Learn the key terms you need to know before submitting content to Adobe Stock.
Right of privacy and right of publicity
The right of privacy is a person’s right to be left alone, and the right of publicity is a person’s right to control the commercial use of their name and likeness.
Publicity and privacy rights mean that, before you submit content that includes any identifiable person or voice, you get their permission in the form of a signed model release. When relevant, you also need to get a signed property release from the owner of any property or object that appears in your content. (Note that the rules are different for illustrative editorial content.)
Trademarks and trade dress
A trademark is a set of words, a logo, or a symbol that exclusively identifies a company, brand, product, or service. Trade dress is a type of trademark that refers to the appearance or design of a product or its packaging.
Trade dress can include a distinctive shape or color. For example, the UPS Shield logo and the brown color of UPS delivery uniforms and trucks are all considered trade dress belonging to United Parcel Service, Inc.
Adobe Stock can’t accept content that depicts trademarks or trade dress, so make sure to completely remove any trademarked symbols or objects from your photos, videos, and other submissions. (Note that the rules are different for illustrative editorial content.)
Copyright
Copyright protects any expression of an idea on tangible media, such as a poem, architectural design, photograph, video, or painting. A person who owns a copyrighted work has the exclusive rights to distribute, reproduce, publicly perform, and modify it — or to grant some or all these rights to customers.
By submitting content to Adobe Stock, you’re promising us that you own or have a license to the copyright in the content. You’ll license your content to Adobe based on the Adobe Stock Contributor Agreement, and we’ll then license the content to Adobe Stock customers via our Terms of Use or specific download/enterprise license agreements. Learn more
When we review submitted images and videos, we reject anything we know to be a copy of someone else’s work. Unfortunately, we can’t possibly know every copyrighted work in the world. If you believe that an Adobe Stock Contributor’s content infringes on your copyright, send us an intellectual property infringement claim. Learn more
Public domain
At the moment, we don’t accept submissions of public domain content.
Note:
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for counsel. Also, it may or may not be a complete understanding of all applicable IP rights in your content, depending on the context. Consult your legal counsel on specific legal questions.
