Public domain and simple rights managed licensing offer significant benefits for content creators, educators, businesses, and filmmakers, allowing for easier and more flexible use of media assets. Buyout Footage offers these two distinct types of footage licensing models based on the source of the footage itself.
Public domain archival footage is licensed for multiple projects and does not require additional licensing fees based on use. We document the original source of the of the footage when acquired through government archives and provide copyright search reports for privately published works that are no longer under copyright protection in the United States. This provides the due diligence and assurance documentation necessary to comply with most Errors and Omissions production insurance policies.
Buyout Footage owns and represents a large number of video titles primarily from the 1980s - 1990s that are not in the public domain. These titles are licensed on a simple 2 tiered basis for simplicity and affordability.
Buyout Footage proprietary content includes video footage related to the World Trade Center attack on 9/11, vintage home movie films, and an extensive video library from the 1980's - 1990's. We offer rights managed licensing tiers for digital only | non-broadcast, and all media.
Non-proprietary content includes films, cartoons, short subjects, television shows, TV commercials, PSA's, newsreels, presidential speeches, U.S. military and government produced works. This content is primarily considered public domain and we provide source documentation and licensing to that effect.
There are 3rd party rights to be aware of that have nothing to do with copyright. These include rights of privacy, rights of publicity, and trademarks, and are typically associated with commercial exploitation - such as advertising for products or services. For more information, please review our Public Domain Usage Guidlines
We offer complete films, individual reels, or custom cuts tailored to your project's needs. Historical films transferred uncompressed, delivered in ProRes 422HQ for the finest quality available. Source documentation and copyright search reports satisfying most E&O production insurance requirements.