# Public Domain Footage: Where to Find It, How to Credit It

Source: https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/public-domain-footage-sources/
Published: 2026-09-25
Updated: 2026-09-25
Author: Ema Zamboni, video editor (https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/about/)
Section: Credits and Rights (https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/)

**In short:** Public domain footage is video with no copyright protection, so you can use it without permission once you have verified its status. Good sources are US federal agencies such as NASA, film archives and libraries that mark works CC0. Check music, logos and people inside each clip, record where you confirmed the status, and credit the source.

## What is public domain footage?

Public domain footage is video that no copyright protects, so anyone can copy, cut and publish it without asking. Footage reaches the public domain in two main ways: its copyright term has run out, or the law never granted copyright to its maker, as with work made by US federal employees in their official duties.

Public domain footage can be used without permission once you have verified its status. The verification is your job, because nobody stamps a clip "public domain" with legal force. The [U.S. Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html) explains why age alone proves little: works created since 1978 are protected for the author's life plus 70 years, and for works published before 1978 "the term will vary depending on several factors."

The federal works rule is written in [17 U.S.C. section 105](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html): "Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government." Section 101 of the same law defines that as work prepared by a federal officer or employee as part of official duties, which is why a contractor's film for an agency can still be owned by someone.

Public domain status is also national. A film that is free in the United States can still be protected in the country where you publish, so check the rules where your video will be seen.

> **Note:** This is general information, not legal advice.

[Download B-ROLL for Windows](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/download/): free, Windows 10 and 11 today, macOS and Linux planned. No account, no ads.

## Where can you find public domain footage?

Public domain footage lives mostly in three places: US federal agency libraries, film archives, and libraries that release work under CC0. Each source type carries a different risk, so the table pairs every one with the check it needs before a clip goes on your timeline.

| Source type | Examples | What to verify |
| --- | --- | --- |
| US federal agencies | NASA image and video library, NASA and other agency channels on YouTube | Third-party credits on the item, logos and insignia, recognizable people |
| Film and moving image archives | Internet Archive Moving Image Archive, including the Prelinger collection | Any rights line is often the uploader's claim; check the original date, soundtrack and any restoration credits |
| National libraries | Library of Congress collections | The rights and access statement on each item, which often differs inside one collection |
| CC0 and public domain mark libraries | Stock libraries and museums that release files under CC0 | That the uploader owned what they dedicated; CC0 differs from a CC BY license |
| Re-uploads on YouTube | Channels that repost old newsreels, films or mission footage | The original source, plus added music, narration, color or watermarks |

NASA is the richest single source for space b-roll. [NASA's media guidelines](https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/) say its material is "generally" not subject to copyright in the United States, and they draw three lines. The NASA insignia and logotype are not in the public domain. Use of NASA footage must not imply that NASA endorses a product or service. Commercial use of a recognizable person may need that person's permission.

The [Internet Archive's Moving Image Archive](https://archive.org/details/movies) hosts user uploads next to curated collections such as the Prelinger Archives, so any rights line on an item page tells you what the uploader believes, not what a court decided.

## How do you verify public domain status?

Verifying public domain status takes 4 checks: the original source, its rights statement, every layer of the clip, and the people and logos on screen. Run them before you download the clip, in order, and stop at the first one that fails.

1. **Find the original source.** Trace a re-upload back to the agency, archive or library that holds the master, and work from that item page.
2. **Read the source's own rights statement.** Agencies and archives state terms per item or per collection. NASA, for example, marks third-party images with the copyright holder's name.
3. **Check every layer.** Picture, soundtrack, narration, graphics and logos can each have a different owner. A new score, a colorization or an added watermark on a restoration can carry fresh rights.
4. **Check the people and marks on screen.** Public domain status covers the copyright, not a person's right of publicity or a trademark. NASA's guidelines warn about both.

Footage that fails a check is not a dead end. Mute the audio, crop out the logo, or pick another take from the same collection. A clip that is not public domain can still be usable under a license or permission, and fair use is a separate question, covered in the [U.S. Copyright Office's fair use FAQ](https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html).

A Creative Commons license is a different route with its own conditions. As of September 2026, YouTube offers only the Standard YouTube License and CC BY, with no public domain option, as covered in [Creative Commons on YouTube: find, reuse, credit](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/creative-commons-on-youtube/). A public domain newsreel on YouTube therefore shows one of those two labels, and neither proves its status.

## Do you need to credit public domain footage?

Crediting public domain footage is usually not a legal requirement, because there is no copyright holder whose license asks for it. Some sources still ask for it: NASA's guidelines say NASA "should be acknowledged as the source of the material."

Credit anyway: a credit line tells viewers where the archive lives, shows a client you checked the source, and speeds up any dispute. Typical lines are short:

- "Footage courtesy of NASA"
- "Archival footage: Prelinger Archives, via Internet Archive"
- "Archival footage courtesy of the Library of Congress"

Put the credit where the project already lists sources: end credits for a film, the description for a YouTube upload, the delivery notes for a client. Never phrase a credit so it suggests the source endorses you. A line such as "made with NASA" breaks the endorsement rule NASA's guidelines set.

## How do you record the status in your project?

Record the public domain status of each clip in a credits log on the day you download it. Log 4 fields: the source page, the rights statement you read, the date you read it and your credit line. A log written on day one survives a client question six months later; memory does not.

A [video credits log](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/video-credits-log-template/) is the simplest place for it. Give public domain clips a row like any other, and write in the License column where you confirmed the status, for example "NASA media guidelines, checked 2026-09-25".

B-ROLL starts that log for footage you download from YouTube. With the credits option on, which is the default, B-ROLL writes a `.credits.txt` next to each file and adds the same block to a `credits.txt` for the folder, with title, creator, channel, source link, upload date and license, as described in [automatic credit files for every YouTube download](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/features/automatic-creator-credit-files/).

The License line reports what yt-dlp returns, and reads "Standard YouTube License" when nothing is reported. A public domain upload from an agency channel will therefore still say Standard or CC BY. Edit that line by hand to name the rights statement you checked; the file is a convenience, not proof of rights.

For whole agency playlists, the [YouTube playlist and channel downloader](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/features/youtube-playlist-channel-downloader/) saves the videos from a playlist or channel page link into a subfolder named after the channel, each with its own credits file. Channel downloads are off by default: set **Download channels** in Advanced options to Ask or Yes first.

Choose ProRes or `DNx` as the format and B-ROLL converts every file after its download, so an old agency upload cuts like the rest of your timeline. The wider workflow is in [b-roll from YouTube: rights, clips, codecs and credits](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/guides/youtube-videos-as-b-roll/), and the rest of the licensing topics sit in [credits, licenses and fair use for YouTube clips](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/).

> **Careful:** Download only footage you have the right to use: your own uploads, Creative Commons, licensed or permitted material.

## Frequently asked questions

Q: Is all government footage public domain?
A: No. In the United States, work made by federal employees as part of their job carries no copyright, but material a contractor or third party supplied can still be protected. State and local governments and most other countries follow their own rules. NASA's guidelines say its media are generally not subject to copyright in the United States, and they mark third-party material.

Q: Can a public domain film contain copyrighted music?
A: Yes. A film and the music on its soundtrack can have separate rights, and a restoration or re-upload can add a new score, narration or graphics that someone owns. Treat every layer of a clip as its own rights question. When the picture is clear but the audio is not, mute it and lay your own music under the shot.

Q: Is Creative Commons the same as public domain?
A: No. A Creative Commons license such as CC BY keeps the creator's copyright and grants reuse on conditions, usually credit. CC0 is a tool that waives those rights as far as the law allows, which comes close to public domain. The differences for YouTube uploads are explained in [Creative Commons on YouTube: find, reuse, credit](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/creative-commons-on-youtube/).

## Sources

1. [NASA: Guidelines for using NASA images and media](https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)
2. [U.S. Copyright Office: How long does copyright protection last?](https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html)
3. [Creative Commons: About CC licenses](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)
4. [Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive](https://archive.org/details/movies)
5. [U.S. Copyright Office: Title 17, Chapter 1 (sections 101 and 105)](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html)
6. [U.S. Copyright Office: Fair use FAQ](https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html)

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B-ROLL is a free, donation-supported desktop YouTube downloader for video editors: it downloads videos, clips, playlists and channels, converts them automatically into edit-ready ProRes or DNxHR (or saves MP4, MKV, WEBM or audio), and includes built-in trimming, subtitles and automatic creator credit files. Part of [Credits, Licenses and Fair Use for YouTube Clips](https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/attribution/) on the B-ROLL website. Download B-ROLL, free for Windows 10 and 11 (macOS and Linux planned): https://b-roll-6hk.pages.dev/download/