For uploaders

Uploader Terms of Service

Version 2026-09-09

These Uploader Terms of Service (the "Terms") are entered into between you ("you" or "Uploader") and Kelp ("Kelp", "we", "us") and govern your submission of images and other media to the Kelp Market platform (the "Platform"). By ticking the consent box presented before an upload, or by otherwise submitting content to the Platform, you accept these Terms. The version in force for any upload is the version you accepted with that upload.

1. Definitions

  1. "Content" means any image, photograph, video, or other media file you upload to or submit through the Platform, together with associated metadata you provide.
  2. "Platform Services" means the hosting, processing, evaluation, verification, distribution, display, licensing, and sale of Content operated by Kelp, including through datasets and application programming interfaces.
  3. "Dataset" means any curated collection of Content offered by Kelp for license or sale, in whole or in part.

2. Your Content; Ownership; Rights

  1. You retain ownership of the copyright in your Content, subject to the license granted in Section 4.
  2. You represent and warrant that every item of Content you upload is your own original work, or that you hold all rights, title, and interest in and to the Content necessary to submit it under these Terms.
  3. Where any person, trademark, property, or protected work appears in your Content, you represent and warrant that you hold, or have obtained, all necessary model releases, property releases, licenses, and written permissions.
  4. You represent and warrant that your Content does not contain anything unlawful, defamatory, obscene, infringing, deceptive, or otherwise objectionable, and that its upload, evaluation, and distribution under these Terms does not violate any applicable law or third-party right.
  5. You represent and warrant that all metadata you submit with Content, and all information in your account, is accurate and not misleading.

3. License to Kelp

  1. You grant Kelp a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (to service providers and distribution partners acting on Kelp's behalf) license to host, store, reproduce, process, analyze, evaluate, verify, adapt, distribute, display, and make available your Content for the purpose of operating, improving, promoting, and providing the Platform Services.
  2. The license includes the right to create and store derivative technical artifacts of your Content — including thumbnails, resized presets, content identifiers, fingerprints, embedded and sidecar metadata, and proofs — solely in connection with the Platform Services.
  3. The license survives termination of your account with respect to Content already distributed or incorporated into Datasets sold or licensed before termination, and with respect to archival copies retained for legal, security, or audit purposes.
  4. Nothing in these Terms obliges Kelp to use, distribute, display, or sell your Content.

4. Commercialization Discretion

  1. Kelp has sole and absolute discretion to decide which uploaded Content is offered for sale, in which Datasets it is included, at what price it is offered, on what license terms it is made available, and which Content is made available free of charge.
  2. You acknowledge and agree that you have no veto over these decisions, and that Kelp has no obligation to consult you, notify you, or provide reasons for any commercialization decision, including a decision not to commercialize your Content.
  3. Inclusion of your Content in a Dataset does not guarantee any sale, license, or earnings.

5. Earnings

  1. If your Content is sold or licensed, your creator earnings are calculated according to the revenue-share terms published by Kelp on the Platform at the time of the sale.
  2. Payouts are subject to any minimum payout thresholds, payment-processing deductions, applicable taxes, and identity or tax verification Kelp reasonably requires.
  3. Kelp may withhold earnings reasonably suspected of arising from a breach of these Terms or from fraud, pending resolution.

6. Acceptable Use

  1. You must not upload Content you do not have the rights to submit, or attempt to misrepresent the origin, authorship, or provenance of any Content.
  2. You must not interfere with, circumvent, or attempt to defeat the Platform's verification, provenance, or integrity mechanisms.
  3. You must not upload Content generated in whole or in part by automated or generative means where the Platform requires authentic, camera-captured material, unless the upload channel expressly permits it.

7. Representations, Warranties, and Indemnification

  1. You represent and warrant that your acceptance and performance of these Terms, and Kelp's exercise of the rights granted in Section 3, will not infringe any third-party right or violate any applicable law.
  2. You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Kelp, its affiliates, and their officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to (a) your Content, (b) your breach of these Terms, or (c) your violation of any law or third-party right.

8. Termination; Removal of Content

  1. You may stop using the Platform and delete your account at any time, subject to Section 3.3.
  2. Kelp may remove Content, suspend your account, or terminate these Terms immediately if you breach these Terms, if Kelp receives a valid legal complaint regarding your Content, or where necessary to protect the Platform, its users, or third parties.
  3. Sections 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10 survive termination.

9. Disclaimer; Limitation of Liability

  1. The Platform Services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
  2. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Kelp will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to these Terms or your Content.
  3. Kelp's aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms will not exceed the total creator earnings actually paid to you by Kelp in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

10. Changes; General

  1. Kelp may update these Terms from time to time. The version in force for any upload is the one you accepted with that upload; material changes are identified by a new version marker, and you will be asked to accept the current version again before further uploads.
  2. These Terms, together with the Platform's published Privacy Policy and revenue-share terms, constitute the entire agreement between you and Kelp regarding your Content.
  3. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in force.
  4. Kelp's failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that provision.