Wah she is getting more publicity than she has ask for she is
featured in todays Newpaper
YOU'RE a model. You do a photo shoot.
After that, you sign some papers involving the pictures'
copyright.
It's something called a model release agreement.
What it does is spell out the terms and conditions for the use of
your pictures.
You think that's that.
But weeks, months or even years later, you see your pictures in a
publication you didn't expect the pictures to end up in.
You're shocked. How could they? Especially when you've never given
them permission to use the pictures?
That's the situation Singaporean freelance model Nikki found
herself in.
POSTER GIRL
Nikki, who's the poster girl for an ongoing Aids awareness campaign
by Action for Aids (AFA), got an SMS from a friend on Tuesday noon
alerting her that she had made it to the cover of this month's
Maxim magazine (above).
'I thought he was kidding. I thought 'How could it be? I never did
any shoots for them',' said Nikki, 23.
She asked us not to reveal her real name, but to use the name she
goes by in the AFA campaign, which encourages people to call a
hotline containing a safe-sex message.
Nikki's case highlights the issue facing models: How much control
do models have over their pictures?
Just two days ago, The New Paper ran a report on Russian tennis
star Anastasia Myskina, 24, who sued unsuccessfully when a Russian
magazine published topless pictures she said were meant for
'private use' only.
She said she had agreed to the pictures on the condition that they
would never see the light of day, but the US judge ruled that the
verbal assurance she says the photographer gave her did not
override the release form she signed.
Nikki, too, was unhappy that her photos were splashed in a
five-page photo spread because she said she wasn't informed about
it nor had she given her approval.
But AFA, which spoke on behalf of PR agency Weber Shandwick and
advertising agency Foote Cone & Belding (FCB), said Nikki had
signed a model release agreement which allows AFA to use her
photographs and any campaign material in part or whole in
connection with the campaign.
Maxim also says it has no responsibility to inform her because the
magazine had obtained the photos from FCB, which is the proper
channel.
Still, Nikki, who's studying accountancy in a private school, said
she's peeved.
'It's very shocking to wake up one day and find that you're the
cover girl for a men's magazine,' she said.
She complained that in the AFA campaign, the photos were cropped or
hidden by text to cover some 'over-revealing' parts but the
magazine didn't do so.
She also took issue with the quotes that accompanied her pictures,
saying: 'The quotes made it seem like I'm their model and had posed
and spoken to them. But I didn't do so.'
She said she had contacted lawyer Thomas Tham from Thomas Tham
& Co to seek legal advice.
She has also obtained a copy of the model release agreement, signed
last November with Shooting Gallery Productions - a photography
studio engaged by FCB to shoot her photos.
She showed us the agreement but refused to give us a copy, saying
it was private.
Her agreement said that her photos were meant for the AFA
campaign.
'This is a men's magazine and the photo spread is not really
related to the Aids-awareness campaign,' she insisted.
But AFA disagreed, saying that the Maxim article was part of AFA's
ongoing Aids awareness campaign...............
