My girlfriend recently saw a photographic book that features a portrait of her taken when she was 5 or 6 years old on the front cover. She’s sitting on her grandmother’s lap on a bus in Liverpool…

She first heard about the book during a television program on the photographer and various photographs of her and family members were shown in a slide show.

I’m not sure how this works in the UK, but should she or her grandmother been asked to sign release forms by the photographer for the purpose of his book or not?

I know I certainly don’t go around with release forms, but if I were to one day publish a book should the photo’s contained within be signed off?

Can someone advise me on whether I should be asking people to sign forms as part of my normal daily “street” photo’s?

I know it might sound silly, but I don’t know about UK or international ‘photographic laws’ and if there are any, I’d really like to keep myself up to date.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks