Blue Angles Airshow photo’s rejected for IP

[Kirk Wester]

Hi all. I'm an accredited photo journalist. I applied and received media credentials from the United States Navy to shoot the Miramar Airshow. I uploaded the Navy's email that stated I was given media credentials as the property release to Adobestock. I attached this to my photo submissions to Adobestock. I then received notification from Adobestock that my photo's were rejected for IP. This information has been used by me on other stock photo sites with no issue. What can I do here at Adobestock to get the photos approved. The United States Navy is not going to fill out one of your property release forms. 

[George_F]

Did you submit these with a creative license?  Depending on the email, I wonder if it grants you sufficient usage rights for that use?

Adobe handles editorial assets a bit differently than other stock agencies.

[Kirk Wester]

Thanks for the question. I did submit them under creative.

[Abambo]

What is "under creative". 

You have the option to submit them as illustrative editorial. Anyting else will be refused with an IP-strike. You need to honour the illustrative editorial rules, however. 

[Kirk Wester]

I should say that the only editorial photo option states it's "illustration photo" I didn't think that selection was appropriate. Was I wrong?

[George_F]

I'll wait for the opinions of others, but I'm not sure either option is quite appropriate in this case.  

I would have a hard time believing the US Navy would allow their brand to be used in virtually any way without restriction which is what the creative license allows. 

And I've always understood illustrative editorial to be different than documentative editorial which is what it seems this is.

I'll let others weigh in here though, I hope I'm wrong honestly.  But that's my understanding.

[Kirk Wester]

For information purposes. The Airshow world of photograph ihas very specific rules for photo use and for those of us that do it we are very aware of what is required for our photo use. Uptaining a Media Credential for these events allows the photographer to use their photos taken that the event any way they see fit.The photographer owns all rights to those photo"s. The Navy officer that grants the Media Credentials also gives a pre show briefing to us that states exactly that.

[George_F]

You may own the rights to the photos, but the Intellectual Property of the jets is still owned by the US military.

In my opinion, this is covered in the Known Image Restrictions under the military sections.

There is a chance this could be accepted with an Editorial designation, but it's my understanding that Adobe doesn't accept that sort of editorial.  Like I said, I hope I'm wrong about that.  I only submit images with creative licenses so I'm not 100%.

Cheers!

[Jill_C]

There are many Blue Angels images in the "Editorial Only" collection already. 

[George_F]

It was my understanding that traditional editorial content was sourced from partner agencies like Reuters, but not certain of this case would fall under traditional editorial or illustrative editorial. 

I suppose the only way to know for sure is to submit it and see.

[Jill_C]

I'm not sure Adobe offers traditional editorial. The existing images in the database are marked "Editorial Only", but I believe that's the label they get when Contributors submit images in the "Illustrative Editorial" category.

[Abambo]

Reuters is no more an Adobe stock partner. 

[Jill_C]

I searched on the Buyer Portal for "Blue Angels", and found many images of the jets,, but virtually all are marked as "Editorial Only", which means that they were submitted without a Property Release. Read on this page https://www.blueangels.navy.mil/privacy/notice-of-limitations.htm the restrictions relating to commercial use. I assume that since Adobe cannot ensure that Buyers will include the DoD endorsement disclaimer, they can't allow commercial use. Your media credentials can't replace the need for a property release.

[Nancy OShea]

Stock defines "Illustrative Editorial" as conceptual imagery designed to illustrate articles. This type of content often features images of real brands and products — like signs on buildings, soda cans, computers, and cars — to convey a story. Illustrative editorial content is limited to editorial use only and has other restrictions.  See links below. Only contributors with a history of 100 or more downloads have the option to submit Illustrative Editorial content.

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/illustrative-editorial-content.html 

Hope that helps.

[Kirk Wester]

Yes I have 1,631 lifetime downloads so I do have this available to use. I realize it isn't the right option for this case that's why I didn't use it. I guess the simple answer is that Adobestock is not like the other retailers of stock photos and I won't be able to sell them here. I'll just have to settle for the other two major stock photo retailers that handle my photo's. Shutterstock put these up with no issue with the credentials I provided.

[Jill_C]

Adobe does seem to be much more cautious with regard to IP than other stock agencies that have been mentioned here.

[George_F]

There should be an option to check on the same page you use to enter keywords and titles.  It's definitely worth a shot, I think at least.  I would think you'd get either a Non-Compliant Image rejection or another IP rejection if that's not the case.

Edit:  For those with less than 100 downloads the box is greyed out and not able to be checked.

[Abambo]

Shutterstock has a different set of rules for editorial assets. 

If you do not have a proper release, signed, giving you the rights to unlimited and unrestricted commercial use, the only option here is Illustrative Editorial. That's it.