Microstock: Be Aware of What the License Agreement Means

I mentioned in this blog post about the use of one of my photos as a book cover for a gay book.  I thought it was a direct violation from the particular agency's license restriction course, which states:

Use that depicts model in a sensitive way i.e. mental or physical health issues, substance
abuse, criminal behavior, sexual activity or preference without a disclaimer.

So I contacted the agency, and their compliance enforcement team came back to me with this:

We are of the belief that this usage is permitted within the terms of the Agreement. There are a number of reasons for this. First and most importantly, most novels clearly state in the forward of the book that it is a work of fiction and any similarities to persons real or fake are coincidence. This in itself would be considered a disclaimer. To be quite honest, the likelihood that anybody would reasonably believe that the cover image is not a model seems very far off.

I am quite disappointed with this answer, and in my opinion, they are siding with the publisher.  

Next time, when you upload something for sale, be aware of what the license agreement actually means.  When it comes to legal terms, they can be very different from common sense.