Danny Barson wrote:
I worked with a model a couple of years ago, and since. And it has always been paid work. Some of the work had included nude work, in fact one of the shots won the 18+male pic of the day.
Now the model has a new job and wants me to remove all nude work, especially the one that won the comp, from here and my personal website. I have seen nude work he has done with other photographers which are still on portfolios here and other model sites.
They also appear on twitter on a regular basis.
As the shoots were all paid, I think it unfair for him to ask me to now remove these pictures, because his circumstances have changed.
I am torn as to what to do, so any help or advise would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

I too have faced something like you're experiencing, I've done any number of the following:

1. Ignore the request.
2. Offer him a buyout, requesting that he return all the money that he was paid possibly with interest to offset the time spent editing pictures you can no longer use.
3. Hold his fee to the fire reminding him he (presumably) signed a release.
4. Offer to simply not identify him as being the model in question.
5. Remove the pictures.

...depending on how nicely the person in question asks.

Danny Barson wrote:
I worked with a model a couple of years ago ...
As the shoots were all paid, I think it unfair for him to ask me to now remove these pictures, because his circumstances have changed.
I am torn as to what to do, so any help or advise would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

...  Did he sign a model release?  If not, remove the images.

...  If he did sign the release, you are within your rights to keep the images up.

...  But is that the "right" thing to do?  I'd say that since the images are a couple of years old, you have already received most of what you will get from that image.  Aren't you making better images now?

...  I assume that every model I meet will in turn talk with every potential model in the world.  What do you want this model to say about you?

...  Do you want to continue using an image of a model knowing that it is causing problems for the model?

...  Removing credits is a compromise worth considering.  But the Internet's memory is long.


Bottom Line:  You can do what you want, but I will tell you that in the past, for the couple of times I've received this request, I've taken the images down.  Twas no big deal, and my photography didn't suffer.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
...  I assume that every model I meet will in turn talk with every potential model in the world.  What do you want this model to say about you?

If this is true, which model version is the one you want to hear?

This photographer was a hard ass. He said we had a contract and I was trying to back out of it. He had the nerve to ask me to give him back his money. He was just being mean and hurtful and won't give me what I want.

or

This photographer was a total push over. Get this ..I pose nude for him a couple of times. I get paid about a grand over all of the shoots. Then I complain and tell him that I'm worried I might get fired. I ask him to take all of my picture down. Yeah right.. all of them. But get this ...he does it without a fight, he folds. Out of the kindness of his heart he says ...what a douche. Easy money is all I have to say. Go shoot with him. I highly recommend it.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
...  I assume that every model I meet will in turn talk with every potential model in the world.  What do you want this model to say about you?

I want every model to tell every other model if paid I expect them to honor their agreements.
If they want me to stop using my work they will have to refund the money I paid them.
I want everybody to know I am not a FOOL that hands out $$ for nothing !!!

Danny Barson wrote:
I worked with a model a couple of years ago, and since. And it has always been paid work. Some of the work had included nude work, in fact one of the shots won the 18+male pic of the day.
Now the model has a new job and wants me to remove all nude work, especially the one that won the comp, from here and my personal website. I have seen nude work he has done with other photographers which are still on portfolios here and other model sites.
They also appear on twitter on a regular basis.
As the shoots were all paid, I think it unfair for him to ask me to now remove these pictures, because his circumstances have changed.
I am torn as to what to do, so any help or advise would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

No one here is giving you legal advise, and I think you really should seek such advise from someone who specializes in copyright law in your country.  I do not know the copyright laws of the British government.  I am not a Barrister, but I suggest that if you can afford one or recieve some free time with one, that you go there with this question.  That said ... everything written here are opinions.

In my opinion, I would try to negotiate a deal with the model in question.  I would see if he would buy the images, or if my taking his name off would be enough to appease him.  If not, I'm not sure exactly what I'd do, but I would not be happy having to take those images down ... since it's impossible to remove the images from all servers and hard drives that may already have them stored.  It really is impossible to prevent these images from resurfacing and it would not be your fault.   You might want to consult with a barrister to better protect yourself in the future.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
...  I assume that every model I meet will in turn talk with every potential model in the world.  What do you want this model to say about you?

FilmmakerDC wrote:
If this is true, which model version is the one you want to hear?

This photographer was a hard ass. He said we had a contract and I was trying to back out of it. He had the nerve to ask me to give him back his money. He was just being mean and hurtful and won't give me what I want.

or

This photographer was a total push over. Get this ..I pose nude for him a couple of times. I get paid about a grand over all of the shoots. Then I complain and tell him that I'm worried I might get fired. I ask him to take all of my picture down. Yeah right.. all of them. But get this ...he does it without a fight, he folds. Out of the kindness of his heart he says ...what a douche. Easy money is all I have to say. Go shoot with him. I highly recommend it.

Are those my only two choices?

Let me tell you about a situation I faced.  I (attempt to) make fine art nude photos -- models posing for me know that.  They sign a model release before I make the first exposure.  They are encouraged to check out my web site.  They get paid.  I had a model who moved from the liberal Portland area to the Bible Belt.  A couple of years later, she met a guy, got engaged, and asked me to take down the pictures I had made with her.

Now, I accept voluntary donations from "patrons" on my web site, and those donations pay for modeling fees, ISP, web hosting, software upgrades, and so forth.  I typically get a surge of donations when I post a new set.  This model's set was posted a few years ago -- I figure I wasn't getting any new donations based on the images we made together.

So, I took them down; took me all of 10 minutes to do so (less time I've already spent on this reply).  I've got >10,000 images on my web site -- nobody noticed that the site "lost" a couple dozen images. 

This model was experienced & fairly smart.  She knew that I didn't have to take the images down, and she was mightily appreciative that I did.  Over the years, she's referred other models to me.  None of those models attempted to take advantage of me.

Like I said -- if the OP's guy signed a model release, the OP is within his rights to keep the images up.  What is "right" is up to the OP's moral code, and that varies from person to person.  In my case, I chose to take the images down, in large part because it didn't cost me anything.  The OP and everyone else is free to do what they want.  But in my case, being kind to a model didn't mean I was a pushover -- it meant that other potential models heard very good things about me.

Brooklyn Bridge Images wrote:
I want every model to tell every other model if paid I expect them to honor their agreements.  If they want me to stop using my work they will have to refund the money I paid them.  I want everybody to know I am not a FOOL that hands out $$ for nothing !!!

Again, if you have a signed release, you are within your rights to do whatever you want, including what you propose.

In my case, I had already profited from the pictures I made with the model -- I had more than recovered the modeling fees I paid the model.  In the small number of instances where I was faced with such a model request, most of the models did offer to refund the $$$ I paid them.  I didn't feel that I needed to do that -- I had already profited from the images.

I think many of us like working with very young, inexperienced (e.g. "cheap") models, and many of these models might learn to regret some of their youthful decisions.  In some cases, I might be inclined to hold them accountable for their decisions, but so far, I haven't felt the need to do so.

So, are you calling me a "FOOL" because I was generous to my former models?

Amber Dawn  -  Colorado wrote:
You can do the respectful thing and just remove the images OR ask the model for the money back.

Model got paid for a job -- if he wants the images removed he should at the very least be willing to recompense.

IDK what makes him think there aren't more images floating around
but at the very least I would strip the credits.

People need to think of these things before they model nude -- you can not unring that bell.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
...  Did he sign a model release?  If not, remove the images.

...  If he did sign the release, you are within your rights to keep the images up.

Releases are not a normal feature on the British legal landscape. As they are not legally required for any particular purpose many Brit photographers just don't use them at all.

There ARE reasons to use them universally including in the UK, however, a UK release has to be designed particularly and especially for use here. Very few are, and I've never found one on the Internet that is.

So, in the OP's case I suspect that there is no actual release.

Studio36

Danny Barson wrote:
The thing that is getting to me in this case, is that the male model still says on his portfolios, that he still does nude work, so is he still taking payments from other photographers, and then deciding to ask them not to use them. Other photographers also have his nude work still on their portfolios too.

It is not my intention to upset anyone, but if he still does this type of work, why should I be the one that has to remove pics.

What you have here Danny is an opening gambit to a negotiation. So negotiate!

Studio36

Danny Barson wrote:
The thing that is getting to me in this case, is that the male model still says on his portfolios, that he still does nude work, so is he still taking payments from other photographers, and then deciding to ask them not to use them. Other photographers also have his nude work still on their portfolios too.
It is not my intention to upset anyone, but if he still does this type of work, why should I be the one that has to remove pics.

This substantially undermines his credibility

If you are feeling generous, you could remove the credit, but I don't see a case for doing any more than that.

Eyesso wrote:
Well..."legally" you own the rights to the photo.  You paid for them. 

But....if he is being respectful, and you are a gentleman, then you might consider the bigger picture.  He will never get all of his photos off the internet.  He should have considered that. 

Nevertheless....you have 333 photos, lots of good work.  I can't even begin to guess which one is the photo in question, so having it absent from your portfolio probably won't matter much. 

A fair trade....if HE is going to be absent from your portfolio, then you'll need money to hire a new model to replace him.  Ask him to refund the amount that you paid him, since he is essentially asking for the right to the pictures back.  Then hire a new model with that money and do your thing.

This would seem to me to be the best solution, providing at least an element of fairness coupled with a pretty substantial touch of human kindness on your part.  Thing is though, he may not feel that he has any responsibility for compensating you for the "replacement" cost.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to suggest it though, in my opinion.

Danny Barson wrote:
I worked with a model a couple of years ago, and since. And it has always been paid work. Some of the work had included nude work, in fact one of the shots won the 18+male pic of the day.
Now the model has a new job and wants me to remove all nude work, especially the one that won the comp, from here and my personal website. I have seen nude work he has done with other photographers which are still on portfolios here and other model sites.
They also appear on twitter on a regular basis.
As the shoots were all paid, I think it unfair for him to ask me to now remove these pictures, because his circumstances have changed.
I am torn as to what to do, so any help or advise would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

Are you still really benefiting from having the work posted? If it's not really going to cost you anything, why not?

Amber Dawn  -  Colorado wrote:
You can do the respectful thing and just remove the images OR ask the model for the money back.

I think Respect has to work both ways, especial in light of the new information that he still advertises for nude work.

Taking money and then demanding the goods back isn't the best way to earn respect.

Danny Barson wrote:
The thing that is getting to me in this case, is that the male model still says on his portfolios, that he still does nude work, so is he still taking payments from other photographers, and then deciding to ask them not to use them. Other photographers also have his nude work still on their portfolios too.
It is not my intention to upset anyone, but if he still does this type of work, why should I be the one that has to remove pics.

It is kind of hard to take anyone seriously if they are still advertising for nude work.

Sell them to him to cover the costs you incurred or ignore.

Danny Barson wrote:
I worked with a model a couple of years ago, and since. And it has always been paid work. Some of the work had included nude work, in fact one of the shots won the 18+male pic of the day.
Now the model has a new job and wants me to remove all nude work, especially the one that won the comp, from here and my personal website. I have seen nude work he has done with other photographers which are still on portfolios here and other model sites.
They also appear on twitter on a regular basis.
As the shoots were all paid, I think it unfair for him to ask me to now remove these pictures, because his circumstances have changed.
I am torn as to what to do, so any help or advise would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

What would I do?, exactly what Ive done in 3 different situations, remove the credits, but thats it! Youve done nothing wrong, "a new job", "getting married", "movie role", "signed new agency" or a "jealous partner", it doesn't matter, TF or paid. Models make decisions and should be accountable, this isn't high school. Additional compensation maybe, but just removing them is out of the question. If a photo has been on the internet for at least an hour, it has probably been copied over a thousand times already. Stick to your guns and keep your "work", nothing to be sorry about.