Release Guidelines

Photography and filming on campus 

See below for general guidelines developed by staff in Purdue Marketing and Communications and the Office of the Registrar. If your college, school or program has established more stringent requirements than what is listed here, you should observe your area’s requirements.  

  • Campus exteriors are public-access spaces. When filming video or shooting photos, there should be no issues for your shoots.  
  • When shooting interiors of academic buildings on campus, building deputies should be notified. 
  • When using video/photographs of individuals in your promotional materials and media, it is important to consider if a release/consent form from the photograph’s subjects/models is required before the photograph is published or otherwise made publicly available.  

When a release is not typically required 

A release is generally not required if students or others are: 

  • The person being photographed while smiling; is posing for the camera; has direct knowledge of being photographed; or is part of the shoot, verbally consenting, with their own free will. 
  • Photographed in a public space or at public events where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, including but not limited to: sporting events, Boiler Gold Rush, Spring Fest and concerts. These types of photographs include general campus scene photos. 
  • The primary focus of a video/photograph taken in a non-public environment and are not recognizable, such as when a silhouette, rearview or out-of-focus shot is taken. 
  • Purdue faculty or staff. 
  • Invited to attend a group activity/event and chose to participate of their own free will. 
  • In a classroom or lab environment where the video/photography has been requested by the faculty member, department, college or other appropriate agent of the University.   

When a release is typically required 

A release is generally required if students or others (except Purdue faculty/staff) are: 

  • Minors. It is important to obtain a signed release for minors. Exceptions may include: public events, such as Spring Fest and athletic events. In the absence of a signed release, verbal permission from the parent or guardian is advised. 
  • Current students, identifiable and in a location for a specific purpose other than being photographed. For example, if a group of current students is studying in a Purdue library and you want to take a photograph of the group studying, a release/consent form or verbal consent should be obtained from each subject/model. 
  • The subject of candid shots in areas where one has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as inside PUSH, the Purdue Pharmacy, Steer Clinic(s) and classrooms. 

As a courtesy to subjects/models, you are encouraged to obtain at least verbal consent in instances where an individual can be identified and is the primary focus of a specific photograph. 

A sample release form is available from Purdue Marketing and Communications. 

Rights of use 

In the spirit of being collegial and as a contractual stance, Purdue Marketing and Communications maintains the following policy regarding rights of use for photography and videography. 

Photography and videography produced by Purdue Marketing and Communications 

It is Purdue Marketing and Communications policy that exclusive rights for all photography/videography commissioned by its University clients for a project will stay with said client until project completion/delivery. Following completion, images and footage will be filed into the departmental digital assets database and are available for fair use by all University entities. 

Photography and videography produced by hired strategic sources 

Agreement Term No. 7 — Rights in the Work Product: Purdue University shall have full, unrestricted use rights to any Work Product produced by (strategic source name) under this Agreement, and (strategic source name) agrees that such Work Product shall be deemed a “work made for hire.” (Strategic source name) will execute any necessary confirmatory assignments to Purdue to effectuate the foregoing. “Work Product” is defined as all data, documentation, software, information or other deliverable, in whatever form, produced or created by (strategic source name) in the performance of work or the rendition of services under this Agreement. Note: Per University and departmental policy, (strategic source name) will utilize the University’s official photo release form and obtain signatures from all subjects featured in Photographic Work Product. 

Existing photography and videography in the Purdue Marketing archives 

Purdue Marketing and Communications will maintain a current, public gallery of no-cost photos and video footage for University entities. Assets not residing in this public gallery are still available for use by University entities, but a per-hour cost will be assessed for retrieval and preparation of files for sharing. 

Note: Clients with a desire to maintain exclusive rights of its photo and video assets should seek, with the assistance of Purdue Marketing, the services of an outside vendor that is vetted with the University’s procurement office. 

Closed Captioning Policy 

Closed captioning (CC) is the client’s responsibility, and we offer CC as a service Marketing and Communications can provide. We use 3Play Media for CC and, moving forward, will include this cost on all video estimates as a line item. The charge is $2.50/minute. 

For more information about our web accessibility policy, see the University policies regarding equal access and opportunity.