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I’ve been asked to license my footage…
I’ve been contacted by a producer from an out of state marketing agency that is interested in using some of my footage for an online video they\’re producing. I have never sold footage this way before, and was looking for advice on how to handle this, and what to look out for. They are a larger company that have been in business for decades.
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10 Replies
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[Bill Petropoulos] “They are a larger company that have been in business for decades.”
Tell them you’re too busy to write a license agreement and ask them to prepare one. Trust me, they do this all the time. The important things that absolutely be stated in the document are as follows:
1) For one time usage only in the project titled ______________. (this is paramount for you. They don’t own your footage, they’re just licensing it for this project.)
2) The price they’re paying (hopefully $65 per second minimum or more) in writing.
3) Where they get to show it… (TV? World wide? Domestic only?) Pin them down now to what they want to pay for now, and if they come back later you can get additional fees.
Come back and tell us what they’ve written before you sign…
Good luck!
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
http://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Thank You David for the great advice.
If I don’t like their monetary offer, how much should I haggle?-Bill
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It all depends on the rarity of the footage you’re licensing. If the material is impossible to get without spending a fortune, then you’re in the driver’s seat and the world is your oyster. I used to license a single 7-second underwater shot of a seal caught in a gill net for $1500 a pop, because there was no amount of money that could have insured a camera crew would return with a similar shot.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
http://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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The few times we have licensed footage it has been a lot of effort for a small payoff. I always found it odd that the networks I heard from didn’t have a source for what they were seeking. Then once I located what they were looking for, they asked if they really had to pay, because their budgets were so low.
As David said, if it is something rare, they will pay. But for typical stock footage, there are so many sources it is a buyer’s market.
And make sure you have the right to sell your footage. If you have shot something for a client, it may not be yours to sell.
We have a huge library of surgery video, but we can only sell it in selected ways, as specified by the contract we have in place.
Mike Cohen
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I don’t think my footage is rare, it’s actually just some handheld footage I took while on vacation. Not an exotic location neither. I’m guessing it would just save them the cost of sending a crew out?
Thanks for the help, I’ll be speaking to the producer today, and I’ll post how it goes. -
So I spoke to the producer, and they want three of my clips, for a price close to the $65 a second mark as recommended by David.
They want to license the clips for one year, for use in just one internet video.
He said he’d be sending me a purchase order.
Should the licensing agreement be written within the purchase order, or separate?-Bill
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[Bill]
Should the licensing agreement be written within the purchase order, or separate?Written yes! Combined as one document, no. Just as long as the agreement specifies the footage, the parties involved, the dates and the amounts and is signed its fine. The PO is just the means to get you paid, to resolve the terms of the contract. They should come together. Though a PO is not a check! It’s just “proof” of order from one dept so you can bill their accounting dept.
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Cory Petkovsek
Corporate Video
CorporateVideoSD.com -
I agree and disagree with David. You should always have a license agreement but you should be the one to send the license agreement. This way you can have all the terms of the agreement defaulted in your favor. I recently drafted a footage license agreement for an award winning cinematographer, and I wanted to make it available for others: https://nimia.com/standard-stock-footage-license-agreement/
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I am in the same boat as the original poster of this thread. The producer that wants my footage is working on a TV show for a well known Cable TV Network and wanted 5-15 seconds of 2 clips I shot. They want to be able to use it all media meaning TV, online, social media etc. and they wanted usage for 10 years. Would I use the example agreement you posted or would I need the “by the second” License Agreement?
Speaking of your example agreement, are we allowed to use that or did you post it just to give us an idea on how to put one together?
Thanks!
Cre8tive Minds Entertainment, LLC
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You can use the license agreement I posted. It is on a per clip basis. You would only need to use a per second license agreement if you were sending them a 10 minute video and they were only going to use 15 seconds. Most of the time you send them only the 15 seconds so the the per clip license is fine. Check out nimia.com/legal for more legal info on licensing video content. All the best, Eric
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