Check whether a photo may be used
Someone wants to run a stock photo in a paid social ad in Germany next month. You need to know whether the license covers that, without digging out the contract. Record the license on the asset once; after that anyone, including an AI tool, can ask and get a plain answer.
Record the license
Section titled “Record the license”- Open the photo and expand its Rights fold.
- Fill in what the license says:
- License: the agency and the terms, in words.
- Territories: the countries it covers, as two-letter codes (
DE,AT). Empty means everywhere. - Channels: where it may run. The usual ones are
web,social,paid-social,email,print,out-of-home,broadcastandeditorial. Empty means anywhere. - Not before: the first day it may be used, for an embargo.
- Last day of use: when the license ends.
- Model release: Signed, Missing: editorial use only, or Not needed when nobody recognizable is in it.
- Downloads: Shown only if people outside the team may see it but not take the file.
- In the Provenance fold, set where it came from: Licensed for stock.
Ask before you use it
Section titled “Ask before you use it”- Open the asset and expand Can I use this?.
- Fill in Where (the channel), Territory and When. Leave When empty for today.
- Choose Check.
The answer is Yes, you can use it or Not for this use, with the reasons. When the asset was replaced, or the brand has a version for that context, Use instead names the file to use.
What a refusal means
Section titled “What a refusal means”| It says | In plain words |
|---|---|
| Not approved, archived or deleted | The file isn’t cleared for use at all |
| Replaced | A newer file took its place; use that one |
| Before its embargo, or after its last day | The dates don’t cover your use |
| Outside its territories or channels | The license doesn’t cover that country or that kind of use |
| No model release | People are in it without a signed release; only editorial use is allowed |
| A variant for this context | The brand has a version for, say, dark backgrounds; use that |
If you leave out the country or the channel and the license limits it, the answer mentions the limit without refusing. Fill both in to settle it.
Partners ask the same question on a portal: each file there has Can I use this?. AI tools ask it through MCP before they hand a file out.
Hear about licenses before they end
Section titled “Hear about licenses before they end”This takes a project admin.
- Open Automations in the sidebar, then From a recipe, and pick Licenses ending, to legal.
- Add the addresses to tell and save with Make it. Send a test shows what the email looks like.
From then on, each approved asset’s license sends one email 30 days before its last day. Fixes lists the licenses ending in the next 30 days too, and the Monday digest those ending in the next 14.
Keep a record
Section titled “Keep a record”Insights, Use checks lists every answer given, to people and to agents, with the reasons and whether the replacement was taken. Export CSV saves them.