Raw files / source files

Raw files, or source files, are the unedited video and photo footage a creator captures for a collaboration, as opposed to the final edited post.

Depending on the deal, the term can also cover unused takes, B-roll, separate audio and the project file from your editing app. Because it can mean so many things, define it in writing.

Some deals require the creator to hand over raw files so the brand can edit its own version, repurpose the footage elsewhere, or verify how the final content was produced. This is a separate ask from posting a finished piece. Common uses include:

• Cutting ads of different lengths from your footage.
• Adding subtitles or making Hindi, Tamil or other language versions.
• Using clips on its website, marketplace listings or in-store screens.
• Combining your footage with other creators’ clips in one campaign video.
• Checking that the posted content matches what was shot and approved.

Say you agree a ₹25,000 Reel for a snack brand. Two days before posting, the brand asks for “all the raw footage” so its in-house team can cut a short ad. That is a new deliverable: more files to sort and upload, and a new use of your content.

Instead of sending everything, reply with a quote: selected clips from the final Reel, delivered by a shared link, for use in paid ads for three months, at an add-on fee. The brand gets what it needs and you get paid for the extra rights.

A plain clause might read: “The Creator will deliver the unedited footage used in the final Reel, excluding unused takes, via a shared folder within [number] days of posting. The Brand may use this footage only to create edited versions for [platforms] for [period]. All other rights remain with the Creator.” Make sure it covers:

• Which files: selected clips, all footage, or project files too.
• Format, resolution and delivery method.
• Delivery date, ideally after payment is received.
• Where and for how long the brand may use the footage, and whether it can be edited or combined with other content.
• Whether your face and voice may appear in ads made from it.

Price raw-file delivery as an add-on rather than assuming it’s included in a standard content fee. You are charging for two things: the time to sort, label and upload footage, and the rights, because raw footage lets a brand make many new pieces from one shoot.

You can quote a fixed add-on or tie the price to the usage period. If the brand wants raw files with unlimited usage forever, treat it close to a full rights buyout.

• Confirm whether providing raw files is part of the agreed deliverables, since editing and shooting extra footage for handoff is additional work.
• Clarify what the brand intends to do with raw files. Reuse rights on raw footage are a separate, often overlooked usage-rights question.
• Watch for raw files slipped into a contract under a broad line like “all content created”.
• Sending files before you are paid. Deliver raw footage once the fee or add-on is cleared, or share low-resolution previews first.
• Other people in your footage, such as friends, family or children, didn’t agree to appear in a brand’s ads. Remove those clips or get their consent.