You found an image of a smiling person for your about page, or a striking building for your site's background, and a small worry surfaces: am I allowed to use this? For images of people, private property, art, and distinctive buildings, that worry has a name. Two of them, actually: the model release and the property release.
Most founders building their first website have never heard these terms until a stock library mentions them in fine print, or worse, until they get an email asking them to take an image down. This post explains what each release covers, when commercial website use tends to trigger the need, and where the honest gray areas are.
A quick note before anything else: this is general information, not legal advice. Release standards vary by country and situation, and the rules for your jurisdiction are something to confirm with a qualified professional. For how Picdrome handles usage, the Picdrome Image License are the source of truth.
What a model release is
A model release is a signed permission from a person whose likeness appears in an image, allowing that image to be used for certain purposes. The key word is identifiable. A release becomes relevant when a real person can be recognized in a photo: their face, but sometimes also a distinctive tattoo, profile, or other identifying feature.
The release matters most for commercial use, where the image promotes a product, service, or business. Without a release, using a recognizable person's image to sell something can run into rights of publicity and privacy laws. Those laws differ significantly from place to place, and the threshold for what counts as commercial use is not identical everywhere.
On a website, the contexts where a model release question naturally comes up include:
- Hero images with people. A large header photo of a person, placed next to your headline and call to action, reads as promotion for your business.
- About-page portraits. Photos meant to represent your team, your founder, or your customers.
- Testimonial and review sections. A face next to a quote, even a generic one.
If the person in any of these is a real, identifiable individual, the safe path is knowing a valid release exists for the way you're using the image.
What a property release is
A property release is the same idea applied to things rather than people. It's a signed permission from the owner of recognizable private property, distinctive architecture, or a piece of art that appears prominently in an image.
This one surprises people. You might assume that if you took or licensed a photo of a building, you can use it freely. Sometimes that's true. But certain private properties, distinctive building designs, interior spaces, and artworks can carry their own claims, and the standards for when a property release is needed vary by jurisdiction and by what's actually depicted.
Common website contexts where property questions appear:
- Location or building backgrounds. A storefront, office interior, or architectural backdrop behind your text.
- Section dividers and ambiance images. A recognizable private space used to set a mood.
- Product-in-context shots. Your product staged inside an identifiable private location.
To keep examples clean and avoid suggesting anything specific is or isn't fair game, this post deliberately doesn't name real landmarks, branded buildings, or trademarked designs. The general rule is simpler than memorizing exceptions: if a private property, distinctive structure, or artwork is the recognizable subject of an image you're using commercially, it's worth checking whether a release applies.
When commercial website use actually triggers the need
There is no single global rule that says "you always need a release" or "you never do." Anyone who tells you otherwise is oversimplifying. Whether a release is required depends on what's depicted, how you're using it, and the laws where you and your audience are.
That said, a few patterns hold up well enough to guide decisions. The table below maps common website uses to whether a release question is likely to come up. Treat the right column as "is this worth checking," not a verdict.
| Website use | Identifiable real person? | Recognizable private property/art? | Release worth checking? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero with a real model promoting your offer | Yes | Maybe | Model release likely relevant |
| About-page portrait of a real person | Yes | No | Model release likely relevant |
| Generic background, no faces, public scene | No | No | Usually low concern |
| Distinctive private building as the subject | No | Yes | Property release worth checking |
| Artwork or sculpture as a focal element | No | Yes | Property/copyright worth checking |
| Crowd scene, no one individually featured | Borderline | No | Gray area, see below |
The thread running through every "yes" is the same: commercial promotion plus a recognizable subject. The more your image is selling something and the more clearly a specific person or property is identifiable, the more a release matters.
The gray areas, and why editorial versus commercial matters
The cleanest dividing line in this whole topic is the difference between editorial and commercial use, and it's worth understanding because it explains a lot of the confusion.
Editorial use means an image illustrates news, commentary, or factual reporting. Commercial use means an image promotes a product, service, or brand. Many images you'll see described as "editorial use only" are exactly the ones without releases. They're fine for an article about a topic, but not for an ad or a sales page. A business website is, in most cases, closer to commercial use, which is why founders can't always rely on images licensed only for editorial purposes.
The genuine gray areas:
- Crowd and background people. A person who appears incidentally in a wide shot sits differently from a person featured front and center, but "incidental" is a judgment call, not a bright line.
- Public versus private spaces. Where a photo was taken can affect the analysis, and the rules aren't uniform across jurisdictions.
- What counts as "commercial." A blog post on your business site might feel editorial to you while still being read as commercial because it lives on a revenue-generating site.
When you're unsure, two moves help: choose images where these questions don't arise in the first place, and, for anything important, get advice from someone qualified in your jurisdiction. For the broader picture of staying out of trouble, see how to avoid copyright and trademark trouble and our look at whether 'free' stock photo sites are actually safe.
How AI-generated imagery avoids many release traps
This is where Picdrome's approach changes the math, though not as completely as you might hope.
Picdrome's images are AI-generated. The people in them are not real individuals, which means there's no actual person with a publicity or privacy claim, and so the classic model-release scenario doesn't arise the way it does with photographs of real models. The same logic reduces many property concerns, because the scenes are generated rather than captured from a specific real-world building or private space. For the about-page portrait, the hero with a person, and the location background, this removes a large category of worry before it starts.
Two honest cautions, because AI is not a magic eraser:
- AI does not automatically eliminate every likeness or property concern. A generated image could still resemble a real person closely, or echo a distinctive real building or a protected design. The technology reduces these risks; it doesn't guarantee their absence in every single output.
- An AI-generated person is not a real, releasable model, and not a real customer. Never present a generated face as an actual team member, a genuine testimonial, or a real client. That's an accuracy and honesty issue separate from releases entirely.
So the accurate framing is this: AI-generated imagery sidesteps many of the release situations that photographs create, which is a real advantage for non-designer founders who don't want to manage release paperwork. It's an advantage, not an absolute shield.
For the specifics of how these images are made and what that means for your use, see the AI image disclosure page. And because usage terms always govern the final answer, the Picdrome Image License state plainly that images are free to use for personal and commercial website projects, subject to those terms.
In Plain English
A model release is signed permission to use an image of an identifiable real person; a property release is signed permission to use an image of recognizable private property, distinctive architecture, or art. They matter most when you're using an image commercially, which most business websites are. There's no single worldwide rule for when a release is required, so the practical move is to notice when an image has a recognizable real person or property as its subject and check from there. AI-generated images, like Picdrome's, avoid many of these traps because the people and places aren't real, but they don't erase every likeness or property concern, and an AI face is never a real customer. When something matters, confirm with a qualified professional in your jurisdiction. This is general information, not legal advice.
This post is part of our guide on using free and AI-generated images safely. Start there for the full plain-English picture, then come back here whenever a specific image makes you pause.
Common Questions
Do I need a release for an AI-generated person on my about page?
Because the person isn't a real individual, the standard model-release situation generally doesn't apply. Just don't present that face as a real team member or customer. See the AI image disclosure page for details.
Is my business blog "editorial" use?
It can feel that way, but because it lives on a site that promotes your business, it may be treated as commercial. When that distinction matters for a specific image, get advice for your jurisdiction.
A photo's subject is a building. Am I safe?
Not automatically. Distinctive private buildings, interiors, and architectural designs can carry their own claims, and the standards vary by location. If the structure is the recognizable subject and you're using it commercially, it's worth checking.
Where do Picdrome's actual usage rights come from?
From the Picdrome Image License, which allow free use for personal and commercial website projects, subject to those terms.