Entry of
Royalty free against rights managed, line by line
Two models dominate footage licensing and the names of both mislead. What separates them is how the fee is calculated. Everything else follows from that.
Licensing8 min read
Two models dominate footage licensing, and the names of both are misleading. One is not free. The other does not manage anything on your behalf. What actually separates them is how the fee is calculated, and everything else follows from that.
The difference in one line
A royalty free license sets one fee for a broad, pre-written set of uses. A rights managed license sets the fee from the specific use you declare, and any use you did not declare is not licensed.
Four things royalty free does not mean
- Not free. The word "royalty" refers to recurring payments per use, not to the price of the license itself.
- Not unlimited. Standard royalty free licenses commonly exclude broadcast, very large audiences, resale products and multi-company use, all of which need an extended license.
- Not exclusive. The same clip can appear in a competitor's film the same week, and often does.
- Not cleared for everything. A royalty free clip can still be editorial use only, which is a restriction on subject matter rather than on the fee model.
What rights managed actually buys
Rights managed pricing looks like an obstacle until the moment you need something royalty free cannot offer. Because the fee follows the use, the supplier can price a narrow use cheaply and a wide use properly, and can sell you things that have no meaning under a flat fee: exclusivity in your industry, a guaranteed absence from a competitor's campaign, a one-country broadcast window, or an unusually long term on rare material.
It is also the model under which most archive material is sold, for a simple reason: the supplier often cannot warrant unlimited use of a 1950s reel, so it sells a defined use it can stand behind.
Line by line
| Line | Royalty free | Rights managed |
|---|---|---|
| How the fee is set | One fee, often by resolution | Calculated from the declared use |
| Term | Usually perpetual | Stated, and frequently renewable |
| Territory | Usually worldwide | Stated, and priced accordingly |
| Media | Broad, with named exclusions | Exactly what you asked for |
| Exclusivity | Not available | Available, priced separately |
| Re-use in a new project | Generally allowed within the same license | Requires a new license |
| Price predictability | Known before you search | Known after you brief |
| Paperwork | Standard terms, accepted at checkout | A quote and a license document per clip |
| Typical holders | Marketplaces and contributor libraries | Archive houses, news agencies, specialist collections |
| Where it wins | Volume, speed, ordinary contemporary shots | Rare material, exclusivity, precisely bounded budgets |
The third model: subscriptions
Subscription libraries sit alongside the other two. A recurring fee gives access to a catalogue under a standing license, which is excellent for high volume work with short deadlines. Two clauses deserve attention before you build a house style on one.
- What happens to clips already delivered in finished films when the subscription lapses. Most libraries grant a continuing right for work already published, but the wording varies and it is the clause worth reading twice.
- Whether the standing license covers broadcast, paid advertising and client work, or stops at internal and online use.
Choosing between them
The decision is easier when taken in this order.
- Does the shot exist in a contributor library at all? Historic, hazardous, aerial, foreign or event-specific material often does not, which settles the question.
- Do you need anyone else kept off the clip? If yes, only rights managed offers it.
- Will the piece run on broadcast, in cinemas, or in paid advertising? Check the exclusions in the royalty free terms before assuming they are covered.
- Will the same clip be re-used across future projects? A perpetual royalty free license spreads well; a rights managed one does not.
- Is the budget approved against a fixed number now, or against a quote later? That is often the real deciding factor.
Where to go next
The fee model is only one of the variables in a quote. The rest are set out in what footage costs and why nobody can quote it in the abstract. If you are choosing a supplier rather than a model, the seven criteria for choosing a footage library for documentary work covers the same ground from the other direction.
Corrections to this entry
- : added the subscription model and the two clauses worth reading in it.