Image rights

Publication consent

Last updated 27 October 2026

A document separate from the quote, signed before any photograph is published on this site or on social media. It explains what is permitted, what is not, and how to change your mind.

1. Why this document is necessary

French law protects each person’s image independently of the photographer’s copyright. Article 9 of the French civil code provides that everyone has a right to respect for their private life; articles 226-1 and 226-2 of the French criminal code punish the distribution, without consent, of an image of a person in a private place.

The GDPR adds to this: a photograph that allows a person to be identified is personal data. Its publication relies on consent (article 6.1.a), which must be as easy to withdraw as it was to give (article 7.3).

Oral consent is hard to prove. That is why the authorisation is written, dated, signed, and kept by the photographer.

2. What the authorisation covers

It applies only to the uses ticked on the form. Each box corresponds to one specific use:

• The photographer’s website — the gallery and the presentation pages;
• The photographer’s social accounts — publication on their professional accounts, with credit;
• Portfolio and private presentation to clients — private use, by appointment, without public distribution;
• Press and editorial publication — article, magazine, book;
• Exhibition — public display, including in a cultural venue;
• Photographic competition — presentation of the image to a jury and, where applicable, publication by the organiser.

No use left unticked is authorised, even if it appears close to one that is.

3. What the authorisation does not cover

• Sale, rental or transfer of the image to a third party;
• advertising or commercial use for a brand, product or service, which requires a separate contract and, as a rule, payment;
• any montage, retouching or cropping that changes the meaning of the image;
• any context likely to harm the person’s reputation, private life or dignity: health, religion, political opinions, intimate life, legal situation, financial hardship;
• use of the image to illustrate a statement it does not make, or to suggest an affiliation that does not exist.

The authorisation transfers no copyright: the photographer remains the author of the image and keeps both moral and economic rights.

4. Duration, territory and withdrawal

The duration and territory are written on the form. Failing that, the authorisation is valid for five years and worldwide.

It may be withdrawn at any time, without justification, through the contact form or by post. It takes effect immediately: the photograph is removed from the site and from any media still controlled by the photographer within a maximum of seven working days. Images already printed (album, print, book) cannot be physically recalled; they are no longer reprinted or redistributed.

Proof of the authorisation is kept while the image is published, then for five years after withdrawal, to show that the publication was lawful at the time it took place.

5. Minors

For a person under fifteen, the authorisation is signed by the holder or holders of parental authority. Where both parents exercise it jointly, both signatures are requested: this avoids a later disagreement making the publication contestable.

For a minor aged fifteen or over, their written consent is collected in addition to their parents’. The photographer may refuse a publication that does not appear protective of the child.

6. Guests, teams and audiences

At a wedding, a party or an event, many people appear in the background. The photographer publishes an image in which a third party is identifiable only with that person’s agreement, or where the image does not allow them to be recognised individually.

For a business assignment, the consent of the employee photographed is required: the employer cannot consent on their behalf. The photographer then provides one form per person where needed.

The client organising the event informs guests that a photographer will be present, and tells the photographer about anyone who does not wish to be photographed.

7. How to complete and return it

1. Print the form below, or copy it onto plain paper with the same wording.
2. Tick only the uses you accept: a refusal affects neither the assignment nor the delivery of the photographs.
3. Sign and date, writing “read and approved” before the signature.
4. Send a legible photo or scan through the contact form, or hand it to the photographer in person.

The photographer keeps one signed copy; a copy is given to the person concerned on request.

9. Your rights

You may ask for a copy of the authorisation, for its withdrawal, or for the deletion of photographs showing you. The rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection are set out in the privacy policy. A complaint may be made to the CNIL, the French data protection authority.