The Best Free Video Footage Sources on the Web
There’s a lot of reasons why we may need video content these days: education or research projects, documentary B-roll, art or creative projects, social media content or just personal use. This selection of video sources offers free material under various licenses, from royalty free and public domain to creative commons with varying levels of use.
Note: always read the specific license conditions of each platform/work, particularly pertaining to commercial use!
Pond5 Public Domain Footage
Pond5 is an expansive royalty-free stock video source with curated collections that stay up-to-date to current events, and features thousands of affordable options. They also offer the Public Domain collection of historical videos (primarily American), completely free of charge and free to use.
Content includes: old movies, animations, archives from NASA and space travel, the Civil Rights movement, US military exercises, the Cold War era, public life, and more.
Pond5’s free Public Domain project
Internet Archive’s Moving Image Archive
The Internet Archive is “a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form” that started in 1996 with the mission to archive the entire Internet. It now houses and provides free access to millions of digital media sources. The Moving Image archive has millions of videos with varying rights licenses (one highlight is the Prelinger Archives). Always check the copyright and licensing on every file.
Landing Page for the Moving Image Archive (Documented 26 July 2020)
Pexels Videos
Pexels is more widely known as a free source of reusable, high-quality photo content, but they also have free videos to download and use completely for free.
Content includes high-definition, high-resolution contemporary video footage, covering subjects of nature, fashion, business, food, special occasions, drone footage, and more.
FREE PEOPLE STOCK VIDEOS ｜ Pexels Fresh and Free Friday (via YouTube)
NASA Video Collections
As a US government entity, NASA’s prolific documentation of space exploration and earth sciences are made available to the public online under certain conditions. You can download and use NASA images and video for free, as NASA “does not license the use of NASA materials nor sign licensing agreements.” Check out their Galleries below.
NASA’s Voyager 2 Enters Interstellar Space (2018)
Free Stock Footage Archive
This website, www.freestockfootagearchive.com, features high-quality video content via Creative Commons (free to use/adapt/modify). The basic Free license level allows private and commercial use only if the website is credited, but other extended commercial licenses are available for a fee. You can also view their YouTube channel here.
Content includes: special effects, ambient background imagery, nature and landscape, old archival-styled footage, basic animation, and more.
Free 8mm look weather stock footage: Cloudy Sky" (via YouTube)
Videvo
As stated on their site, “Videvo offers free stock videos and motion graphics for use in any project. You may use these video clips free of charge, in both personal and commercial productions. Video clips that carry the Creative Commons 3.0 license must be attributed to the original author.” Subjects include business, nature, sports, drone, timelapse, people, medical, and more. Note: there are plenty of clips totally free of charge and free to use in any format, but many are Premium and require a membership.
Creative Commons (CC) Videos on YouTube
You can find Creative Commons-licensed videos on YouTube via the following steps:
Go to YouTube homepage
Type an item in the search bar and hit Enter for results
Under the results, go to “Filters” (top left under Search), and click on ‘Creative Commons’ under the “Features” subject. This will filter and display all videos that are marked by the creator as Creative Commons (CC) - but note that you must check the conditions of the specific video’s CC license to ensure the scope of use allowed.
National Park Service (NPS) B-Roll Video
The US National Park Service (NPS) offers B-roll footage of the Grand Canyon National Park, all of which are in the public domain and free to use on the condition that it must not be used to imply National Park Service endorsement of a product, service, organization or individual without permission.
Learn more and view the NPS Grand Canyon B-roll footage here
