Editorial stock footage: rules and captions

What “Editorial Use Only” means on Shutterstock

When content designated as Editorial is approved, Shutterstock labels it “Editorial Use Only,” and it “cannot be used to advertise or promote a product or service.” A buyer can use it to illustrate news, current events and subjects of human interest: arts, business, culture, health, lifestyle, technology, travel.

The trade-off works in your favor on paperwork. Commercial clips need a model release for every recognizable person, property releases and no visible trademarks. Editorial content “can contain logos, business names and recognizable people without model releases.” A busy street market or a branded shop front, which would need releases or fail on trademarks in commercial review, can go out as editorial.

Which agencies accept editorial video

Adobe’s illustrative editorial overview, updated on 11 June 2026, states that “Adobe doesn’t accept traditional editorial content at this time.” Its illustrative editorial program covers photos, illustrations and vectors from contributors with 100 or more downloads, and excludes recognizable people and restricted events. Its refusal page also lists content that “implies a depiction of a newsworthy event.” For video, Adobe is out.

Getty’s public contributor guide mentions editorial property consent forms among the supporting documents; its detailed editorial video rules sit behind the contributor login.

Documentary and illustrative editorial

Documentary editorial records real events as they happened: a parade, the aftermath of a storm, a market day. Shutterstock requires that subjects are not posed or directed, that the clip is not altered in post, and that the caption gives the date and the place.

Illustrative editorial is staged to illustrate a subject, such as a person drinking from a recognizable brand of drink or a popular appliance on a counter. Pond5 calls it staged editorial and does not require an editorial caption for it, though it still has to be marked Editorial. At Shutterstock, trademarks are generally fine on products in an illustrative scene, but a trademark on a plain background is rejected as non-licensable.

Public figures are where editorial matters most. Shutterstock rejects a living public figure, or one who died after 1930, in commercial content, but generally accepts celebrities, politicians and musicians in documentary and illustrative editorial; Pond5 likewise accepts public figures for editorial use. Shutterstock has a third category, editorial illustrations, vectors and animations, where trademarks, franchise characters and post-1930 public figures are all rejected.

Both types still have limits. Shutterstock refuses third-party screen content such as a TV show when it is the primary subject, artwork that fills the frame, and anything on its Known Restrictions list. More on marks in logos and trademarks in stock footage.

The editorial caption

The examples do not follow the patterns exactly. Shutterstock’s own samples use a hyphen or write “January 28th 2020,” and Pond5’s writes “2024, Nov 5” where its pattern says YEAR/MONTH/DAY. The safe route is to follow each written pattern literally. For one clip:

• Shutterstock: LISBON, PORTUGAL – MAY 14, 2026: A tram climbs a narrow street in the Alfama district.
• Pond5: Lisbon, Portugal – 2026/05/14: A tram climbs a narrow street in the Alfama district.

The sentence after the colon states facts: who, what, where. No opinion, no adjectives for effect. Shutterstock uses the Metadata - Editorial Requirements rejection when the year or location is missing or wrong, and Pond5 prohibits captions with hateful or offensive personal statements or opinions. Name the event when you shot one, especially if it required credentials. Shutterstock places the caption in the description, which is also the title; Pond5 takes it in the title or the description. More on writing these fields in the titles and descriptions guide.

What you cannot alter

Documentary editorial “must always be factual and true to life.” Shutterstock’s Altered Editorial article (24 November 2025) and Pond5’s legal guidelines draw the same line:

Sound follows the same logic: location sound can stay, as covered in audio rejections, but nothing may be added.

Events and press credentials

No release is needed for editorial, but some events need permission to film. Shutterstock asks for press credentials for concerts and theater in ticketed private venues, historical reenactments, press conferences and panels, red carpets, runway shows, select airshows and sporting events, including non-professional ones. Send them to credentials@shutterstock.com before you submit; most are reviewed within 48 hours on weekdays, and the case number goes with your submission. Pond5 lists venues with paid admission, such as stadiums, concert halls, theaters and museums, as requiring a release or permit.

Submitting an editorial clip

1. Keep the clip as shot, with only the adjustments listed above.
2. Write the caption in the agency’s format, with the event name if there is one.
3. Shutterstock: select the Editorial button under Usage, or set the Editorial column to Yes in the CSV (see the Shutterstock CSV guide). A clip that only qualifies as editorial but goes to commercial review comes back with the Editorial Designation rejection.
4. Pond5: tick Editorial under Usage on the item page or from the Uploads menu, or set Editorial to yes in the CSV. Its tagging guide also suggests a curator note asking for Editorial Use Only. For news footage, Pond5 asks you to include the code CITIZENP5BRIEF in your keywords.

For the commercial side of the same rules, see model and property releases for stock video.