Model release forms and unauthorised use

Question

Hi all, I've licenced an image from Adobe Stock featuring a model for use in advertising and marketing of a product. The model has reached out saying that advertising this product is not permitted - the specific product is excluded from the contracts they signed.. However, our product is not illegal or p*rnographic and it also isn't specifically mentioned in the "restricted uses" part of the Adobe licence.

The image in question is on pretty much all the Stock Photo websites. I would presume the model release form required by Adobe would be a standard one? Does Adobe accept model release forms with custom restrictions? I have checked all the major stock photos sites for their sample model release forms and none of them specify a restriction for our particular product use-case.

I have reached out to Adobe Stock Copyright team last week, but still waiting for reply.

Jill_C · Accepted Answer

Adobe's preferred Model Release form is found here:

Releases-english (adobe.com)

It specifically states "For Consideration received and by signing this release, I irrevocably grant to the Artist the
right to license and use the Content in any manner, form or medium, for any and all use
whatsoever (except pornographic or illegal), which may include art, advertising, promotion,
marketing and packaging for any product or service."

While we don't know whether the model signed this release form or one that is similar, I do know that Adobe only accepts forms that are similar to theirs in every significant aspect. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that they would have accepted a form that limits the usage of the image any more than what is stated above. They don't offer a license type that is for "limited use" and they don't have a feature in their Stock licensing platform that tracks images in such a manner, as far as I can determine. Since the person in the image has already reached out to you, perhaps you should direct her to this form and the text therein. It appears that you are within your rights in the manner in which you've used the image; perhaps her beef is with the photographer. Or maybe she just forgot what she signed...

Standard disclaimer that I am not an IP rights expert, and this is just my opinion.

Abambo · Answer

Except for the restrictions laid out in the licensing terms, like:

no pornographic depiction
no political agitation
no denigration
anything I've probably not remember now,

you are entitled to use the asset as you wish.

Besides contacting Adobe (great initiative), I would ask the model to send over her copy of the model release. It may well be that the contributor did provide a wrong release for the model.

As a side note: Adobe accepts a wide range of model agreements, but at their core, they are all the same.

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