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Commonly missed Intellectual Property (copyright) issues
Commonly missed Intellectual Property (copyright) issues
Annie Spratt avatar
Written by Annie Spratt
Updated over a year ago

Learning to identify IP issues in the imagery that you create is a learning curve, but with a little extra knowledge and practice you can save yourself editing time and be earning income on accepted images in no time.

To best help you on your path to submission success, we've put together a list of the most commonly 'missed' IP issues.

Art

Above: Red boxes show items that require a property release. The blue box shows a label which would require editing out.

Good to know 👀
Even artwork which you yourself created requires a property release.

Books & magazines

Above: Examples of content which would need to be avoided or edited out.

Good to know 👀

Book covers, spines and pages, including text and images require editing out.

Graffiti, stickers, street art and tags

Good to know 👀
All graffiti / street art elements should be avoided, this includes tags and stickers of any size. If shooting in urban areas pay particular attention to the background.
If such elements are unavoidable they should be removed in post-processing before submitting to Unsplash+

Fashion

Above: Examples of logos on footwear, bag and sweater.

Good to know 👀
Most commonly missed IP issues include:

  • Logos on footwear (including brand marking like the New Balance 'N' and the Nike 'swoosh').

  • Branding / logos on bags

  • Tee designs

  • Jeans labels

UI

Above: Example of various IP issues: including the highlighted image on screen, website UI and browser UI.
There are 5 other non-UI related IP issues in the above photo - can you spot them all?

Good to know 👀

  • All app, browser and website UI are considered IP issues and should be edited out to be unrecognisable.

  • If you use your own image as a screensaver on a device as part of an image you are creating for Unsplash+ that will require a property release.

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