Existing images and footage

Any existing still image, video or film footage will be someone’s intellectual property.

Obviously you would expect to pay to use pictures the producer gets from a film or photo library, but what about your old corporate video?

Who owns the footage in that?

The answer lies in the contract that was signed with the original producer.

If you used an “old-school” production company, you may find that they still own the copyright and that your company is only “licensed” to use the video, even though you provided the facilities and paid for a production which would not have been made otherwise. Beware!

Also, there is a convention that your producer can make use of unused shots or offcuts in other productions. 

If this is a problem for security or other reasons, tell the producer, but remember that other people’s offcuts may be a very useful source of shots for your own production.

It works both ways.

In practice, most organisations are reasonable about using shot here and there of each’s footage, so long as there is no obvious conflict of interest.

In some situations, a particular production company may have been chosen because their own in-house library of footage is precise what you need.

Next: The rough cut and final cut >>