Contributors who upload their images to Unsplash grant users a free copyright license to their images. A copyright license doesn’t mean that image can be used for every kind of use, and further approvals may be required. Just like any other image sharing or stock site, other legal rights should be considered related to how the image will be used.
For people, places, and things, there are rights of privacy and publicity, access rights, trademarks, and copyright for what’s depicted within the image.
Commercial use considerations:
- Recognizable people, including celebrities, have the right to profit from
commercial use of their name, image and likeness as well as the right to
object to their name, image or likeness being used without approval.
- Private property, restricted access areas, and ticketed entry
locations often have image policies and specific release
requirements for commercial uses.
- Objects that appear in the image may have copyright or trademark
protection that prohibit use of the image without permission (for example,
a person wearing a t-shirt with a brand logo on it).
While contributors agree that images uploaded to Unsplash have model
releases, there is no reasonable way for us to monitor all images that get uploaded
to Unsplash. We cannot make any guarantees about the scope of permitted uses.
We recommend reaching out to the contributor to clarify whether they have a
model or property release. You can do this directly via the ‘message’ button on the
contributor's profile.
For more information, please see our Terms & Conditions.