5 min readVSNRY Motion

Who Owns The Film And The Footage?

RightsAI Video

Short answer. Ownership is what we agree in writing when a project is priced and confirmed after the brief. We hand over the finished masters in the formats and aspect ratios set at the brief. Platform licences, client supplied assets, music clearances and performer consents affect permitted uses of generated footage and must be recorded in the project agreement.

What you receive

We deliver colour graded masters with logo lock ups in the aspect ratios and formats agreed at the brief. That description is how we explain delivery in our services and method pages, and it is the point from which any ownership or permitted uses should be described in the project paperwork.

The method page says every sequence is broken into directed shot sheets before a single frame is generated. A shot sheet fixes blocking, lensing, lighting and continuity, and it is the directing record that lets any master be traced back to the written direction.

A project is priced from the brief and confirmed in writing before anything starts. That written confirmation is the moment to set who owns the masters, whether raw generated footage is included, and any platform, music or consent limits so they do not come as a surprise later.

Client supplied assets

Brand assets you supply, such as logos, product references, existing footage or a script, are used for your project only and are not reused on another client’s work according to our responsible production page. Treat that as current practice and ask for it in writing if you need a contractual warranty.

No standard retention rule exists, so how long supplied files are kept and what happens to them when a project ends is agreed project by project. If retention, return or deletion matters to your legal or archive teams, set the period and the process in the brief and in the pricing confirmation.

The studio does not train models on client assets and does not reuse them elsewhere, but that is recorded as current practice rather than a standard contract clause. If you need an explicit warranty or an assignment of rights over supplied material, make it part of the written project paperwork at pricing.

Generated footage and platform licences

Production runs on third party generative platforms, and each of those services has its own terms that can affect what a client may do with the output. The studio and any work made on those platforms are bound by their licence terms, so check them early.

The method page makes clear the studio is not tied to a single provider and that the stack listed there reflects the tools in use today rather than a commitment. Because terms vary across services, the contract is the place to reconcile any licence limits with an assignment of rights.

Where a licence would limit client use, list the constraint in the written confirmation at pricing and reconcile it with any assignment of rights. That prevents a mismatch between what a platform permits and what the paperwork transfers to you.

When real people or third party rights matter

Where a project needs a real person’s likeness or voice deliberately, documented permission must be in hand before production rather than after. The responsible production page notes there is no standard consent form yet, so get the permission in writing and attach it to the brief if required.

Music and audio must be cleared for the use intended. Generated audio, licensed library tracks and a client’s own supplied track create different rights situations, and a track cleared for internal review is not automatically cleared for a paid campaign. Say who clears what, for which territories and which media.

The studio will not place other brands, trademarks or trade dress into a piece to borrow recognition. There is no formal clearance checklist, so if third party products or marks are needed include the searches and permissions you require in the brief and the written confirmation at pricing.

What the studio has not written down

The responsible production page is a working draft. It was written by the team that built this site and has not been through legal review. The page names where practice exists and where no policy has yet been published.

There is no published approval and sign off procedure. The page notes there is no written approval procedure, no named client approver, and no formal definition of final. On projects so far approvals have been handled in conversation.

The studio has not published a standard rights clearance form, a consent form for likeness or voice, or a retention and deletion policy. Those items are treated as project by project. If any of them matter to you, insist they are spelled out in the brief and in the pricing confirmation.

What to ask for at the brief

Start the rights conversation early. Use the brief to set formats, languages and the practical question of what the piece has to do. The brief form asks all of that and the creative director reads it and replies within 24 hours.

The Every Market Calculator shows how the pipeline and a traditional shoot behave as you add languages and formats, but it is an estimate not a quote. Use the calculator to think through versions and timing, and take the tool result to the brief discussion where price and any rights assignment are confirmed in writing.

If a platform licence, music clearance or performer consent limits use, ask for the constraint in writing and make it part of the pricing confirmation. Record who clears music, the territories and the permitted media, and whether raw generated footage is included in delivery. That removes ambiguity between what a platform allows and what the contract transfers.

Sources

Common questions

Who owns the finished master film?
The studio delivers finished masters in the formats agreed at the brief, but it does not publish a standard ownership rule on the site. Ownership and any delivery of raw generated footage are set out in the written confirmation that follows the brief.
Do you reuse assets I supply across other projects?
Current practice is to use client supplied brand assets only on that client's project and not to reuse them on another client's work. That practice has not been written into a standard contract clause, so ask for a contractual warranty if you need one.
Do platform licences affect my rights in generated footage?
Yes. Work is produced on third party platforms whose licence terms can change what rights you have in the output. Where a licence would limit use, ask that any licence constraints be reconciled with the rights the contract transfers and included in the written confirmation at pricing.
Will you clear music and performer rights?
Music must be cleared for the use it is going into, and documented permission is required before production for any real person's likeness or voice. The studio has not published a standard clearance process, so agree who clears what and for which territories in the project paperwork.
How long do you keep my supplied files and raw footage?
No standard retention rule exists; retention and deletion are agreed on a project by project basis. If how long files are kept, are returned, or deleted matters to you, set the period and the deletion process in the brief and the written confirmation at pricing.

More notes

Working on something like this?

These notes describe how the studio runs its own productions. If you have a piece that needs the same discipline, send the brief over. Nothing is committed and nothing is quoted at that stage.

Brief a ProjectSee the method

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