Fortland Archival Footage Policy
March 5th, 2024
Fortland does not charge an extra fee to our clients up front for long term storage for images. In lieu of this, a fee is only charged if access is requested in the future.
Images will be stored indefinitely at no charge, subject to Fortland's continued operation as a company. If Fortland ceases operations, clients will be notified and given an opportunity to retrieve images they own or are licensed to use. Access to archived footage will incur a fee as outlined below.
Total fee calculated at $20 per month, starting from the month in which the images were originally captured will be billed for archival access (see example scenario below for reference). This structure reflects the ongoing costs of long-term archival storage and maintenance.
The access fee applies to the entire project regardless of whether the client requests one clip or all footage from that project.
Fee payable each time access is requested for a project. Multiple requests within a 7-day period will be treated as a single request for billing purposes.
Cloud storage access is limited to 100GB per project. For larger requests, footage will be delivered on physical hard drives, with the cost of drives and shipping billed at Fortland's actual expense (no markup). Cloud uploads will be made available for 30 days. After 30 days, the footage will be removed, and re-uploading will incur a new access fee.
Hard drives shipped to clients become the client's property and do not need to be returned to Fortland.
Footage access requests are typically fulfilled within 7-14 business days, depending on Fortland’s current production schedule and workload. Specific estimated delivery timeframes will be provided upon request.
The access fee is waived when Fortland is hired for paid post-production work that involves the use of archived footage, including but not limited to editing, color grading, or other billable services with a minimum value of $2,000. The fee remains applicable for client-direct access without associated production services.
The access fee is waived when a client licenses archived images. In such cases, the cost of accessing/storage of the images from the archive is covered by the licensing fee. The fee remains applicable for client-direct access without associated licensing or production services.
While Fortland takes reasonable measures to protect archived data, we are not liable for data loss or damage due to circumstances beyond our control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, hardware failure, or other unforeseen events.
Example Scenario:
Client started principal photography for a project with Fortland in January 2023. In March 2024, they requested access to the archived footage for 8 specific video clips.
Fee Calculation:
Elapsed time since principal photography: 14 months.
Base monthly access fee: $20.
Assuming no adjustment for inflation for simplicity:
Total fee = $20 × 14 months = $280
Delivery:
The requested 8 clips are under 100GB, the footage is delivered via cloud storage. No physical hard drive is delivered as it is not requested or necessary.
Definitions:
1. "Image(s)" means all visual representations furnished to Client by Fortland Productions whether captured, delivered, or stored in photographic, video, magnetic, optical, electronic, or any other media.
2. “Project” means a single production or collection of related footage captured under one agreement or SOW with Fortland.
3. “Access Request” means a formal request by the client to retrieve or view archived footage, which may include one or more clips or the entire project.
4. “Acts of God” means unpredictable and unavoidable natural events, such as earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes, that are beyond human control.
*The $20 monthly access fee is subject to annual adjustment based on inflation. The rate applicable at the time of request will be used for calculation.