Video copyright and licensing guide

Being a professional video creator involves a whole lot of work. Not only do you have to spend tons of time editing, but also your day doesn’t end in the edit bay. 

There’s a whole other legal side that you need to know about as you create. It’s a little thing called copyright law.   

Copyright is nuanced, so keeping a finger pulse keeps you armed with knowledge — because if you’re blithely creating without an understanding of copyright, the work you create could get you sued.

The views reflected in the article are solely that of the author’s and do not represent Vimeo’s views. While this is valuable information and you should take the time to learn about things like copyright, this article ISN’T legal advice. Legal advice comes only from a lawyer you’ve hired to advise you on your particular situation. So, if you have questions or want to put these concepts into practice, talk to an attorney.

Dealing with copyright might seem overwhelming and scary—but it doesn’t have to be! In this article, you’ll get the 101 of copyright…Basically, the bare minimum you need to confidently run your video production business.

Know your copyright…rights 

If you’re a video producer, you’re in the copyright business. Full stop. Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let’s review the basics. Simply put, here’s what copyright does:

Copyrights protect creative work, like books, movies, videos, music, sculpture, choreography, poems, and photographs. 

Copyright law prevents people from stealing and using your creative work as their own. It’s not the same thing as a trademark (that protects your brand), and it’s not the same as a patent (that protects novel inventions). Copyright also doesn’t protect ideas since copyright only protects works that are fixed in tangible form. Ideas don’t become tangible until they are turned into a creative work like a book, film, or anything else that copyright protects.

Now, let’s go deeper.

How to copyright your videos 

Even though your videos have a copyright when you create them, it’s not quite enough protection.

To truly guard your videos under today’s copyright law, you must register a copyright. Without registration, you cannot sue someone for infringing your copyright. Also, copyright registration provides additional benefits, like attorney fees and enhanced damages in an infringement lawsuit.

You can register a copyright online by going to the United States Copyright Office website and filling out the proper forms. These forms can be a little convoluted, so it’s a bright idea—and a major time and energy saver—to seek help from an attorney who can walk you through the steps. 

Note that there are scenarios where the copyright can get a little more complicated. For instance, if you collaborate with other creators to make a video, you will likely have a shared copyright. 

Similarly, if you create a video while an employee, your employer might own the video. It’s important to know that situations like this exist and will affect how you can register your copyright.

Why video pros should know the basics of copyright and licensing

Being a busy video professional means you don’t have time to worry about getting sued for using stock imagery for B-roll. Having an introductory knowledge of copyright helps you avoid legal entanglements, dodge penalties, and skip paying big fees. 

Protect yourself with licensing 

There are many ways to get the rights to use someone else’s work. 

First, start by assuming that you need permission from whoever created the thing you want to use. So even if it’s something little or you’re not using much of it, you should assume that you need permission. In copyright circles, getting that permission is called licensing. 

Licensing means that the creator of a video gives you the all clear to use the footage, image, etc.

If the original creator accuses you of infringement, you point to a valid license as a complete defense against copyright infringement. Without a license, you’re gambling with some big legal problems.

For example, you might have to pay large legal fees and damages when using a video without proper license.

Avoid copyright infringement

There are two words every video professional should dread: copyright infringement.

Luckily, the easiest way to avoid infringement is to get a license for anything you want to use in your videos. 

Using a part of someone else’s video? Get a license. Using someone else’s music? You guessed it…get a license.

Copyright infringement can change your life…and not in a good way. Penalties for infringing someone’s copyright range from a few thousand dollars ($$$$) to hundreds of thousands ($$$$$$). Yikes. 

Not to mention dealing with aggressive attorneys and the time and energy needed to defend yourself. And excuses like “I didn’t know,” “It was an accident,” or “I only used a little!” typically won’t work. 

Now, there might be situations where you don’t need one. Still, you should consult an attorney to understand how these situations work. For example, if you want to use Fair Use to incorporate footage in your video, then you should have legal advice reassuring you it’s appropriate to use.

Another thing to note is that even beyond the financial and legal penalties for infringement, many platforms have policies that kick off repeat infringers (for instance, YouTube’s three strike policy). As a video pro in today’s crowded market, you need as much digital real estate as you can get. Getting blacklisted from YouTube? Not a flex.

Well, what is Fair Use, exactly? 

Fair use is not what many people think it is — and that can cause big problems. 

Fair use allows people to use other peoples’ creative work without permission if they use that work for criticism and commentary on the original work or to transform it into something else.

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There’s a lot of misinformation out there about fair use. For instance, “If I use less than X amount of something, it’s fair use” is a classic, as is “We’re a non-profit, so it’s fair use.”  

Neither of these misconceptions are true. Fair Use comes into play when a video or creative product is used for: 

• Commentary
• Educational purposes
• Criticism
• Transformative use (this basically means the work is transformed in a new and unexpected way that doesn’t violate the original copyright)

This is just scratching the surface on the topic. If you want to know more about fair use, the US Copyright Office provides an excellent overview. It’s recommended that people consult a legal opinion when considering fair use, as the doctrine can be rather slippery and a mistake can lead to huge consequences.

Then what does non-copyright video mean? 

Certain types of videos have different copyright rules. Here are a few of them.

• Creative Commons videos have specific licenses you must abide by. Creative Commons doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. Pay close attention to the rules of each Creative Commons license to ensure you understand what you can and cannot do with this type of resource.
• Stock video makes it easy to license video from a variety of places. Different license structures let you use as much video as you need.
• Public domain videos mean a video is so old that its copyright has expired, making it free to use.

How can you tell if a video is copyrighted?

By default, all video is subject to copyright law. Assume you need permission and seek permission. An exception would be public-domain videos; these are so old that anyone can use them.

If you’re curious whether a video is in the public domain, you can Google public domain calculators online, which are often databases put together by different universities. However, don’t rely solely on these tools. Even though they offer some idea about whether or not something is in the public domain, it’s not a perfect system. 

Frequently asked questions about video copyright

Can video be copyrighted? 

Yep! Since copyright protects creative works and videos are a type of creative work, copyright protects videos. Like books, music, films, and other creative works, videos are protected by copyright law. That means that nobody can use a creator’s videos without permission from the creator.

How long is video copyrighted for?

Video copyrights last for quite a while. Currently, video copyrights last for 70 years plus the life of the author and 100 years from publication for a corporation. (This isn’t set in stone, and is subject to change at any time, which is yet another reason to keep yourself apprised of the latest in copyright law!)

How do I copyright my own videos? 

Good news! When you create something, it’s automatically copyrighted. But that’s not the end of the story. You also need to partner up with a lawyer and register your work. 

Key takeaways

Knowing more about how video copyrights work can transform how you do business, whether that’s: 

• Changing how you source B-roll to make sure it has the appropriate licenses.
• Lawyering up to protect your own videos in the event of an infringement 
• Learning how to get rights to use someone’s creative right the first time, with fewer headaches 
• Knowing how much your own footage is worth, in case you ever want to make a little side money licensing it 
• Not going it alone, which is key for the scrappy video pro just getting started. You can’t know what you don’t know! 

Since copyright law is ever-changing, the work of learning about copyright law is never complete. Even an introductory-level understanding of copyright as a video professional will help your video production business thrive in the long run. 

Remember: this intro to copyright law isn’t legal advice. Don’t use this information without guidance from expert legal counsel who are qualified to help creators with the nuances of copyright law.**

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