Adobe has sharply criticized the sale of Ansel Adams-style images generated by artificial intelligence

Adobe found itself in sizzling water this weekend after the estate of Ansel Adams publicly chastised the company for selling generative AI imitations of the behind schedule photographer’s work. Friday at the Adams estate posted screenshot to threads showing AI-generated images available in Adobe Stock and labeled “Ansel Adams style,” informing Adobe that “we were officially upset by this behavior.”

Although Adobe allows the hosting and sale of AI-generated images on its stock image platform, users must have appropriate rights or ownership of the content they submit. Adobe Stock Contributor Terms it specifically prohibits content “created using prompts that include the names of other artists or created using prompts that are otherwise intended to copy another artist.”

Adobe responded to the notice, saying it had removed the offending content and sent a private message to the Adams estate for direct contact in the future. However, Adams’ management stated that since August 2023, it had been in direct contact with Adobe on numerous occasions.

“Assuming you want to be taken seriously regarding: your purported commitment to ethical, responsible AI while showing respect for the creative community, we encourage you to actively respond to complaints like ours and stop placing the burden on individual artists/Estates artists to continually curating our intellectual property on your platform and on your terms,” Adams Estate said on Threads. “It’s time to stop wasting resources that aren’t yours.”

Adobe Stock vice president Matthew Smith said earlier Edge that the company typically moderates all “crowdsourced” Adobe Stock assets before they are made available to customers using “a variety of” methods, including “an experienced team of moderators reviewing submissions.” According to Smith, as of January 2024, the strongest action a company can take to enforce the platform’s policies is to block Adobe Stock users who violate them.

“We have no problem if someone is inspired by Ansel photography” – said the Adams estate. “However, we strongly oppose the unauthorized use of his name to sell any type of product, including digital products, including products generated by artificial intelligence – regardless of whether his name was used on the input side or whether the model in question was trained in of your work.”

– said Bassil Elkadi, director of communications and public relations at Adobe Edge that Adobe is “actively contacting Ansel Adams regarding this matter” and that “appropriate action has been taken because you have violated the Stock terms.” The Adams estate has since thanked Adobe for removing the images and said it expects “it will stick this time.”