Property releases for stock video: when you need one

What a property release is

Shutterstock defines it as an agreement that protects the content creator, the property owner and the licensing customer. It is needed when a photo or clip shows recognizable intellectual property or real estate, and it confirms that the owner, or an authorized representative, allowed commercial use. Adobe and Pond5 use the same idea: a signed document in which the owner approves the use of their property in your footage for commercial licensing.

"Property" covers two families. Real estate: building interiors, private land, private homes. Intellectual property: paintings, murals, graffiti, sculptures, tattoos, sheet music, lyrics, and at Adobe, distinctive product designs. Shutterstock asks for a separate release attachment for each family, and a third one for tattoos.

Property release vs model release

A clip of a person in a private interior needs both: a model release from the person and a property release from the owner of the place. Tattoos sit in both families at Adobe, which asks for a model release from anyone with visible tattoos and a property release when the tattoo is the close-up focus or shows a protected subject. Everything about people, signatures and minors is in model and property releases for stock video.

When you need one, agency by agency

The table sets the three agencies' published lists side by side, as read on 12 October 2026. It concerns commercial clips; editorial rules follow at the end of the page.

Landmarks follow their own rules. Shutterstock keeps a list of buildings whose exteriors need a release for commercial use, and others that are refused even as editorial. Adobe cites famous landmarks, historic locations and modern architecture among the examples that need releases, and answers "depends" for national monuments. Those cases are covered in filming landmarks for stock.

Homes, interiors, art and animals

Your own home or a rented place

Filming inside an apartment you rent, a friend's house or a café means a property release signed by the owner or their representative. Adobe's requirements table is clear on the outside too: a private home clearly visible in the frame needs a release, a generic building with no distinct or branded features does not.

Artwork, including yours

A painting on the wall of a set, a gallery piece or a street mural needs a release from the artist or the estate. Adobe requires a signed property release even when the artwork is your own. Shutterstock adds a trap for bought art: owning a piece "doesn't necessarily mean you hold the copyright", so the copyright holder usually signs, and each copyrighted work needs its own release. Adobe lets graffiti pass without a release in three cases: it is incidental, a shallow depth of field makes it unrecognizable, or an extreme close-up shows only a small portion.

Pets, horses and zoo animals

Adobe is the only one of the three to answer: submissions of animals and pets do not typically need property releases. The exceptions are famous animals (Adobe names Grumpy Cat and Doug the Pug among others), racehorses and zoo animals. The Shutterstock and Pond5 release pages cited here say nothing about animals. Shutterstock's list of restricted private land does include one zoo, the San Diego Zoo, whose grounds need a release for commercial use.

What the release must contain

Shutterstock's checklist for a property release asks for:

• your first name and surname, or business name;
• the first name and surname of the owner, or of the corporate owner or authorized representative;
• a mailing address;
• the owner's signature and the date signed.

Pond5 asks for the same fields plus the shoot dates, and accepts any form that contains them. Shutterstock rejects altered forms (crossed-out, whited-out or pasted information), wants handwritten signatures in ink or with a stylus or finger, and accepts non-English forms only from Shutterstock, Getty, iStock, Adobe and Easy Release. It also requires a visual reference of the property with the release. Adobe accepts property releases in several languages, French included, and publishes a checklist to fill in its form. Getty Images offers 2026 property release forms in print and through approved digital release apps, plus a separate editorial property consent form.

Attaching it at each agency

The Shutterstock rule costs the most when forgotten: a release cannot be added to a clip that is already approved. Sign releases on location, before or right after the shot, and keep a photo of the property with each form. The full submission steps are in how to upload video to Shutterstock.

When editorial is the way out

Shutterstock states that editorial content does not require a property release, and Pond5 says editorial content needs neither model nor property releases and may show business names and logos. Editorial clips cannot be used to advertise or promote anything, and Pond5 warns that many locations and events can be rejected without press credentials. Newsworthy clips at Pond5 also need a caption in the form CITY, COUNTRY (STATE) - YEAR/MONTH/DAY: factual description.

Adobe has no such exit: it does not accept traditional editorial content, and its illustrative editorial program excludes recognizable people and covers photos, illustrations and vectors. A clip of a private interior without a release cannot go to Adobe at all. Rules and caption formats are in editorial stock footage.