Logos, brands and trademarks in stock footage

Visible trademark on Shutterstock: what the rejection means

Shutterstock does not accept trademarks in commercial content or in its metadata, because a commercial clip may end up in an advertisement or in product branding. When a mark shows in the frame, the clip is rejected for Visible Trademark; when a brand appears in the title or keywords, the label is Title/Keyword Trademark.

Shutterstock’s trademark article (13 September 2025) lists what counts:

• brand names and logos;
• shop signs and business names;
• logos or marks on clothing;
• posters and advertisements;
• symbols such as the Red Cross;
• distinctive designs, such as the three-stripe design on shoes.

Its test is simple: if a word, name or symbol in the shot brings a specific product or service to mind, treat it as a trademark. The fix it gives is binary: edit the mark out before resubmitting, or submit the clip as editorial.

Your own branding counts as well. Shutterstock rejects your name, signature, watermark or company logo in the clip or in the metadata, and date or time stamps burned in by the camera, under Personal Branding/Timestamp. Adobe refuses uploads “with watermarks, branding, or logos” as non-compliant, and asks for video without visible logos or text. Getty’s contributor guide also reminds you to remove visible trademarks and logos before submitting.

Logos, products, cars, screens and buildings: subject by subject

Both agencies keep a Known Restrictions list of subjects refused by name. Read it before a shoot built around a landmark, a vehicle or a famous product.

Products, packaging and vehicles

The two agencies part ways here. Shutterstock calls the visual appearance of manufactured products, from electronics and vehicles to clothing and furniture, “generally acceptable” in commercial content. A product on its Known Restrictions list, or one whose design includes a trademark, is still rejected.

Adobe is stricter. Its refusal page names “commercial products with distinctive designs as the main subject, such as toys, fashion items, electronics, or designer furniture.” Its intellectual property guidelines refuse trade dress, the look of a product or its packaging, with the brown of UPS uniforms as the example. Its property release page lists Apple devices, Lego, Rubik’s Cubes and Louboutin red soles among products refused even with no logo, and its property release overview puts vehicles and airplanes among the “distinctive product shapes” that need a release.

For cars, Adobe’s Known Restrictions list (29 September 2026) refuses the classic VW Beetle and VW Camper Bus “with or without visible trademarks, designs, or license plates,” and the Airstream trailer for its shape alone. Shutterstock lists license plates as non-licensable when they are the primary subject. Adobe’s property release page adds that objects may not need a release when they lack identifiable features and are not the main focal point, so a street with passing traffic is a different case from a clip built around one car.

Screens, artwork, buildings and ticketed places

Screens. Shutterstock applies the Intellectual Property rejection when actual TV shows, films, video games, operating systems, web browsers or phone apps appear on a screen in commercial content. A screen that is off, or one showing a full-frame image you made, avoids it.

Artwork. Paintings, murals, graffiti, sculptures and tattoos need a property release at Shutterstock, and some artwork is refused even with one. Aerial shots of a city with murals are reviewed case by case. Adobe lets graffiti pass without a release when it is incidental, made unrecognizable by a shallow depth of field, or shown in extreme close-up as a backdrop.

Buildings and venues. Shutterstock accepts most exteriors without a release, but rejects a restricted design that fills a large part of the frame. Adobe asks for a release when modern architecture with a recognizable design is the primary focus, and refuses some landmarks even with one, such as the Eiffel Tower illumination or the Hollywood Sign as the main subject. Stadiums, museums, concert venues and amusement parks have photography policies; Pond5 requires a release or permit for any venue with paid admission.

Brand names in titles and keywords

Removing the logo from the frame is half the job. Shutterstock, Adobe and Pond5 all refuse trademarked terms in commercial metadata. Shutterstock’s own example: “San Francisco skyline during golden hour” passes, while a title that names the Salesforce Tower does not. It also warns that some everyday words are brand names, such as kleenex, xerox, crossfit and sellotape. Write what is in the shot: “smartphone,” “sports car,” “soda can.” The titles and descriptions guide has more examples.

How to fix a clip with a logo

1. Prevent it on set. Shutterstock’s advice is to keep logos out at the shoot: check wardrobe, buildings, vehicles, billboards and the clothes of passers-by, and turn or cover a branded object.
2. Reframe. A crop can push a sign out of frame, as long as the result still lands on an accepted resolution. Cropping UHD down to 1920x1080 works; cropping HD and scaling it back up is an upscale, which Adobe refuses (see upscaled video).
3. Remove it in post, commercial clips only. Shutterstock suggests editing a mark out, and Adobe says you “may be able to submit” work once logos are digitally removed. The removal has to hold on every frame: Shutterstock rejects poorly blurred or cloned trademarks, faces and business names under post-production.
4. Submit as editorial. If the mark cannot go, send the clip to Shutterstock or Pond5 as editorial, untouched.

The editorial exception

At Shutterstock, trademarks are generally acceptable in documentary editorial content and in its titles and keywords. Third-party screen content such as a TV show is still refused when it is the primary subject, and some marks are refused in any use. Pond5 says editorial content “can contain business names and logos.” Both ask for a caption with place and date on documentary clips; the format and the limits on retouching are in the editorial footage guide.

Adobe is the exception to the exception. Its illustrative editorial page (11 June 2026) says that Adobe “doesn’t accept traditional editorial content at this time,” and limits illustrative editorial to photos, illustrations and vectors from contributors with 100 or more downloads. For Adobe, clean the clip or keep it out.

Recognizable people follow rules of their own: see model and property releases for stock video, and the rejections overview for the other causes.