by Benj Edwards / Ars Technica
On Monday, Adobe announced that its stock photography service, Adobe Stock, would allow artists to submit AI-generated images for sale, Axios reports. The move comes amid Adobe’s introduction to image synthesis and also amid industry-wide efforts to address the fast-growing area of AI artwork in the stock art business, including earlier announcements by Shutterstock and Getty Images.
Submitting AI-generated images to Adobe Stock comes with some limitations. The artist must own the image (or have the rights to use it), AI synthesized artworks must be submitted as an illustration (even if photorealistic) and be labeled “Generative AI” in the title.
Additionally, any AI artwork must comply with Adobe’s new AI Generative Content Guidelines, which require the artist to provide a model release for each real person realistically depicted in the artwork. Artwork that includes illustrations of people or fictional brands, characters, or attributes requires a property release certifying that the artist has all necessary rights to license the content to Adobe Stock.
A stock photo odyssey
Earlier this year, the launch of image synthesis tools such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and DALL-E has unlocked a seemingly limitless source of generative artwork that can mimic common art styles across multiple mediums, including photography. Each AI tool allows an artist to create a work based on a text description called a prompt.
In September, we reported on some early cases of artists listing AI artwork on stock photo websites. Shutterstock reportedly initially responded by removing some generative art, but later reversed course by partnering with OpenAI to create AI artwork on the site. In late September, Getty Images banned AI artworks fearing copyright issues that have not been fully scrutinized in court.
Aside from these legal concerns, AI-generated artworks have proven to be ethically problematic among artists. Some have criticized the ability of image synthesis models to reproduce artworks in the style of living artists, especially as the AI models gained this ability through unauthorized scraping of websites.
Despite these controversies, Adobe is openly embracing the growing trend in image synthesis, which shows no signs of slowing down.
“I am confident that our decision to responsibly accept content created by Generative AI serves both customers and providers,” said Sarah Casillas, senior director of content at Adobe Stock, in a statement emailed to Adobe Stock -Members was sent. “Stock knowledge, craft, taste and imagination are critical to success in a stock market where clients demand quality, and these are attributes our successful contributors can continue to bring—no matter what tools they choose.”
