LDS Photo Release Form: Filling It Out, Signing, and Submitting

The LDS photo release form is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Release to Use Name, Image, Voice, Likeness, and Personal Information,” a one-page document that gives Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (IRI) permission to record you and use those recordings in Church media. You fill it out by printing your full legal name, dating it, and signing by hand, then handing it to whoever is running the shoot. The permission you grant is irrevocable, worldwide, and has no expiration date.¹

Where to Get the Form

The official PDF lives on the Church’s website in the content-creation resources section at churchofjesuschrist.org.¹ Your Bishop, a Stake media specialist, or the coordinator running a specific production can also provide a printed copy. At larger events such as stake conferences or service projects, organizers usually bring blank forms and distribute them on site before any recording starts.

How to Fill It Out

The form is short. Print clearly so it can be filed without a follow-up call.

Print your full legal name. Nicknames and abbreviations tie the consent to the wrong identity.
Enter the date you are signing, not the date filming happens.
Sign by hand. The signature is what makes the release binding.

If the release is tied to a particular production, the coordinator may ask you to note the project or event on the form or on a separate tracking sheet. The document’s language is broad enough to cover any and all recordings connected to your participation unless the coordinator narrows the scope in writing.¹

Signing for a Minor

Anyone under 18 cannot sign for themselves. A parent or legal guardian completes a separate section confirming in writing that they are the parent or guardian, that they have full authority to sign for the child, and that they have read and understood the terms.¹ The guardian prints their name, signs, and dates the parental consent section separately from the minor’s information. At youth activities, whichever parent or guardian is present with legal authority to consent can sign. Coordinators collecting forms at youth events should confirm that every minor has a signed parental consent before any recording begins.

What You’re Agreeing To

Read the form before you sign it. The release gives IRI the right to create and use recordings of your name, image, voice, likeness, and personal information in any media format that exists now or is developed in the future, including websites, social media, broadcasts, and print.¹ It covers past, present, and future recordings, so footage shot before you signed is retroactively covered. IRI can edit, adapt, reproduce, distribute, license, sell, broadcast, and stream the recordings worldwide, forever. A clip from a ward service project could turn up in a general conference video, a social media post, or a printed magazine years later.

You have no right, title, or interest in any of the finished material, and no claim to compensation.¹ Ownership sits with Intellectual Reserve, Inc., the corporation the Church set up to hold and protect its intellectual property.² You also agree to release, defend, and hold IRI harmless from claims, damages, or liabilities connected to the recordings or IRI’s use of them, and a parent signing for a minor accepts the same indemnity on the child’s behalf.

Where to Hand It In

Give the signed paper copy to the person who asked for it. Usually that is the Bishop, a Stake media specialist, the photographer, or the coordinator running the production. On shoots managed by the Church’s central media department, a crew member collects forms before filming begins.

Some local units now handle consent through electronic registration, embedding a simplified version of the release language as a checkbox with electronic-signature consent. Whether you sign paper or electronic depends on the organizer’s setup. Either way, once the form is collected it is filed as a permanent record, and you do not need to follow up. The permission stays in effect indefinitely for every covered recording.¹

Can You Revoke It After Signing?

The form grants consent “irreversibly,” which makes unilateral withdrawal very difficult. A signed photo release functions as a binding contract, and when that contract explicitly states the license is irrevocable, courts generally enforce it as written. Materials already published are especially hard to recall, because IRI relied on your signature when producing and distributing them.

If you want your image kept out of future use, contact the project coordinator or the Church’s intellectual property office and ask for an accommodation. They are not required to agree, but a written request that names specific recordings gives you the strongest footing. Keep a copy of the correspondence. For a minor, the parent who originally signed would need to make the request. Because revocation is not guaranteed, raise concerns before signing. If the scope feels too broad, ask the coordinator whether a narrower written scope is available for your particular project.

Large Events and Crowd Notices

At devotionals, cultural celebrations, or community service days, the Church may rely on posted signage or language built into ticket registration instead of collecting a form from every attendee. Those crowd-release notices state that photography and recording are taking place and that entering the venue counts as consent. Individual forms are still collected from featured speakers, performers, interviewees, and anyone identified by name in the final product. If you would rather not be filmed at a general-audience event, tell an usher or coordinator so you can be seated outside the primary camera angles.

1
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Release to Use Name, Image, Voice, Likeness, and Personal Information
2
BYU Religious Studies Center. We Believe in Being Honest – Using Church-Copyrighted Materials