the venue and what ever time to put images to disk.
Who owns the images now? Can the events people sell them to the kids if they wanted to buy them?
In years to come they would be good to look back on.

smash

You still own the images unless you signed a contract to hand over the copyright to them.

Antomus Prime

As Smash said unless you signed the photos over to them then you are still the owner! They paid you for your time, not your product.

magicbastarder

afaik contract can be implied; it doesn't have to be written.
so if they contract you in to do a job, it can be argued that you are taking photographs for them, so the photos are theirs.

steoc

No contract
A lot of the kids have tagged the images on facebook even some have requested to be friends
After seeing the images on facebook i know i should have put some kind of watermark on. You never know some one might like copies?
Anyway i was mainly concerned about any issues that might arise regarding the images on facebook. Would Mammys and Daddys crack up seeing their babies dressed and posing like that?
Maybe im just getting old?

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

afaik contract can be implied; it doesn't have to be written.
so if they contract you in to do a job, it can be argued that you are taking photographs for them, so the photos are theirs.

i'm trying to find where i read this, so take with usual pinch of salt till confirmed.

ozymandius

There is a very good document available from the Arts Council (PDF) - "Guidelines for taking and using images of children in the arts sector" - highly recommended reading.

In a nutshell 'children' (under 18s) should be asked for consent and informed of the purpose of any pictures that are taken. Probably parental consent is also required. The organizers have a duty of care too.

The whole area of child welfare is a minefield and organizers of teenage discos should know better.

steoc

Thanks for comments.
Thats the thing i dont think i would have posted the images myself...?
And i realy like a lot of the images the youngsters were good crack and really enjoyed getting their photo taken.
If there was any trouble with parents who would get in trouble...
The photographer or the events people for posting?

PCPhoto

if a parent has issues they should contact the organiser/facebook page

however as the photographer you may be associated with the event - the kids will know it was you so if daddy isn't happy with his princess looking like a slut in her leopard print mini skirt and little white t-shirt.... he may well be blaming you !!

Paulw

ozymandius wrote: »

There is a very good document available from the Arts Council (PDF) - "Guidelines for taking and using images of children in the arts sector" - highly recommended reading.

In a nutshell 'children' (under 18s) should be asked for consent and informed of the purpose of any pictures that are taken. Probably parental consent is also required. The organizers have a duty of care too.

Those are only guidelines.

As it says in the article itself -

The legal context
Other than the provisions contained in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Acts 1998/2004, which contain specific provisions on the exploitation of children, there is no specific legal constraint on taking photographs or recording visual material with children and young people.

I wouldn't worry about parental consent. The event organisers should have considered that.

CabanSail

You took the images so you own the copyright. There are exceptions to this but I doubt it applies here. You were not an employee etc.

The Disco has paid to "use" these images. The terms of that use would depend on the content of the contract. I know that you did not have one but what was discussed prior to the shoot?

Unless there was an expectation of Privacy and you had permisssion from the owner then you are fine. If a parent has a problem with the attire it is between them and their child.

ozymandius

Paulw wrote: »

Those are only guidelines.

As it says in the article itself -

The legal context
Other than the provisions contained in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Acts 1998/2004, which contain specific provisions on the exploitation of children, there is no specific legal constraint on taking photographs or recording visual material with children and young people.

I wouldn't worry about parental consent. The event organisers should have considered that.

I wouldn't dismiss them as only guidelines. They are based on best practice in this area. People need guidance as evidenced by this discussion.

Also, there is a distinction between taking and using. The DPA, right to privacy, any Child Welfare Policy in place and duty of care would apply to use of images by the organizers.

However, I don't think the OP should have any concerns here. His initial concern was inappropriate use and being held responsible.

steoc wrote:

Anyway i was mainly concerned about any issues that might arise regarding the images on facebook. Would Mammys and Daddys crack up seeing their babies dressed and posing like that?

But in my opinion it is the event organizers who appear to have fallen below what is expected here.

AnCatDubh

with a bit of luck and reasonable probability there won't be anything arising from the publishing of the images by the third party organisers. I'd suggest if doing it again, have a written contract to fall back upon with the organisers such that you'd not be considered an accessory to any issue which might arise should they publish the images.

Only guessing, but if someone wanted to then in your present circumstance you are personally wide open to accusation of association with the act of publishing online. Whether it would stand or not would be a different matter and what it would mean is unclear.

Again, luck and probability would suggest that nothing may come from it, but once bitten, etc.....

steoc

I have been asked to do it again they are having 2 more discos with the run up to Christmas.
Ill have to have a good chat with them about it. Thanks all for taking the time to comments.