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Does this also apply to books? Does each animal photo in a book (say a dog breed book) accompanied by a release then?



Yes and if the publisher is not requiring a release, it will be just a matter of time before they ARE sued.

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Are you also saying that we can take a photo of any dog, horse, etc in public (that is not a celebrity of some kind) and legally use that as a reference to paint it and sell the art (original, prints, etc)?



It depends on what you mean by public. If you mean a dog on a public street or sidewalk, yes. If you mean a dog in an arena that is open to the public, NO, because you are actually on private property not public property. Public property might not always be what you think it is. Take an arena that is owned by the government. Is it public property? Yes and no. If it is leased to an event organizer, then it is in effect private property for the duration of the lease. This would be the situation that you would be under when photographing.

The safest way to be is to get a release always, then you don't get into trouble and you never have to worry about if you can or can't use a photo.

David Ramey Photography