"For valuable consideration"

[futurshox]

Say you have a release form (for models, property, whatever) and it usually starts "For valuable consideration received...".

What is the 'valuable consideration'? Is the photographer meant to provide some token or payment or is it just a standard bit of legalese?

For example, I want to make a book which will have photos of peoples' property in. If I post off a request to the property owners with a release form, should I enclose something? I am happy to send them an 8x10 print of the item in question but I don't know if it's expected.

Similarly, if I'm at a gathering where I may run into some owners, I won't have prints on hand but I might have some release forms. Can I give the release forms out and expect the owners to be happy?

Thanks!

[ShaneKislack]

Contracts only become contracts when both parties receive something in exchange. That something (usually money) can really be anything...which is the 'valuable consideration'. It could be one dollar or a print or a file.

The gist is that two people are entering into a contract because it benefits both parties. Keeps contracts from being one sided.

[Outlaw]

My model releases start the same way, and I always explain 'valuable consideration' as being the photographs taken. Many photogs will tell you to at least give a subject a dollar bill to make it "legal," but in nine years, I've never had any issues with this.

Client education will always be one of your best defenses against misunderstandings or contract disputes. So long as both parties explicitly understand what's going on, there should never be an issue with misgivings.

[futurshox]

Thanks chaps, that helps a lot.