Photographers Policy

Photography is a big part of the con. Expect to have your picture taken!

AnimeCon.org encourages photo-taking at our events, with the permission of the person whose photo is being taken. Photographers may not take photos of individuals without their permission, except in obvious group photo settings such as meetups and photoshoots.

Backdrops: Photographers may not set up photobooths or backdrops in convention space without permission from the convention. Photographers who do not charge anything to view, download, or print their photos may be given permission if space is available at the convention's discretion. Sometimes "available space" is actually held for overflow panel lines, fire exit pathways, or require venue permission some amount of days in advance, so space may be hard to give you. Photographers seeking to charge for photos with a backdrop must have an exhibitor booth. It is not fair to let photographers without a vendor booth charge for photographs, because some photography companies DO purchase booths to take photos and sell prints.

Paid Photoshoots: Photographers may not solicit paid photoshoots in convention spaces on-site unless they have an exhibitor booth. They may not solicit photoshoots on our official mediums, but are welcome to post on their own Tumblr/Facebook/etc pages.

Press Badges: If you have a press badge, you may not sell anything during the convention. It is considered abuse to get a free press badge and then sell paid photoshoots.

Selling Stuff: Generally you can only sell stuff, such as photos, if you're a paid, registered exhibitor. Otherwise, you are unfairly competing with paying exhibitors. Some states that we host conventions in require tax forms to be collected by the convention for any person selling anything. Further, we need to collect certain information about your business for tax purposes if you sell something - that's why only exhibitors can advertise services "for sale" at the convention.

If you work for a news organization or website, see our press policies.

Permission to use photos.
By attending, you grant permission to the convention to use photographs that we (the convention and our staff) take of you for publicity purposes, such as advertising the convention. The cooler your costume, the more likely that is to happen! :D

Photographers and members of the press must get your consent to take photos of you, and we also ask that they get your consent to use such photos for any commercial purpose. Newspapers and reporters may take photos of cosplayers and cosplay groups to report on convention activities.

Photos in advertising.
We may use photos of you and your awesome costumes to promote the convention. If we use your photo as the main photo in a paid advertisement, you are eligible for two free comp badge codes for the next convention. To qualify, you must email us within 45 days of the ad being run, you must including a screenshot or photo of the ad, and you must email those plus proof of identity to us, and we will email you two comp badge codes! Please include your name and link to somewhere like your social media account that proves the photo features you. We reserve the right to change or discontinue this policy at any time. Thank you so much for wearing something so cool that it helped promote the convention!