OK, I'm sure you will tell me this has been in the MR for months/years, but I only noticed today ...
It's been a while since I needed a MR, so I thought I had better adjust mine and make it closer to the 2023 Shutterstock release.


Must say I was unpleasantly surprised to read this :
I (the Model) hereby grant to the Contributor and Shutterstock Inc. (collectively "the Contributor") the right to ....  (bla bla) ...
and in the next paragraph :
I hereby agree that all rights in and to the Content, including the copyright, are and shall remain the sole property of the Contributor ....


What ? ??


Of course, there is no problem for myself, as I always make a "generic" model release, NOT mentioning Shutterstock or any other Agency, but are there really photographers that simply copy this text ?

I have a 2004 Shutterstock model release, and the form is essentially the same. Other agencies have the same idea, but it's expressed differently and thus sounds less worrying.

I believe the reason this hasn't caused any problems is that a model cannot grant rights to anyone that the model doesn't have, and thus there is no way they can grant SS copyright in a photograph when the model doesn't have that in the first place.

The essential part of that sentence is that the model is not making a claim on the copyright; agreeing that the rights are "...free and clear from any claims by me or anyone acting on my behalf."

Very true ... but you might expect from a company like Shutterstock - who I'm sure have a big team of lawyers - would be able to write a less ambiguous sentence.

The second paragraph has nothing to do with the first.

I agree, but the "collectively the Contributor" applies to the entire document ...