Using Stock Video in your Internet Videos, What You MUST Know
By Internet Video Gal in Business Marketing with Video, Video Editing, Video Production Tips
If you want to make internet videos but do not want to hassle with shooting the video yourself, the common advice is to use services like iStockPhoto.com.
iStock claims to have around 3 million images for sale. This include videos, stills, vector images, and flash animations. The quality is generally excellent.
Costs can range from about one dollar for a still image to about forty bucks for an HD video clip.
Here is a gorgeous still image I got off iStock.
That can get expensive, but often the ease can make the cost worth it.
However, one HUGE drawback to using stock images is that you are only buying limited licensing rights.
This means you CAN NOT take some iStock video, edit it together and then sell your video. You can not even give it away for others to use, not legally anyway.
Depending on which stock photo agency you are dealing with, the only allowed use is for the finished video to be a free promotional video or a free educational videos. You can not sell or charge for the finished video in any way. You can not even GIVE it to someone else for their use. That would be considered a transfer of the license.
iStock is firm on that policy and many other agencies are too. Occasionally, you will find one more lenient, but that is somewhat rare.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, LEGALLY, YOU CAN NOT MAKE A PRODUCT TO SELL OUT OF STOCK VIDEO PURCHASED FROM MANY STOCK PHOTO AGENCIES. YOU CAN NOT EVEN TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF IT BY GIVING IT TO A CLIENT.
To do so would be a violation of their TOS and they could sue your pants off. Buying the extended licensing does NOT give you the right to turn around and charge money for your finished video. Even if you spent days editing the clips into your own creation, you can not sell it.
So if you want to make a video product, BE CAREFUL about turning to stock, royalty free video image services.
The licensing agreement for iStock photo is extremely long. I bet most people do not read through it completely before they buy. Plus, it can be a bit confusing because it says that if you alter the image significantly and turn it into your own creation, then you CAN turn around and sell it. But what do they consider to be altered significantly?
Well, I spoke directly with an iStock representative the other day on the phone to see precisely what was allowed and what was not.
She said you have to alter it beyond all recognition. You can not just edit it into a video, doing the standard things like adding music or titles. That is NOT enough.
Honestly, if you have the capacity to alter a video clip beyond all recognition, then you probably have the capacity to come up with your own clip to begin with. So I did not find that too helpful.
For the person who wants to make a video product, beware of relying on stock video purchases. You do not have the legal right to use stock video purchases in a video product which you sell.
Thanks for reading Video Production Tips
Lorraine Grula
Internet Video Gal
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