License Terms

The short version

• One project: every episode, trailer and promo
• Editorial or commercial use, chosen at checkout
• Non-exclusive, worldwide, no time limit
• No resale or redistribution of the clip as footage
• Creator keeps ownership and copyright

The full terms below are what count.

1. The parties

The "Creator" is the person who filmed and listed the clip. The "Licensee" is the person or organization that paid for the license, as shown on the license certificate. Selfshot ("Selfshot") grants the license on the Creator's behalf and keeps the record of it.

2. One license, one project

Each license covers one project: the production the Licensee names at checkout, which is printed on the license certificate. A project is one film, series, campaign, video or publication, and includes:

• Every episode, season, cut and version of it, including recuts, foreign language versions and director's cuts.
• Trailers, promos, teasers and ads for it, social cutdowns, behind the scenes pieces and press kits.
• Festival, awards and press screenings, and every platform, territory and distributor it reaches.

Using the clip in a different project needs a new license. A Licensee who already holds a license for a clip can license it for another project from their studio at half the clip's current price. Licenses bought on a Selfshot Business plan cover every project the Licensee makes, and the certificate says so.

3. Editorial or commercial use

Every license is for one of two uses, chosen at checkout and printed on the certificate:

• Editorial. News, current affairs, documentary, education, commentary, criticism, research and other non promotional storytelling, including trailers and promos for that work.
• Commercial. Everything editorial covers, plus advertising, branded and sponsored content, marketing, and anything made to promote a product, service, company or cause.

Commercial licenses cost more because the clip is helping sell something. A Licensee who needs commercial use for a project licensed for editorial use can upgrade by licensing the clip for commercial use for that project. Clips marked editorial use only (see section 8), and clips with prominent third party brands or graphic content, are not offered for commercial use. Licenses sold before October 15, 2026 cover both uses.

Some rare clips accept offers. A license bought through an offer the Creator accepted is on these same terms, for the use and project in the offer, at the agreed price.

4. What you can do

Once payment clears, the Licensee may, worldwide and with no time limit, within the licensed project or projects:

• Use the clip in news reports, documentaries, films, television, online video, social posts and presentations, and, with a commercial license, in advertising and marketing (see section 3).
• Edit it: cut, crop, color grade, reframe, slow down, blur, add graphics, captions or sound.
• Let clients, broadcasters, distributors and contractors handle it to deliver the licensed project.
• Keep the licensed project in circulation forever, even after the Creator removes the clip from Selfshot.

5. What you can't do

• Resell, sublicense, share or give away the clip as footage on its own, including on stock sites or in template packs.
• Claim you own the clip or register it with a content ID or rights management system.
• Use it to train or fine tune AI models, or in a dataset, without the Creator's written permission.
• Use it in a way that is defamatory, pornographic, or that falsely shows people in it endorsing a product, cause or political party.
• Present it as showing a different place, time or event than it actually does.

Comps. Signed in members can download a watermarked comp of a clip to try it in an edit before buying. A comp is not a license. It may only be used inside your own team to cut, pitch or get approval. You may not broadcast, publish, stream, post or share a comp, or remove, blur, crop out or cover its watermark or stamp. Using a comp anywhere outside your team, or any copy made from one, is unlicensed use: the Creator and Selfshot may charge the full commercial price for it and take any other steps the law allows. Each comp is stamped with the account that downloaded it.

6. Non-exclusive, unless you bought an exclusive

This license is non-exclusive. The Creator keeps the copyright and can license the same clip to others, post it on their own channels or sell it elsewhere.

Exclusive licenses

If the certificate says the license is exclusive, then for 30 days from payment (the date is on the certificate) Selfshot will not license the clip to anyone else, and the Creator agrees not to publish, sell or license it anywhere else. Exclusives are only sold before anyone else has licensed the clip. After the 30 days the license carries on as a normal, non-exclusive license. If the Creator breaks the exclusivity, Selfshot refunds the difference between the exclusive price and the standard price, and may close the Creator's account.

Moral rights

Under the Selfshot Terms of Service, the Creator has waived their moral rights in the clip in favour of Selfshot and its licensees, to the extent the law allows, for the uses this license allows. That waiver extends to the people the Licensee authorizes to work on its projects.

7. Credit

Credit is not required, but it is appreciated. For editorial use, where practical, credit the clip as Creator name / Selfshot.

8. People in the footage

Every clip is marked one of three ways, on the clip page, the certificate and the receipt:

• No identifiable people. The Creator has confirmed nobody can be recognized. The Licensee should still check before commercial use.
• Release on file. Everyone who can be recognized signed a release for editorial and commercial use, either through Selfshot (shown as "release verified by Selfshot", with the signer's name, signature and time recorded, including Creators who signed for themselves) or on paper the Creator uploaded.
• Editorial use only. People can be recognized and there is no release. The Licensee may use the clip only in news, documentary, current affairs, education, commentary and similar editorial work, and in trailers and promos for that work. It may not be used in advertising, branded or sponsored content, or anything that suggests a person in it endorses a product, service, cause or political party. Blurring faces does not lift this limit unless Selfshot sells a separate blurred version.

Whether a specific editorial use needs a release where it will be shown remains the Licensee's judgment.

9. The Creator's promises

By listing a clip, the Creator confirms that:

• They filmed it, or hold every right needed to grant this license.
• It is genuine and has not been altered to misrepresent what happened.
• Releases are on file for every identifiable person when the clip is marked that way.
• Editorial use only clips were filmed somewhere the Creator was allowed to film, not in a private place, and show no recognizable children.
• Granting this license does not break any law, contract or third party right.

10. If there is a problem with a clip

If Selfshot learns a clip was uploaded without the right to license it, we will remove it and tell the Licensee. The Licensee should then stop using it in new work, and we will refund the license fee. Selfshot's responsibility in that case is limited to the refund, as set out in the Terms of Service. Any further claim lies against the Creator.

11. Ending the license

The license ends automatically if the Licensee breaks these terms and does not fix the breach within 14 days of being told about it. If a license is refunded, it ends on the date of the refund and the clip must not be used in new work.

Licenses bought on a monthly invoice are granted when they are added to the invoice. If the invoice is not paid within 30 days of its due date, Selfshot may end the licenses on it after giving the Licensee written notice and another 14 days to pay.

12. Proof of license

Every license has a certificate with a unique license ID, available to the Licensee from their studio. That certificate and Selfshot's records are proof of the license. Anyone can confirm a license, its use, its project and whether a release is on file at selfshot.net/verify by entering the license number.

13. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Questions: hello@selfshot.net.