TNS Releases Best Practices:
Signing, Labeling, & Storage
Why do we need Releases?
The Office of the General Counsel, working with M&C, has created a new set of releases for photography and videos promoting the university.
These new releases, which have been reviewed and approved by the Office of the General Counsel, should be used by everyone in every college and area of the university. They are designed to offer our community guidance and to protect the university.
Release forms are necessary to proceed with any recorded materials, whether it be photography, video, social media, live or recorded events, etc. Materials that have not been properly released will not be able to be distributed on any university-affiliated channels or spaces including the Digital Asset Library (DAL), YouTube, etc.
Events
- Locations outside The New School must be released
- Crowd release notices must posted
- Language for registration link must be added: By attending this event, you acknowledge that The New School may take photos or videos of participants that could be used in advertising and other promotional materials, whether in print, electronic, or other media.
- Individuals performing must be released.
- Students presenting work must sign a student release form
- Individuals posing for/small groups of individuals should be released
Marketing and Promotional Video/Photo Shoots
- Locations outside The New School must be released.
- Crowd notices must be distributed and hung in general locations to inform passersby or crowds that their likeness may be captured.
- All individuals who are included in any video/photo shoot must be released
- Student work must be released to be featured
- Individuals posing for/small groups of individuals should be released
Communicating the release terms to your subjects, speakers, participants, and attendees is essential so they fully understand how the university distributes photography, video, live streams, recordings, and other materials.
Each team is responsible for collecting and storing releases for its projects. Event coordinators, Content Producers, and Project Managers must retain a copy of all releases and be ready to pull them up as necessary.
Should any questions arise concerning the specific nature of your event or shoot and the language on the event release form, please contact the university’s General Counsel office at contracts@newschool.edu and notify the Digital Content team at digitalcontent@newschool.edu.
Where to Find Releases?
You can find PDF blank releases here:
Appearance Releases: A grant of rights for a filmed or photographed personal appearance, a waiver of privacy and publicity rights, and a release of legal claims relating to the commercial, promotional, or other public use of the resulting audiovisual work. This appearance release also covers permission to use student work. All captured student work must be released and appropriately accredited for storage and use. Please log the title of the student’s work, the student’s name, and the class affiliated, if applicable, in a spreadsheet or on the release itself.
Crowd Releases: A crowd release is a notice or form that informs people that they may be photographed, recorded, or filmed and that the images may be used in specific ways. Crowd releases are often used in situations where it's not possible to get every person in the crowd to sign a release form.
Location Releases: A location release is a legal document that permits a filmmaker, photographer, or media producer to film or take photos on private property for commercial purposes. It's a written agreement between the property owner and the production company that outlines the terms and conditions of the production. All University spaces are considered public spaces except for classrooms, dorms, and restrooms. At all events that take place in these locations, a crowd release notice must be used for any and all photography and videography capture for marketing purposes; personal appearance releases are not required.
How to get Releases Signed?
You have three options for how to get Releases signed.
- You can get signatures by emailing blank PDF releases to your subjects for them to sign and return before your shoot day. Once you receive the signed PDF releases, you can file them digitally. This is the recommended method for collecting signatures.
- You can get signatures by having your subjects sign blank paper copies of the PDF releases in person. This requires that you bring blank releases, ensure that your subject signs them, and be responsible for the safekeeping and filing of the releases after the shoot.
- You can get signatures by having your subjects sign the releases digitally via your own program like DocuSign or JotForm. This requires you to ensure the digital forms include all areas related to the PDF versions of the releases, confirm that your subject signs them, and be responsible for correctly exporting and filing the releases after the shoot.
What to do with Digitally Signed Releases?
Once you have received PDFs of your digitally signed releases (either from email correspondence or DocuSign Export), you must name and store them appropriately.
Releases must be named per our Deliverable and Nomenclature Standards: Firstname_lastname.
*We recommend exporting the releases with the correct naming convention; otherwise, you must rename them all individually before storage.
These releases will need to be stored in two places.
- All Project-related releases must be stored in the corresponding project folder. A standard workflow is to store the releases on the physical hard drive, where media is stored until moving to a server or cloud-based storage space.
- All Project-related releases must be backed up onto your corresponding project folder on Google Drive and linked to a project-specific Releases Organization spreadsheet. A template is provided here: RELEASES ORGANIZATION TEMPLATE. This spreadsheet is helpful because it allows project managers and producers to search for releases quickly. Similarly, this spreadsheet will be required for submission to the Digital Asset Library (DAL). Please adhere to the rules provided in the organization template. The release and spreadsheet organizing folders must be in a project-specific folder on Google Drive.
How to get Physical Releases Signed?
You should have an individual designated to collect signed releases on set successfully. This will likely be a producer or project manager. Please ensure that the individuals collecting signed releases know they are responsible for providing blank releases, gathering signatures from all parties involved, and appropriately storing releases.
We recommend scanning releases at convenient moments on set using a scanning app (like Adobe Scan or Dropbox) to back them up for emergencies.
Any location, individual, or piece of student work visible on camera must be released. Crowd Notices should be put up to communicate to crowds and passing individuals that their likeness may be captured.
We recommend taking a photo of the Crowd Notice in a prominent location to ensure that it is readable by passersby.
What to do with Physically Signed Releases?
Once releases are physically signed on set, please scan them on set or soon after. Then, move the scanned releases to a safe physical filing space until the end of the shoot and then house them in your department's release repository.
At the end of the shoot, please ensure that all Releases have been scanned. Once you have digital copies of releases, please see the What to do with Digitally Signed Releases? Section above and complete those steps.
Where are Releases Stored When the Content is Finished?
In conclusion, after a project has been completed and content is in its final hosting place, releases should be held in 3 different places:
- The physical location where your department holds your paper releases.
- A departmental hard drive or Server Space.
- The Google Drive where digital releases are stored for easy cataloging and retrieval.