Iconostock
Archive discovery · Embedded licensing · Rights-holder control

ARE YOU SITTING ON FOOTAGE THE WORLD HASN’T FOUND YET?

Iconostock is building a new route from stored footage to licensed footage. AI-assisted description makes archives searchable in natural language, embedded digital licence records travel with every asset, and rights holders decide exactly what is permitted.

We are opening conversations with rights holders and buyers before launch. There is no library to browse yet, and no footage upload — just a direct line to the people building it.

INDEXING · REEL_0417.MOV6 / 1,284 SHOTS
PLACEHOLDER 01
COASTLINE / AERIAL00:04:12:09 · CONF 0.94
PLACEHOLDER 02
FACTORY FLOOR / 199400:11:38:22 · CONF 0.88
PLACEHOLDER 03
CROWD / FESTIVAL00:26:05:14 · CONF 0.91
PLACEHOLDER 04
INTERVIEW / STUDIO00:39:47:03 · CONF 0.97
PLACEHOLDER 05
TRAIN / NIGHT01:02:19:11 · CONF 0.85
PLACEHOLDER 06
GLACIER / WIDE01:17:56:00 · CONF 0.93
SEARCH:“empty factory at dusk, handheld, 1990s”
01The opportunity

YOUR ARCHIVE MAY BE WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK

Most archives are not undiscovered because they lack quality. They are undiscovered because nobody can search them. Filenames, tape numbers and folder dates tell a buyer nothing about what is in the frame.

Demand for authentic, rights-cleared footage is growing across documentary, advertising, publishing and research. Material that has never been catalogued is invisible to that demand.

Iconostock makes no promise of income. What we can do is make an archive legible, properly rights-described and reachable by the people who license footage.

02How discovery works

FROM ANONYMOUS FILES TO DISCOVERABLE FOOTAGE

SEE

See what’s there

Shot-level review turns hours of undifferentiated material into distinct, reviewable moments.

DESCRIBE

Describe it

AI-assisted tools suggest subjects, locations, periods and content notes, always checked by people.

FIND

Find it naturally

Buyers search in plain language — “empty factory at dusk, handheld, 1990s” — instead of guessing keywords.

LICENSE

License it responsibly

Each asset carries the rights, restrictions and permitted uses that its owner has set.

AI is used to help describe and organise archives, not to take value from the people who own them. Using footage to train AI models is an entirely separate matter that requires explicit, separate, opt-in permission from the rights holder. Nothing here is opted in by default, and Iconostock does not scrape or assume access to any material.

03Audiences

WHO ICONOSTOCK IS FOR

01

Creators

Filmmakers, camera operators, documentary makers and photographers with years of unused rushes, b-roll and unreleased material sitting on drives.

  • Unused rushes
  • Travel and wildlife
  • Personal archives
  • Unreleased projects
02

Production Companies

Companies holding completed productions, rushes and cleared material across many years of commissions, with rights they already control.

  • Finished programmes
  • Commission rushes
  • Cleared libraries
  • Multi-year catalogues
03

Brands and Organisations

Brands, cultural institutions, charities and corporate archives holding historic campaigns, events, factories, places and people.

  • Heritage campaigns
  • Events and openings
  • Industry and process
  • Regional history
04Permissions

YOUR FOOTAGE. YOUR TERMS.

Permissions are separated so that agreeing to one never implies agreeing to another. You choose which apply, and you can decline all of them.

A

Traditional media licensing

Documentary, broadcast, advertising, editorial and corporate use, licensed as footage has always been licensed.

B

AI-assisted creative licensing

Footage used inside modern production workflows where AI tools assist editing, restoration or assembly — the footage remains yours.

C

AI training

A wholly separate permission, never bundled with anything else, never pre-selected, and only ever granted knowingly and in writing.

Registering an interest does not grant Iconostock permission to access, analyse, represent, license or train on your material. No AI permission is pre-selected anywhere on this site, and any AI-related use would be discussed and agreed separately.

05Embedded licensing

EVERY ASSET CARRIES ITS OWN LICENCE RECORD

Licensing usually leaves the terms in one place and the file in another. Iconostock attaches a digital licence record to each licensed asset: an asset passport that states who owns it, where it came from, who licensed it, what is permitted, where, for how long and whether any AI use is allowed.

It is designed to be readable at a glance by producers, editors and researchers — a clear record of provenance and permission, not a legal document.

A licence record does not replace a legally binding licence agreement, and we make no claim that it is impossible to remove. It is a provenance and clarity layer.

DIGITAL LICENCE RECORDEXAMPLE
ASSET ID
ICO-4417-0032
RIGHTS HOLDER
Example Productions Ltd
PROVENANCE
Original rushes, 2011, Iceland
LICENSEE
Pending licensing transaction
PERMITTED USE
Documentary broadcast + online
TERRITORY
UK, EU
DURATION
36 months
AI USE
AI-assisted editing only
RESTRICTIONS
No political use, credit required
LICENCE STATUS
Illustrative example
06Process

FROM STORED FOOTAGE TO USABLE ARCHIVE

01

Discover

We start with a conversation about what you hold, where it is stored and what rights you control.

02

Review

Material is reviewed only with your written agreement. Nothing is accessed or analysed before that point.

03

Understand

AI-assisted tools help describe shots, subjects and locations so the archive becomes searchable in plain language.

04

Prepare

Rights, restrictions and permitted uses are recorded alongside the material, in your words.

05

Connect and License

Approved footage is matched with buyers under terms you have set, with a digital licence record attached.

07Early partners

HELP SHAPE ICONOSTOCK

We are working with a small number of early rights holders and buyers to shape how discovery, permissions and licence records should work in practice. Early partners get direct influence over the platform and first access as it opens.

08Rights holders

REGISTER YOUR ARCHIVE INTEREST

Tell us in outline what you hold. No footage is uploaded here, and nothing is accessed, reviewed or analysed without a separate written agreement.

Used only to assess this enquiry.

What are you interested in
Would you consider discussing separately licensed AI-related uses in the future?

For research and discussion only. This answer is not permission or consent, and nothing is pre-selected.

No footage upload — outline only at this stage

09Buyers and researchers

TELL US WHAT FOOTAGE YOU NEED

Producers, agencies, publishers and researchers can register requirements now, so we can match them as archives come online.

Is model training involved?
10Responsible AI

A FAIRER ROUTE INTO THE AI ECONOMY

I

Permission before use

Nothing is accessed, analysed or represented without the rights holder’s written agreement.

II

AI training is always separate

Explicit, separate, opt-in permission only. Never bundled, never assumed, never pre-selected.

III

Provenance travels with the asset

Every licensed asset carries a record of origin, ownership and permitted use.

IV

No scraping

We do not harvest footage from the open web, and we do not assume access to anything.

11Contact

TALK TO US DIRECTLY

For anything the forms don’t cover — partnerships, press or rights questions — email us and a person will reply.

hello@iconostock.com