I’ve been confronted with it now several times.
After uploading an image with a model in it to a stock agency, WITH model release, I received a message that the image was rejected because the model release didn’t have the signature of a witness.
One of the images happened to be of my better half walking on the beach. We were on the beach pretty much by ourselves, and certainly not in the position to ask any of the other early walkers to come and co-sign my better half’s model release.
So what to do?
Well, they said. Just get someone over (it can be any time, doesn’t have to be at the time you shoot the picture) and have them co-sign it.
So for all you co-photographers out there who weren’t familiar with this: make sure you have someone co-sign the model release as a witness, otherwise your images will be no-good for stock photography.
No. And it’s not something a stock agency would be able to check, anyway, but if you’re doing for example a shoot in a mall, see if you can get the friend of the person you’re shooting to “co-sign”. For minors you need a parent or parental guide to sign anyway, so that’d be your witness.
So just to be clear…The witness does not need to be present at time of signing?
I would have been happy to ask one of the handsome surfers at La Jolla beach to be my witness. ;c)