A video has several layers
The footage, the edit, the music, any stock clips, and the script can each carry rights held by different people. Owning the finished video does not mean you own the song in the background, and a music license that covers one platform or one use may not cover another. Footage from a third party, including clips taken from broadcasts or other creators, needs a license or a solid fair use basis. People who appear on camera may also have privacy or publicity claims under state law, which run separately from copyright.
Who owns commissioned footage
Copyright usually starts with whoever shot and edited the video. Video made by an employee within the scope of the job generally belongs to the employer. A commissioned video can be a work made for hire when both sides signed a written agreement saying so, because audiovisual works are among the categories the statute allows. Without that, ownership usually stays with the videographer unless rights were assigned in writing, and the client receives whatever license the contract or the circumstances support. Many fights over raw footage and portfolio use trace back to a contract that never addressed them.
Records worth pulling together
Gather the contract or proposal, invoices, emails about deliverables, the original files with their metadata, and any licenses for music or stock footage. If your video is being used without permission, capture where it appears, with dates and links, before it disappears. For U.S. works, registration with the Copyright Office is generally needed before a federal lawsuit and can affect remedies, so its timing is worth discussing. We look at who owns each layer, what the agreement allowed, and whether a takedown notice, a license negotiation, or a formal claim fits. If another account simply reposted your own video, the platform's reporting tools can move faster than a formal claim.
