archive_footage_licensing v1.0.0

name: "archive_footage_licensing" description: "Source stock and public-domain footage legally: choose the right licence tier, verify public-domain status, clear faces, trademarks and music, and keep a clearance ledger. Use when a video needs archive clips, B-roll from stock libraries, or historical footage."

Archive Footage Licensing

Purpose

Get footage into a video without legal trouble. The job covers three things: find the footage, buy or verify the right to use it, and prove you did both. "Royalty-free" is a licence tier, not a synonym for free. Public domain means no permission needed, but the copy you download is only public domain if its copyright status actually checks out.

Workflow

1. Define the need. For each clip: where it appears in the cut, how long it shows, what platform it ships on, territories, and whether it promotes a product. Promotional use raises the clearance bar sharply. See references/clearance-checklist.md for the decision tree.
2. Source it. Match the need to a source, not the other way around.

• Need exclusivity or one-of-a-kind shots: rights-managed stock (Getty, etc.), licence scoped to the exact use.
• Need flexible reuse across projects: royalty-free stock (one fee, broad use, no exclusivity).
• Need free: public-domain archives (references/archive-sources.md). Verify each item's status individually; "uploaded as public domain" is a claim, not a fact.
• Commercial use: only use footage whose licence covers commercial use. Editorial-only clips never go in ads, sponsorships, or branded content.

1. Clear it. Before locking the edit, walk every clip through the clearance checklist: model/property releases for recognisable people and private locations, trademark check for logos and signage, music check (no uncleared background music inside the clip; silent or certified-clean only for commercial use). Right-of-publicity releases must be in writing when footage promotes something.
2. Buy and record. Name the licensee correctly at purchase (client name, not yours, for client work; subscription licences usually cannot transfer). Download and file the licence agreement, invoice, and any release forms.
3. Log it. Initialise the clearance ledger and keep it current; see bin/clearance_log.py. If a platform flags the video later, this ledger plus the filed licences is how you win the dispute.

Output Contract

• A clearance_ledger.csv covering every non-original clip in the final cut: clip id, timecode, source, licence tier, licensee, territories/term, model/property release status, music status, clearance status (cleared / pending / blocked), notes.
• Filed copies of each licence agreement and release form, named to match the ledger's clip ids.
• A go/no-go per clip: cleared clips stay, pending clips get an owner and a date, blocked clips get replaced before the video ships.

Operating Rules

1. Never claim a clip is public domain without verifying the item's stated status at its archive page, and record the URL and access date in the ledger.
2. Never put editorial-use-only footage in commercial, promotional, or sponsored work. This includes title cards and thumbnails.
3. "Royalty-free" never means "free of obligations". Read the licence for the exclusions: resale-as-is, sensitive-use, and trademark/model-release caveats all vary by agency.
4. Faces, logos, artwork, and audible music inside a licensed clip are separate clearance problems. The stock licence covers the footage's copyright, not necessarily everything in it.
5. If you cannot verify a clip's status, treat it as blocked. A substitute shot is always cheaper than a dispute.
6. This skill is not legal advice. When real money, broadcast, or a litigious rights holder is involved, get a clearance professional or attorney.