IF YOU NEED ARCHIVAL OR STOCK FOOTAGE, PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE BEFORE CONTACTING US.

PLEASE NOTE:

Many people believe that all Prelinger Archives films are in the public domain. Some are. Many are not.

DO NOT ASSUME that all Prelinger Archives films are in the public domain, or that all of them carry Creative Commons licenses.

We would appreciate your reading questions 4, 5, 6 and 7 below for further information.

1. How can I access films or footage from Prelinger Archives?

DOWNLOADING: You can freely download digital files from the Prelinger Collection at Internet Archive. Many files are available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication, which means you can use them according to the terms of the license, generally without cost or restriction. If a film does not carry a Creative Commons license, you may wish to search for other occurrences of the same film at Internet Archive that do carry the license. If after searching you do not find a version with a Creative Commons license and still wish to reuse the film, you may contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com for information. If you wish a written usage agreement, contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com. We are unfortunately not able to provide written usage agreements for free.

Please note: While Creative Commons has "retired" their Public Domain Dedication and no longer recommends its use, it does not expire, and our dedication of materials to the public domain still stands.

CLIP LICENSING: Getty Images maintains a searchable database offering over 19,000 archival clips from our collection (many in 4K and HD) that are available for fee-based licensing. Getty Images furnishes written license agreements.

If the material you wish to use is not in the Getty Images database, or if you have further questions, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com for further information.

The rest of this FAQ gives more detail about these two ways to access our collection. Please read this entire page before contacting us with questions.

2. How do I license stock footage and get a written license agreement?

Getty Images has a searchable database with over 19,000 archival clips from our collection (many in 4K and HD) that are available for fee-based licensing. Getty Images furnishes written license agreements and offers rapid access to all available material. They can research the collection for specific topics and deliver highest-quality material very quickly in all formats.

If you are in need of stock footage that is not shown in Getty's clip database, please contact Getty as follows:

Getty Images Customer Support

If the material you wish to use is not in the Getty Images database, or if you have further questions, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com for further information.

3. How can I get access to films or stock footage for free?

Most key items in our collection are also available for free viewing and downloading through Internet Archive. This site hosts digital video files representing approximately 9,600 key films from the Prelinger collection. We anticipate that the films on this site will satisfy most research requests.

Online Prelinger films at Internet Archive fall into two categories:

New films (beginning 2023). These films have been scanned in 5K or 4K (ProRes 4444HQ), sometimes 2K (ProRes 422HQ) and occasionally HD (ProRes 422HQ) on a Lasergraphics ScanStation. Typically we offer them, with some exceptions, as h.264 mp4 files at 12Mbps bitrate. These are the highest-quality films we offer for free viewing and download. You can find newly uploaded films by sorting by "Date Archived." To see what files are available to download for a specific film, please follow the SHOW ALL link on the film's detail page, and you will be taken to a directory showing the available films.

Older films (2000-2022). These films were transferred to NTSC video using telecine equipment that in its time was state of the art but is now obsolete. They are available in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files that are high-quality but compressed, and thus lack some of the detail, resolution and fluidity of today's broadcast-quality video. They are, however, excellent for research, screening, teaching and low-end production use. Many of our older online films are offered under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication.

4. Aren't all Prelinger films in the public domain? How can I find out the copyright status of a specific film?

Many people have been led to believe that all films in Prelinger Archives are in the public domain. This is not true. While some Prelinger films are in the public domain, many are not. Many Prelinger films carry a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Others do not. For films without a Creative Commons Public Domain dedication, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com for information on how to reuse them.

The copyright status of films in our online collection varies. Some are in public domain. We own the copyright to some items. Others are orphan works, meaning that they may be in copyright but the copyright holder is unknown or unable to be located. Copyright is a complex set of laws, regulations and practices, and it is not possible to make simple generalizations about the copyright status of a specific work.

Prelinger Archives cannot make informal representations as to the copyright status of a work. Doing so may constitute a legal commitment, and we can only specify copyright status as part of a written use agreement (for information on these, please see question 6 below). You are, of course, welcome to do your own copyright research. Two useful resources that may be helpful if you begin researching copyright status are Cornell University's page on Copyright Term and the Public Domain and Stephen Fishman's excellent book The Public Domain, available from Nolo Press.

5. Why don't all online Prelinger films carry a Creative Commons license?

Prelinger Archives used the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication for many years. After some time it became clear that this license did not work well with many films in our archives and we stopped using it. Please note that this Public Domain dedication still governs films to which it has been affixed. For films without a Creative Commons license, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com for information on how to reuse them. Please note: While Creative Commons has "retired" the Public Domain Dedication and no longer recommends its use, it does not expire, and our dedication of materials to the public domain still stands.

6. How can I get a written license agreement for Prelinger films? How can I get a written guarantee that material is free to use?

If you require a written license agreement, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com. We are unfortunately not able to provide written usage agreements for free.

The Internet Archive does NOT furnish written license agreements nor make any warranties or representations as to the footage other than what may be stated on its website. In addition, please be aware that the Internet Archive hosts other collections besides Prelinger Archives on its site, and some of these collections may carry certain restrictions that differ from the Prelinger Archives. The Internet Archive does NOT furnish copies of these films on film, videotape, DVD, hard drives or other physical media.

Please note that Internet Archive holds millions of video files from sources other than Prelinger Archives. We cannot offer additional information about, or provide rights clearances for non-Prelinger films.

7. Do I need further permission to use digital files of Prelinger Collection films?

You can freely download digital files from the Prelinger Collection at Internet Archive. Many files are available under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication, which means you can use them according to the terms of the license, generally without cost or restriction. If a film does not carry a Creative Commons license, you may wish to search for other occurrences of the same film at Internet Archive that do carry the license. If after searching you do not find a version with a Creative Commons license and still wish to reuse the film, you may contact us for information. If you wish a written usage agreement, please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com. We are unfortunately not able to provide written usage agreements for free.

Please be aware that public domain materials may occasionally incorporate copyrighted elements (such as music, images and archival footage) that might not be free to use outside the context of the original film. We urge you to seek legal advice if you are in doubt regarding the materials you wish to use.

8. Can I get access to physical film materials in Prelinger Archives?

The original Prelinger Archives film collection (1983-2002) was acquired by the Library of Congress in August 2002. The Library is in the process of accessioning this collection and cannot currently fulfill any research requests. However, Prelinger Archives holds approximately 15,000 titles in video and digital formats, which are available through Getty Images and Prelinger Archives. In addition, films acquired over 2002 are often held in physical form and are sometimes available for screening at venues qualified to present archival films.

9. How can I get Internet Archive technical support?

If you need technical support regarding the Internet Archive, you may address questions and issues to Archive Support at info@archive.org.

10. Do I need to credit Prelinger Archives or Internet Archive when I use your material?

We would be delighted if you credit Prelinger Archives and Internet Archive (www.archive.org/details/prelinger) for films or footage that you use, but we do not require that you do so. We'd love to see what you've made using our footage if you are interested in sending us a copy (postal address here), but this is your choice.

Prelinger Archives can provide films in their entirety or for use as programming. Please contact us at prelingerclips@gmail.com to discuss your need for archival films as program content in all media and markets.

12. Is there other access to Prelinger Archives?

We provide access to researchers, scholars, noncommercial users and interested members of the public, subject to certain time and resource limitations. We prefer to fulfill as many research needs as possible through the facilities of the Internet Archive (see above). If you wish to access our archives for other purposes, please contact Rick Prelinger at prelingerclips@gmail.com.

April 11, 2025

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