Can I use an images (with people) for a club poster?

Question

I work as a designer for a department at a college. My main task is designing posters/flyers for student clubs to advertise their club meetings and events. I always try to use public domain photos from sites like Unsplash or Pixabay, but if the pictures have people in them do I need to obtain permission from the models, or does the use of images fall under non-profit/personal use?

I'm not too sure what my situation falls under because it's for school, but it's not necessarily educational (since these are student clubs). I also some times make flyers and brochures for the department itself.

Answer 1

You don't need any permission.

Unsplash License

All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash.

Make a little exercise, download any picture with people from Unsplash and then make a Google Image search with this picture. You will see the same people announcing everything, in some cases with name, family name and address ;-).

Original image