When shooting in public places where there are many people (outdoors on campus, downtown Iowa City, concerts, sporting events, etc.) it is not plausible to obtain signed consent forms for individuals being photographed/filmed.  

For intentionally planned or staged photo/video shoots involving student participants and/or volunteers (e.g. for marketing or promotional applications), our policy and practice in OSC is to get their permission in the form of a signed release/consent form.

Consent and Release Form for Minor

Consent and Release Form for Adults

In addition to obtaining a signed release form, it is best practice to verbally set fair and realistic expectations with participants around the usage of the photography/videography, along these general lines:

• Communicate clearly with the subject(s) that photography/videography might be shared with multiple areas and departments on campus and that the imagery captured may appear in publications (print/web/social) associated with those departments.
• Participation in a photo/video shoot does not guarantee that a given student will appear in any specific publication.
• In the event that the university decides to feature an individual student prominently in marketing (e.g. on the university homepage, a magazine cover, etc.), it is our policy to make reasonable efforts to notify those featured before publication.

Many colleges, departments, and units at Iowa regularly create videos and livestream events that are available for viewing by audiences outside the university. But did you know that captioning is required for all university-created public-facing content? 

Use this guide to learn more about the importance of captions and how to implement them. 

Captioning Guide for Public-facing Content

Note: "Public-facing" content is broadly defined as content available to audiences outside the university. This does not include academic or course material content.