Media Release Form Template
Tick what you will capture (photos, video, audio, interview quotes, name and likeness), where it will be used and for how long, and the release form writes itself. Make one form per person or a group sign-off sheet, with a parent or guardian block for a minor. Start from a preset: event photos, a customer testimonial, an interview or a podcast guest.
This is a template, not legal advice. Rules on using someone's image, voice and words vary by country and state, so check what applies to you, or ask a lawyer, before you rely on it.
What a media release form covers
A release says, in plain words, what you may record and how you may use it. The clearer it is, the fewer surprises later.
Who gives permission
The person being recorded, or a parent or guardian signing for a minor. A group sheet lets everyone at an event sign the same terms.
What may be recorded
Photos, video, audio of their voice, quotes from an interview, and their name and likeness. Tick only what you will actually use.
Where it may be used
Website, social media, print, broadcast and podcasts, internal training, or uses you name yourself.
How long and for what
No end date, or a fixed number of years, and whether anything is paid in return.
Reviewing quotes
An optional promise to show quotes before publication so they can be checked for accuracy. Some reporters and researchers offer it and others do not, so it is an option you turn on or off.
Withdrawing permission
How the person can take back their permission for future use, and who to contact with questions.
Interview release form
For a journalist, researcher or podcaster, the interview preset covers audio, quotes and the person's name, with publication in print, online and in broadcast or podcasts, and turns on the optional quote review. Edit the purpose line to describe the story or study in a sentence the person will understand.
Consent to record form
If you mainly need a signed yes to recording, tick audio or video recordings, say what the recording is for in the purpose line, and leave out uses you do not plan. The form then works as a simple recording consent form the person signs before you start.
A release form is not the same as call recording consent
A media release is about using someone's image, voice or words after you capture them. Whether you may record a phone call or a conversation in the first place is a separate question, answered by recording-consent rules that differ from place to place. A signed release does not settle that question, and those rules do not replace a release.
For the US, see our guide to one-party and two-party consent states.
Four ready-made releases
Each preset sets the title, purpose, media, uses and options. Change anything afterwards.
Event photography
A group sign-off sheet for photos and video at a meeting, workshop or company event, for the website, social media and print.
Customer testimonial video
One form for a customer who talks on camera about your product or service, for the website, social media and sales training.
Journalist or researcher interview
One form for a reporter's or researcher's interview: audio, quotes and name, published in print, online or on air, with optional quote review.
Podcast guest release
One form for a podcast guest: audio, video clips, quotes and name, for the episode, the show's website and social media.
Planning the episode the guest will appear in? Use the podcast script template.
Recording names at an event as well? A sign-in sheet covers attendance; this form covers permission.
Keeping what you hear confidential is a different document: the NDA template.
More on recording interviews: how to record an interview, freelance journalist tools, user research interviews.
Release signed? Record the interview on your phone.
Once the form is signed, ParrotNotes records the interview on your phone and gives you the transcript and a summary of what was said, so the quotes you use are the words the person spoke. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get ParrotNotes freeRelated tools
- Podcast Script TemplatePlan a podcast episode with a script or outline for solo, interview, co-hosted, panel or story shows, with timings, segments and show notes.Open the tool
- Sign-In Sheet TemplateMake a printable sign-in sheet for a meeting, training or event, with the columns you choose, then print it or save it as PDF.Open the tool
- NDA TemplateWrite a mutual or one-way non-disclosure agreement with the parties, what is confidential and for how long, then print it or save it as a PDF.Open the tool