Australian filmmakers are able to license material for documentaries from Screen Australia’s audio-visual archive under zero fee licence.

As part of the company’s commitment to increasing production opportunities and finding innovative strategies that support the Australian documentary sector, Screen Australia will license up to 10 minutes of wholly owned Screen Australia material to Australian independent documentary producers without charging a licence fee.

This initiative is intended for Australian independent documentary makers only and they must fulfill one of the following criteria:

• their production has an Australian free-to-air or pay television presale;
• their production is an online documentary;
• their production has funding from Screen Australia or a state funding body;
• their production has a letter of interest from an Australian broadcaster or funding body;
• the producer is a film student at an Australian educational institution; or
• the producer/director is a member of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) or Australian Directors Guild (ADG).

A documentary is a program that is "a creative treatment of actuality other a news, current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment or light entertainment program" (Australian Content Standard, Australian Communications and Media Authority, 16/12/2004).

Research, handling and preview material are charged at $250 per hour of research time (minimum one hour).

Charges for transfers, stock and freight are additional.

Up to ten minutes of material from the Screen Australia collection, including up to 40 stills, may be used per documentary without a licence fee being charged. Additional material may be negotiated and may be charged at usual Screen Australia rates. (Note - up to 20% of the duration of any one production will be licensed)

Rights licensed will be all media, worldwide for ten years with online rights restricted to the promotion of the licensed production. Online documentary productions made primarily for a website will be granted full online rights but will be required to watermark all footage and stills with the Screen Australia logo. Additional rights may be negotiated and may be charged at usual Screen Australia rates.

Screen Australia will require an on-screen credit in the closing roller stating "Archive material supplied by Screen Australia" or as otherwise agreed.

Access to the fee-free material is contingent on:

• application from an eligible documentary filmmaker;
• acceptance by the filmmaker of Screen Australia’s charges for research, handling, preview material, transfers, stock and freight;
• the filmmaker entering into a contractually binding licence agreement with Screen Australia; and
• Screen Australia having the appropriate rights and clearances to the selected material.

The production must have or be eligible for a rating of "MA15+" or less from the Office of Film and Literature Classification or be an eligible program under the Australian Content Standard.

Material is licensed on a non-exclusive basis, for one use in one production as specified in the licence agreement. Uses outside those expressed in the licence agreement require the permission of the Screen Australia Library.

On completion of the production, master material provided by the Screen Australia Library must be erased.

The filmmaker is liable for any damage or loss incurred to Screen Australia's Library material whilst in their possession.

A VHS or DVD copy of the completed production must be supplied to Screen Australia.

• advertising;
• broadcasters’ inhouse productions;
• drama;
• exhibitions;
• news and current affairs;
• retail products; or
• corporate funded and personal websites.

Screen Australia retains the right in its absolute discretion to refuse any applications for a zero-fee licence agreement.

The Library section of the Screen Australia website includes a Contact Screen Australia Library form, which can be used to enquire about zero-fee licensing for your production.

You can also search for footage online and view preview clips, and make an enquiry about a specific selection.

web www.screenaustralia.gov.au/library
email filmlibrary@screenaustralia.gov.au
tel +612 8113 1072 or 8113 1063
fax +612 9357 1392

For answers to frequently asked questions about zero-fee licensing, see the FAQ section of our website.

You can also download the details on this page as an information sheet.

 Zero-Fee Licensing for Documentary Makers (Acrobat PDF document, 268kb)