Each stage of the media revolution, rules and regulations change. In the digital world, it is driven mostly by content. Photographs and videos. That is why, when someone has precious footage that they want to use, it can be sold and bought by a news station. Selling Video Footage to News Agencies Breaking news is very common because these companies want to report on the go.
Therefore, they use the general public, or types of creators to create this footage for them and then sell it to them. CNN for example have entire sections dedicated to news and content that is provided by the public or creators for example. Because they need this footage now and they will pay to have the rights for its usage.
There are also companies known as media buyers that act as the middle men so that you can sell your footage easily. You also need to have a bit of luck too to ensure that it is your footage they want and not someone elseâs. Sometimes, as a seller it wonât make a great deal of money, but sometimes, you can strike lucky.
So how much will they pay?
The answer really varies. It depends on many factors, including the popularity of an event/theme and how rare the content from these events are. It is best that you do not upload your video first to a public domain. In this instance, you have already sold it. Everyone has access to it and it is no longer yours exclusively.
You can sell it anonymously or with your name attached to it. However, many news websites will not quote it as yours, but as theirs. Hence why they are paying for the rights of the video. However, usually the starting price is around $100 USD. And these are from major news sites. The more unique and less seen the footage is, the price is likely to increase. But from many sources, the average price is usually around $100-200.
However, it is known that in the media, some companies have been known to pay a small fortune. For example, NBC paid $100,000 for Skydiving Footage and Exclusive Interviews according to Huffington post. There are also websites that you can look at that will allow you to use their platform to sell and negotiate types of video content for purchase.
You can do this by auctioning your newsworthy footage to international, regional and local news organisations. This may be any type of footage taken around the world at different events. There are also websites that allow you to get paid everytime the footage is used in a news clip, TV slot, or AD, etc.
Some people have tried to create a career out of this, but oftentime it is not a realistic job. A news website may pay for it to be used once on their website, or perhaps a news blog will give you payment for the rights. However, it is not considered a full time job.
