Who Owns the Footage? Copyright, Usage, and the Raw Footage Question

One of the biggest headaches I deal with as a solo creator is copyright and usage.

It’s not malicious. It’s just deeply misunderstood.

At the core of almost every issue is one simple assumption:

“We paid for it, so we own it.”

I see this most often with small businesses, local marketing teams, and people who genuinely want to do the right thing—but don’t really know how copyright works.

Even with contracts in place, I still have clients come back after a project is finished saying things like:

“I thought we got all the footage?”

And that’s where things go sideways.

It strains relationships, stresses out both sides, and leaves a bad taste for everyone involved. So let’s slow this down and walk through how copyright and usage actually work in the real world—especially for freelancers and the businesses that hire them.

👉 why content should be treated as infrastructure

What the Law Says (In Plain English)

At the most basic level, copyright is simple:

The person who creates the work owns it the moment it’s created.

No paperwork.
No registration.
No payment threshold that changes that fact.

If you take the photo or record the video, you own the copyright by default.

One of the strangest real-world examples of this was the infamous “Monkey Selfie” case. A wildlife photographer was in Indonesia when a monkey grabbed his camera and—somehow—took a selfie. The photo went viral, and the photographer began selling it.

PETA then sued on behalf of the monkey, arguing that the monkey owned the copyright because it pressed the shutter. As absurd as it sounds, the photographer ended up settling and donating 25% of the proceeds to charity.

The takeaway isn’t the monkey—it’s the principle:

Copyright starts with the act of creation.

If you press the button, you own the asset—unless something else is explicitly agreed to.

“But We Paid for It…”

This is where most confusion comes in.

Paying for creative work does not automatically transfer ownership.

What payment usually buys is permission to use the finished product, not ownership of the underlying assets.

Here’s a simple example:

You hire a video team to create a 30-second commercial. Without a written agreement that says otherwise, you don’t own:

• The raw footage

• The project files

• The underlying copyright

• Or even the finished video itself

You’re paying for the creation of the work—and the usage rights that come with it.

The Work-for-Hire Exception

There is an exception called work-for-hire, but it typically applies to employees, not freelancers.

If you’re a W-2 employee and your job involves creating content, your employer usually owns everything you make as part of that role.

In freelance photo and video work, true work-for-hire arrangements are rare. Most everyday projects follow the default rule:

The creator owns the work.

Ownership vs. Usage (This Is the Key Distinction)

Ownership and usage are not the same thing.

When you hire a creator, you may not own the work—but you do receive usage rights. And those rights are a major part of what you’re paying for.

That might sound like a bad deal at first:

“Wait, I paid for this and I don’t own it?”

Correct.
But you can use it—and how you can use it should be clearly defined.

A Quick Tangent: Contracts Matter

Have a contract.

Early in my career, I worked under an honor-system model. No contracts. Just trust. That led to more disputes than I care to count.

When I went solo, someone close to me—who ran her own business—pointed out something that stuck:

“Do you have a contract? If not, your argument is invalid.”

She was right.

Contracts don’t just protect creators. They protect clients. They preserve relationships by putting expectations in writing—what’s included, what isn’t, and how the project works.

And when disagreements do happen, being able to say “According to our agreement…” removes emotion from the conversation. It becomes business, not personal.

Almost anything can be negotiated—as long as it’s discussed upfront.

Raw footage?
Extended usage?
Third-party transfers?

All doable. Just not after the fact.

👉 how my projects are structured and priced

How Usage Used to Work (And Why It Changed)

Years ago, creative work was licensed under what’s called rights-managed licensing.

Usage was specific and limited:

• One campaign

• One medium

• One region

• One timeframe

A photo licensed for billboards in one city for six months couldn’t be reused elsewhere without renegotiation—and prices reflected that.

That model made sense when distribution was limited and expensive.

Then the internet and social media changed everything.

Businesses suddenly needed:

• Website assets

• Social media posts

• Email campaigns

• YouTube videos

• Ads across multiple platforms

Stock websites introduced royalty-free licensing, selling images cheaply with broad usage rights. Freelancers had to adapt or disappear.

👉 why modern marketing changed how content gets licensed

What “Royalty-Free” Actually Means

Royalty-free means:

You pay once, and you don’t keep paying every time you use the content.

That’s it.

It does not mean:

• The content is free

• You own the copyright

• There are no rules

Ownership never changes. Royalty-free licensing only defines how content can be used, not who owns it.

In practice, royalty-free usually means:

“You can use this content for normal business purposes without worrying about renewals.”

That’s why royalty-free licensing became the default for most freelance work.

And yes—it feels like ownership. That’s where confusion starts.

How Most Freelancers Actually Operate Today

For most projects, the baseline expectation is:

• Broad, royalty-free usage

• For standard business marketing

• Often in perpetuity (if stated in the contract)

That usually includes:

• Website

• Social media

• YouTube

• Email campaigns

What it usually does not include:

• Transferring assets to third parties

• Reselling content

• Using assets outside the original business entity

That’s why my contracts say something like:

“A royalty-free license in perpetuity with no third-party transfer.”

You can use the final deliverables forever—but you can’t give them away or sell them.

👉 what’s included in my pricing

Why Ownership Still Matters to Creators

The shift to royalty-free licensing drastically reduced what creators earn per project.

To survive, freelancers rely on a few key things:

• Reusing raw assets

• Licensing work again

• Maintaining control over how and where their work is distributed

That last point—control—is where long-term relationships become incredibly important.

The most valuable work in this industry doesn’t come from one-off projects. It comes from long-term clients. Consistent work from the same client helps creators avoid the constant peaks and valleys of contract-based work. It creates stability, predictability, and trust.

And this isn’t just better for the creator—it’s better for the client too.

Over time, a creator who works with you regularly learns your brand, your audience, and your content needs inside and out. Shoots get more efficient. Editing gets faster. Fewer revisions are needed. The cost per project often drops because consistency is far more valuable than sporadic one-off work.

This is also where I’m able to add extra value for long-term clients in ways that don’t make sense on a single project.

For example, I’ll often allow long-term clients to reuse b-roll from past projects as long as I’m still the one producing the new content. Maybe you paid for one shoot, but six months later you want to turn that same b-roll into five new reels. As long as you hire me to create those reels, I’m not going to charge you again just to use footage we already captured together.

If you keep working with me, you essentially gain access to a growing library of b-roll that we can pull from for future projects—content that gets more valuable over time instead of less. I’ll even store it for you.

That’s a huge advantage for both parties.

You get more content, faster turnarounds, and lower costs over time.
I get consistent work and a sustainable business.

That balance only works if ownership stays where it started.

👉 long-term retainers and ongoing work

What Breaks That Balance

If I hand over all the raw footage and full ownership, that relationship can be cut off instantly.

A client can take that footage, hand it to an ad agency, and have them create new assets indefinitely—without me ever being involved again. I don’t get paid. I don’t get credit. And in some cases, an agency is now presenting my work as their creative.

At that point, my work is still out in the marketplace, but my role in creating it is invisible. My look gets diluted. My leverage disappears. And the long-term value of that project—which is how freelancers survive in a royalty-free world—is gone.

That’s not a hypothetical. It happens all the time.

If full ownership is transferred, the creator is permanently cut out—sometimes without ever knowing where the work ends up or how it’s being used.

That’s why ownership and raw footage matter so much to creators. It’s not about control for control’s sake. It’s about protecting the long-term relationships and sustainable workflows that benefit everyone involved.

Why Clients Want Raw Footage

From a business standpoint, raw footage means flexibility:

• Internal edits

• Future campaigns

• More value from one shoot

That flexibility is valuable.

And that’s exactly why it needs to be addressed intentionally.

If You Want Raw Footage, Here’s How to Do It the Right Way

There’s nothing wrong with a client wanting raw footage.

In fact, it often makes a lot of sense. Raw footage gives you flexibility. It allows your internal team to move faster, adapt content over time, and get more mileage out of a shoot.

The key is how you go about it.

1. Say It Before the Project Starts

If you think you might want raw footage, that needs to be part of the conversation before the shoot is booked.

Raw footage fundamentally changes the scope of a project. It affects pricing, workflow, and how the shoot itself is executed. It’s not something that can be casually added at the end once everything is already done.

If you bring it up early, most creators are more than willing to talk through options.

2. Be Prepared to Pay More

Raw footage is not a free add-on.

When you’re asking for raw files, you’re not just asking for “extra files.” You’re asking for long-term creative value that can be reused indefinitely. That value has to be accounted for in the price.

The exact cost varies depending on:

• How much footage is being delivered

• How it will be used

• Whether exclusivity is involved

But the important thing to understand is this:
If raw footage is included, the project should cost more.

That’s normal. That’s not a creator being difficult. That’s the reality of what’s being transferred.

3. Explain Why You Want the Raw Footage

This part matters more than most clients realize.

Creators are far more comfortable licensing raw footage when they understand:

• What the footage will be used for

• Who will be editing it

• Where it will live

• Whether it will be shared with third parties

Saying “we just want all the footage” is vague and raises red flags.

Saying “we have an internal team and want to cut short social clips over time” is clear, reasonable, and easy to price.

Transparency builds trust—and trust makes negotiations smoother.

4. Expect Restrictions (That’s Normal)

Most creators won’t release raw footage with zero restrictions.

Even when raw files are licensed, the agreement usually limits things like:

• Third-party transfers

• Resale

• Credit

• Scope of use

That’s not unusual. It’s standard professional practice.

And this part is important:

Even if you purchase raw footage, you still do not automatically own it.

What you’re buying is a license, not the copyright.

You typically cannot:

• Resell the footage

• Claim authorship

• Transfer ownership to another entity

Unless you specifically negotiate a full buyout or exclusive license—which is significantly more expensive.

5. Exclusive Licenses Cost More (And for Good Reason)

If a client wants exclusive rights—meaning the creator can no longer use that footage at all—that removes future value from the creator entirely.

That’s why exclusivity is priced separately and at a much higher rate. You’re not just buying files. You’re buying out future opportunities.

Why This Must Be Decided Before the Shoot

How I shoot a project depends entirely on what I’m delivering.

If I’m handling post-production, I might:

• Shoot in LOG

• Expose darker to protect highlights

• Rely on stabilization, color grading, and post-production tools

That workflow is optimized for my edit process.

If I know the raw footage is being handed off, everything changes:

• File formats need to be simpler and more universal

• Lighting decisions need to be baked in

• Shots need to be more locked-off and usable as-is

• Framing and camera settings may need to match specific platforms

Those are not small adjustments. They affect how the entire shoot is planned and executed.

And they can’t be fixed after the fact.

That’s why deciding on raw footage before the shoot isn’t a formality—it’s essential. It ensures the footage you receive is actually usable for your intended purpose, and it ensures the creator prices and plans the project accurately.

When that conversation happens early, everyone wins.

👉 clarity before anything is booked

Final Thought

Most copyright issues aren’t legal problems.

They’re communication problems.

When expectations are clear—written down and discussed early—projects run smoother and relationships last longer. Creators know how to plan and price the work properly, and clients get exactly what they expect without surprises.

This isn’t about protecting one side over the other. It’s about alignment.

If there’s one question worth asking before any project begins, it’s this:

Are raw files included?

That single conversation does more to prevent frustration than any legal explanation ever will—and it sets the tone for a professional, long-term working relationship from day one.

👉 start a project conversation

FAQ: Common Questions About Copyright, Usage, and Raw Footage

Do I own the photos or videos if I pay for them?

Not automatically. In most freelance projects, the creator owns the copyright, and the client receives a license to use the finished work. Ownership only transfers if it’s explicitly stated in writing.

What does “royalty-free” actually mean?

It means you pay once and don’t have to keep paying every time you use the content. It does not mean the content is free, and it does not mean you own the copyright.

Can I get the raw footage?

Often, yes—but it needs to be discussed before the project starts and usually costs more. Raw footage is licensed, not owned, and typically comes with restrictions.

If I get raw footage, can I give it to another agency?

Usually no. Most raw footage licenses restrict third-party transfers unless explicitly negotiated.

Can the creator still use the footage if I buy the raw files?

In most cases, yes. If you need exclusivity, that can be negotiated, but it comes at a higher cost because it removes future value from the creator.

Why does raw footage cost more?

Because it allows the content to be reused indefinitely and outside the original scope of the project. That long-term value needs to be accounted for.

What’s the one thing we should clarify before booking?

Whether raw files are included—and if so, how they can be used.