Hello everyone.Some time ago, I tried to submit this photo. It was first rejected due to a quality issue. I then re-uploaded the image at a higher resolution, and this time it was rejected for “Intellectual property-related refusal”.However, I can’t understand where the intellectual property issue comes from.For context:I am indeed the author of the photo (the photographer)The photo was taken in Shibuya, TokyoI of course own the RAW fileThe only AI tool I used was Lightroom’s noise reductionCould the issue be coming from the left side of the photo with the brands and billboards? If so, what should I do? Remove them using generative AI, or crop the photo?Thanks for your help 😃

Question

Intellectual Property Rejection on Stock Photo – What’s the Issue?

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
January 26, 2026
3 replies
69 views

Hello everyone.

Some time ago, I tried to submit this photo. It was first rejected due to a quality issue. I then re-uploaded the image at a higher resolution, and this time it was rejected for “Intellectual property-related refusal”.

However, I can’t understand where the intellectual property issue comes from.

For context:

I am indeed the author of the photo (the photographer)
The photo was taken in Shibuya, Tokyo
I of course own the RAW file
The only AI tool I used was Lightroom’s noise reduction

Could the issue be coming from the left side of the photo with the brands and billboards? If so, what should I do? Remove them using generative AI, or crop the photo?

Thanks for your help 😃

Troubleshooting

A

athletic_fan98A2Author

Okay, I understand, thanks for your replies.
I’ll try to fix all of this before submitting the photo again.
After all, it’s the very first photo I’m submitting, there has to be a trial-and-error phase at the beginning 😃

Jill_C

Community Expert

Read all of the Learn & Support help pages which will reduce the learning curve considerably:

https://helpx.adobe.com/support/stock-contributor.html

Jill C., Forum Volunteer

Jill_C

Community Expert

Every sign and logo, including car license plates and car logos and building signs would have to be removed. My rule of thumb is that it takes more than 5 minutes to do those edits, if they can be done cleanly, I don't bother because it may never sell anyway...

Jill C., Forum Volunteer

daniellei4510

Community Expert

Yes, all the logos and names on the signs must be removed. How you do it is up to you, but cropping isn't going to remove signs on the left of the frame. You also have leaning verticals, which may result in a quality rejection. Bear in mind that a moderator can only choose one reason for rejecting an image, when there may be multiple reasons.

Adobe Community Expert | If you aren't submitting your assets in sRGB, you probably didn't read the rules.

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