Internet Publishing & Photo Model Release and Permission
The Catholic Committee on Scouting and Camp Fire for the Diocese of Arlington maintains a World Wide Web site for purposes of publicizing its Catholic Scouting program. The following paragraph contains the committee’s policy statement regarding photographs on its World Wide Web Site: "Although the committee encourages use of photographs and illustrations to graphically depict the excitement and adventure involved in Catholic Scouting, the committee is sensitive to concerns about publishing photographs of individuals, especially youths, in any medium. Therefore, photos of group scenes wherein faces and unique identifying characteristics are not readily distinguishable are preferred. If a photo depicting a person’s face or unique identifying characteristics is published, it should not include names, and it may only be published after the individual has granted written permission by signing a model release." The committee has adopted this policy because of the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts USA concerns about child abuse in general, and specifically because of the possibility that a child abuser could find a photograph on the Internet, be attracted to the subject of the photo, and engage or attempt to engage in harassment, stalking, or abuse. The committee considers this possibility unlikely, and considers that a photograph published on the Internet is little different than one published in a newspaper, magazine, or brochure. However, we are concerned for the safety and well being of our Catholic Scouts above all else, and wish parents to be able to make informed decisions.
Permission Statement
I hereby certify that I have read the Diocese of Arlington's Catholic Committee on Scouting and Camp Fire(CCoS) policy statement, understand the issues involved, and willingly grant permission for the attached photograph to be published on (check all that apply):
[ ] Release to newspapers [ ] Release to this publication ______________________
The photograph(s) depicts _____________________________________________(name), involved in ______________________________________________________________(activity), at _____________________________________________________________(location and date).
I also understand that if I decide to recant this permission, I may do so at any time by simply sending electronic mail to CCoS Webmaster. The photograph will then be removed from the Web site as soon as possible.
__________________________________________________________________/_____________
Signature (parent or guardian) Date