child photos taken at school

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

My son's school had a new "spring photo" offering this year. Outside of teh usually fall school pictures, they offered another sitting this spring. I opted not to have them done because between school and daycare photo packets get expensive and I choose to do the yearly school photos only. My son came home today with a packet for my review. I can send them back or pay the package price for the pictures. I am upset because now I am over a barrell to buy the package, they came out really nice. (Which is why I opted out because I can never resist my childrens photos, once they are taken of course I need to buy them) I am a bit upset that they took the photos without my consent...

Is this legal? seems like a scam because of course they know parents will buy.

Willpower, you can do it. Send them back.

Cruise ships take pictures of you every day and put them out for you to hopefully buy. Amusement parks take pictures of you on the roller coaster, and hope you'll buy. Scam no, marketing yes.

I wonder if you can scan them?

George1776 said:

I wonder if you can scan them?

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That would be a violation of copyright law.

How's that lawsuit against Axe™® going?

questionforall said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

My son's school had a new "spring photo" offering this year. Outside of teh usually fall school pictures, they offered another sitting this spring. I opted not to have them done because between school and daycare photo packets get expensive and I choose to do the yearly school photos only. My son came home today with a packet for my review. I can send them back or pay the package price for the pictures. I am upset because now I am over a barrell to buy the package, they came out really nice. (Which is why I opted out because I can never resist my childrens photos, once they are taken of course I need to buy them) I am a bit upset that they took the photos without my consent...

Is this legal? seems like a scam because of course they know parents will buy.

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I do not believe for one minute that you didn't know when they were taking the photos. The school had to have made an announcement or sent home notices so parents sent the kids to school dressed really nicely that day. Because you must have known WHEN, you could very well have opted out to having the pictures taken.

Just because they took the photos does not obligate you to buy the package.

The fact that they look really nice probably makes them very appealing to you, but... JUST... SAY... NO!!!

Yeah

Thanks for the variety of replies. I know it is my choice to send them back. And No, I don't believe scanning them would be the right thing to do.

SandyClause....What you typed is my point I guess.

"I do not believe for one minute that you didn't know when they were taking the photos. The school had to have made an announcement or sent home notices so parents sent the kids to school dressed really nicely that day. Because you must have known WHEN, you could very well have opted out to having the pictures taken."


I DID get the notice, and to have your child's photos taken, the parents were to fill out the name and info for your child, including your background of choice and package preference and send it in for the picture day so that they would have the child's information..Yes of course they sent notices home. I did not want them done so I did not send in my "order form"...In my opinion this was my "opt out"....In other words I did not agree to have the pictures taken. (For the fall pictures, if a child does not have his "envelope" they do not get their pictures done, instead they get them done on "retake day" if the parent ends up sending in the envelope.

To me it's the principle of this whole thing. They did not have my consent to take these photos, I did not send in my child's info or my permission...I opted out Isn't it right to expect a photography company needs consent to take your childs picture? At my child's daycare they do pictures 3-4 times/year. I get them done once a year there as well...I can't do every sitting. The daycare photographer doesn't take pictures unless I send the order envelope that states I agreed to have them done.

And just in case anyone is wondering...I actually take thousands of pictures of my children, print photo books, have digital frames displaying photos, walls are full of pictures of my children. I love capturing their lives. After awhile and 18 years of raising children you tend to stop having them done every time a photo company comes into the schools, daycares, sporting events etc**************It gets expensive.

questionforall said:

I did not want them done so I did not send in my "order form"...In my opinion this was my "opt out"....In other words I did not agree to have the pictures taken. (For the fall pictures, if a child does not have his "envelope" they do not get their pictures done, instead they get them done on "retake day" if the parent ends up sending in the envelope.

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In your opinion. The photographer may have had a specific procedure for opting out that you did not follow.

For example, one well-known photography company has the following policy for school spring portraits (and a different policy for fall portraits):

How do I opt-out if I don’t want my child photographed?
All flyers for family approval and proof programs include opt-out information. If you do not want your child photographed, simply send a note to your child’s teacher on or before Portrait Day. Your child will not be photographed and will not receive a portrait package (Family Approval program) or proof sheet (Proof program).

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questionforall said:

Isn't it right to expect a photography company needs consent to take your childs picture?

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Consent to TAKE a photo? Not necessarily. Consent to USE the photo? That's a different question.

I have one pic of my kid and its blurry ... oh well..next life

Seriously? This isn't a hill to die on. Buy the pix or not. No one's twisting your arm. I opted out of buying my son's Senior pix - too expensive. I have enough of him.

......

Sandyclaus..I agree, maybe there was a procedure for that. I did assume if I didn't send the packet order form (like in the fall) that they would not be taken. I wonder if I still have that envelope? Will have to look.

George... you made me laugh

stealth2...Nope definitely not a hill to die on. But sparked some debate between some of my friends. As a consumer, feels like a sneaky way to make 50$ per child

I have lived in two states and found that the spring picture sessions seem to be standard. In fact, I don't even receive a packet to fill out for spring like I do for fall. My girls just come home with pics.

It is not an issue for me. If I like them, I buy, if not, I send them back. It is not worth my time to fight this "system". My children are not being hurt and my rights are not being violated. Yes, it is a money making ploy - but don't we get hit with those types of things constandly from one source or another?

Tampa girl

questionforall said:

Thanks for the variety of replies. I know it is my choice to send them back. And No, I don't believe scanning them would be the right thing to do.

SandyClause....What you typed is my point I guess.

"I do not believe for one minute that you didn't know when they were taking the photos. The school had to have made an announcement or sent home notices so parents sent the kids to school dressed really nicely that day. Because you must have known WHEN, you could very well have opted out to having the pictures taken."


I DID get the notice, and to have your child's photos taken, the parents were to fill out the name and info for your child, including your background of choice and package preference and send it in for the picture day so that they would have the child's information..Yes of course they sent notices home. I did not want them done so I did not send in my "order form"...In my opinion this was my "opt out"....In other words I did not agree to have the pictures taken. (For the fall pictures, if a child does not have his "envelope" they do not get their pictures done, instead they get them done on "retake day" if the parent ends up sending in the envelope.

To me it's the principle of this whole thing. They did not have my consent to take these photos, I did not send in my child's info or my permission...I opted out Isn't it right to expect a photography company needs consent to take your childs picture? At my child's daycare they do pictures 3-4 times/year. I get them done once a year there as well...I can't do every sitting. The daycare photographer doesn't take pictures unless I send the order envelope that states I agreed to have them done.

And just in case anyone is wondering...I actually take thousands of pictures of my children, print photo books, have digital frames displaying photos, walls are full of pictures of my children. I love capturing their lives. After awhile and 18 years of raising children you tend to stop having them done every time a photo company comes into the schools, daycares, sporting events etc**************It gets expensive.

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Well... if you do decide to scan images (even though it violates copyright) at least make sure they look good. The problem with scans is you always, always, always, no matter how hard you try, get dust on the picture or dust on the scanning surface. It always shows in the scanned image, no matter what you do to prevent it.

Fear not, though, because Polaroid made one of the coolest little programs ever, Polaroid's Dust and Scratch Removal Utility. Now Polaroid doesn't support it any longer, and you can't find it on their website, but... for today, at no extra charge... here's how to order: http://classic-web.archive.org/web/*/www.polaroid.com/service/software/poladsr/pdsr1_0.exe]Internet Archive Wayback Machine[/B] This will remove dust and scratches like magic! I use it for all my document scans to clean them up before sending.