Differences between use of stock assets standard and extended in written D&D products

Hi. The use of Extended versus Standard licenses is not influenced by "marketability" or "overall appearance," but is based on intended audience and usage. You (or a lawyer) will need to review the Stock terms and determine if an Extended license is required. Adobe cannot give legal advice but just point to our terms. In the end, this is about protecting yourself from legal action. One thing to consider is how recognizable the Stock assets are which have Standard licenses. If you have heavily modified them, they may fall under the clause, "you may not incorporate a Work into merchandise intended for sale or distribution, including on-demand products, unless (a) the Work has been modified to the extent that the new work, as incorporated into such merchandise, is not substantially similar to the Work and can qualify as an original work of authorship." But if you just plopped the design elements onto the page as is and sold the work in stores, that is a different case and might require an Extended license.

Here are the limitations of a Standard license:

https://wwwimages2.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/en/legal/servicetou/Adobe-Stock-Product-Specific-Terms-en_US-20240618.pdf 

3. License Terms and Specific Restrictions Applicable to Works
3.1. Standard License and Specific Restrictions for Works. The license described in this section 3.1 is referred to as
a “Standard License”.
(A) Standard License for Works. Under a Standard License, we grant you a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide,
non-transferable and non-sublicensable (except pursuant to section 6 (Additional Rights)) license to use,
reproduce, archive, modify, and display the Work, in all media, for (1) advertising, marketing, promotional and
decoration purposes; and (2) personal and non-commercial uses, for each of (1) and (2) up to 500,000 times as
further described in section 3.1(B) (“Standard License Specific Restrictions”).
(B) Standard License Specific Restrictions for Works. In addition to the restrictions in section 7 (Restrictions), the
following restrictions apply to your use of any Work under a Standard License:
(1) you may not, in the aggregate, (a) cause or allow a Work to appear on more than 500,000 printed materials
(including copies of such materials); or (b) incorporate a Work into a live, recorded, or digital production if the
audience is expected to exceed 500,000 viewers, except the restriction on audience size does not apply to Works
displayed only on websites, social media sites, or mobile applications;
(2) you may not incorporate a Work into merchandise intended for sale or distribution, including on-demand
products, unless (a) the Work has been modified to the extent that the new work, as incorporated into such
merchandise, is not substantially similar to the Work and can qualify as an original work of authorship; or (b) the
primary value of such merchandise does not lie with the Work itself;
(3) you may not use, include, or incorporate the Work in any electronic template or design template application
(e.g., a web design or presentation template, or templates for electronic greeting cards or business cards); and
(4) you may not use, reproduce, distribute, or display the Work with a press release that includes the distribution
of the stand-alone image file.