Get broader legal support around your model release form

It is commonly used by photographers, videographers, agencies, production teams, event organisers, brands and content creators who plan to use a person's image, likeness or recorded appearance beyond a purely private setting. That might include advertising, social content, website use, portfolio use, promotional campaigns or ongoing brand assets. The service is especially helpful where the material may be reused later, adapted across channels, or captured in a setting where the intended use is broader than a one-off post. In those cases, the wording of the release can matter a lot.

Problems often arise when the person later objects to how their image is used, says the use went beyond what they agreed to, or disputes whether the content can stay online, be used in advertising, or be repurposed for future campaigns. Issues can also come up around minors, sensitive subject matter, heavily edited content or use in a different commercial context from the original shoot. A release form will not solve every issue on its own, but it can provide a clearer record of consent, usage scope and any limits that were agreed.

Alongside drafting or reviewing the model release form, we help identify the practical points that should be reflected in the document for your project. That can include who is granting consent, what content is covered, whether the use is promotional or editorial, whether future reuse is intended, and whether there are any approval steps or restrictions to record. We can also review an existing form you have been given and explain where the wording may be too narrow, too broad or missing important detail for the planned use.

Templates can be useful for simple shoots, but they often assume a narrow use case and may not match the way content is actually captured and reused in practice. For example, a generic form may not deal well with campaign reuse, social cut-downs, paid advertising, cross-platform publication, agency-client arrangements or specific approval expectations. If the content has commercial value or may be used over time, a tailored form is usually the safer option. It gives you wording that better matches the project rather than relying on broad assumptions.

No. This service covers the release form and related legal guidance, not the separate process of obtaining regulator approval, platform approval or other third-party clearance. If your project touches an area where outside approval matters, approval depends on the relevant regulator or authority. If regulator or authority requirements affect your matter, we will talk you through the practical next steps. so those steps may affect your wider production schedule. We can help you understand where the document fits, but third-party decisions and ongoing representation are not included in the fixed-fee.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Model Release Form service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.