License terms, in plain language

A royalty-free license on footage.cool means you pay once and use the clip forever: worldwide, in commercial and editorial projects, with no renewals or per-view fees. Licenses are granted directly by the copyright holder — filmmaker Phil Maher — and a license PDF recording the clip, the license type, and the purchase date is emailed to you at checkout.

The three licenses

StandardExtendedExclusive buyout
Price — most clips$79$199Custom quote via email
Price — premium clips$149$399
Media & territoryAll media, worldwide, perpetualAll media, worldwide, perpetualNegotiated per deal
Commercial & editorial useBothBothBoth
Distribution capUp to 1M views or copiesUnlimitedUnlimited
Broadcast TV, theatrical, streaming originals—IncludedIncluded
DeliveryUp to 4K UHD H.264 masterUp to 4K UHD H.264 master4K master + project raw files on request
ExclusivityNoneNoneClip removed from all marketplaces and licensed only to you

Premium pricing applies to a small set of hero shots — drone-over-whales, rare wildlife, one-off locations. Every clip page shows its own price before you buy.

Sample license and clearance pack

Every paid order includes a license certificate PDF and a Stripe receipt. Keep both with your project records. The certificate names the licensee, clip ID, clip title, license tier, purchase date, licensor, and order number.

Download sample certificate PDF

License certificate

Proof of the clip, license tier, price, licensee, date, and direct grant from Phil Maher.

Receipt and order lookup

Stripe sends the receipt. The order lookup page supports re-download and license lookup.

Chain of title

Phil shot and owns the footage. The license comes from the copyright holder, not a broker.

Release status

Clip pages flag whether people are visible. Commercial model or property releases are the buyer's responsibility when required.

Sample only

footage.cool license certificate

Order
SAMPLE-ORDER
Licensee
Sample Buyer <producer@example.com>
Clip
153482543, East Cape BCS Mexico 2020 Sandy Beach with Turquoise Water and Rocky Shoreline
License
Royalty-Free Standard, all media, worldwide, perpetual, up to 1M views or copies
Licensor
Phil Maher, sole creator and copyright holder

This preview is not a license grant. A real certificate is issued after checkout and attached to the receipt email.

What the license lets you do

What it doesn't let you do

Releases

The footage is cleared for editorial use as shot. Most of the library is aerial, landscape, and marine work with no identifiable people; where a person or private property is recognizable and your use is commercial, securing model or property releases is your responsibility. Unsure about a specific clip? Email Phil before you license it.

Delivery, refunds, and the controlling document

Payment runs through Stripe. The moment it clears, the clean master (no watermark) is ready to download and your license PDF is emailed; download links stay live for 24 hours and are re-issued on request. Because clips are delivered instantly as digital files, a sale is final once you have downloaded the master — but a wrong clip, a double charge, or a technical problem with the file gets fixed, swapped, or refunded. The license PDF issued with your purchase is the controlling document for that purchase; this page summarizes its terms.

Licensing FAQ

Are the clips royalty-free?
Yes. The standard license is royalty-free, worldwide, and perpetual, and it covers both commercial and editorial use. You pay once and keep using the clip, with no renewals, expiry, or per-view fees. The one limit is scale: the standard license covers distribution up to one million views or copies, and the extended license removes that cap.
What's the difference between the standard and extended license?
Standard, which is $79 on most clips, covers all-media use worldwide and in perpetuity, up to one million views or distributed copies. Extended, at $199, adds the broadcast and large-audience cases: unlimited distribution, broadcast TV, theatrical features, and streaming originals. Pick extended if the project airs on TV, screens in cinemas, or will reach a wide audience; for web, social, and corporate work, standard is usually plenty.
Where and how can I use a licensed clip?
Anywhere your project runs: YouTube and social, documentaries, ads and brand campaigns, client and corporate videos, films, and editorial pieces, commercial or editorial. You can cut, recolor, retime, and mix the clips with your own footage. What you can't do is resell or redistribute a clip on its own, or make it available for others to license as stock.
How much does a clip cost?
Most clips are $79 for a royalty-free standard license and $199 for an extended broadcast license. A small set of hero shots, like the drone-over-whales and rare wildlife clips, are priced as premium at $149 standard and $399 extended. Every clip shows its own price before you buy, and exclusive buyouts are quoted per project. There's no subscription and no credit pack to spend down.
Do I need a model or property release?
Most of the library is aerial, landscape, and marine footage with no identifiable people, so releases usually don't come up. When a person or private property is recognizable and you're using the clip commercially, securing any model or property release is your responsibility. As shot, the footage is cleared for editorial use. If a specific clip raises a question, email Phil before you license it.
Who owns the footage, and is it cleared?
Phil Maher shoots every clip himself and holds 100% of the copyright, so the chain-of-title traces back to one person and stays clean. Footage is licensed direct from him and never resold through a marketplace, which means no tangled rights and no third-party claims to chase down later. Your license PDF records the clip, the license type, and the date, so you have proof on file.
Do you offer refunds?
Each clip is delivered instantly as a digital file, so once you've downloaded the master a sale is final. If you bought the wrong clip, were charged twice, or hit a technical problem with the file, email Phil and he'll make it right, whether that's a fix, a swap, or a refund. The watermarked preview lets you check the full shot before you pay.
Can I use the footage to train AI models?
No — not under the standard or extended license. Both cover using clips inside productions people watch: films, ads, social video, broadcast. Feeding the footage into a machine-learning or generative-AI system as training data is a different kind of use and needs a separate data license. If that's what you're after, email Phil with the scope — corpus size, model type, whether outputs are commercial — and he'll quote it directly.
Can I license a clip for a client, and does the license transfer?
Yes. Agencies and freelancers buy on behalf of clients all the time: one license covers one end client and the project the clip is cut into, and everyone working on that production — editors, colorists, the client reviewing cuts — is covered. The finished work belongs to your client with no further fees. What a license doesn't do is float between unrelated clients or projects; a second client means a second license. Want the certificate issued in your client's name? Forward your receipt to Phil and he'll reissue it.
Do I have to credit footage.cool or Phil Maher?
No. No attribution is required for commercial or editorial use, in any medium. If your project has a credit roll and you'd like to include one, "Aerial footage: Phil Maher / footage.cool" is appreciated — but skipping it never violates the license.
Can I get an invoice for accounting or tax purposes?
Stripe emails a payment receipt at checkout, and your license certificate PDF documents the clips, license types, and amounts — together they cover most bookkeeping. If your finance team needs a formal invoice with specific fields (company name, address, tax or VAT ID) or a W-9, reply to your receipt email with the details and the order number, and Phil will send the paperwork.

Custom licensing

Bulk discounts on clip sets, exclusive buyouts, log/raw files for grading, and custom shoots are all quoted directly: licensing@footage.cool.

Wondering how this stacks up against a subscription library or marketplace? See direct licensing vs. stock marketplaces.

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