Still Not Sure?

This page does not change the licence. It is the same rules with the working shown, on the cases the licence page has no room to name. If anything here and the licence ever seem to disagree, the licence wins and I have got it wrong here.

This page is for the awkward cases. If you are about to build something on top of one of my loops — a client job, a stream package, a set of visuals for a venue — and you would rather know where you stand before you start than after you have delivered, this is where I answer the questions the licence page has no room for.

It does not change the licence. It is the same rules with the working shown: how I get from what the licence says to the answer on a case it does not name. If anything here and /loop-licence/ ever seem to disagree, /loop-licence/ wins and I have got it wrong on this page.

The test is always the same one. What is the other person actually getting? If they are getting the video you made, you are fine, even if they paid a great deal for it. If what they are really getting is my loop — to download, to drop into their own project, to hang on a wall, or to sit and watch as the thing itself — that is the side of the line I cannot allow. If your case still is not obvious after that, email me and I will answer it. It is easier for me to widen the licence for one person beforehand than for either of us to argue about it afterwards.

Streaming and YouTube · Client and agency work · VJs, events and installations · Products, prints and templates · Grey areas and admin

Streaming and YouTube

I stream games on Twitch with a webcam overlay. Can I run one of the loops as the background behind my gameplay?

Allowed Yes. People are there to watch you play, not to watch the loop, so that is your stream with my footage in it. Same answer on Kick, YouTube, TikTok Live or anywhere else.

My “starting soon” screen sits there looping for about twenty minutes before I go live. Is that too long?

Allowed That is fine. A starting-soon scene is one of the things I allow by name, and the running time does not change it — it is part of your stream, not a video of my loop. Same for BRB and ending screens.

I want to cut a five-second intro sting and an outro with my logo over the loop. Allowed?

Allowed Yes. Intros and outros are explicitly allowed, and you can cut, re-time, grade, crop and composite over the footage however you like. A credit is appreciated and never required.

My channel is monetised — ads, subs, Super Chats, the odd sponsor. Do I need a different licence?

Allowed No, the one licence covers it. There is no commercial tier and no extra fee, so ads, sponsorships, subs and Super Chats are all included. The one money-related thing that is out is Content ID — do not register the loop, or a video the loop is a substantial part of, with any rights or monetisation system.

My streams get archived as VODs and my editor cuts clips out of them. Does the loop being in the background cause a problem?

Allowed No problem. The VOD is your stream and clips of it are your work. The one thing to avoid is cutting out a stretch where the loop is all that is on screen and posting that on its own — at that point it is my loop being watched rather than your stream.

I want to post a Short and a TikTok that is basically the loop full-screen with my voiceover over it. Is that on the wrong side of the line?

Depends It depends on what is carrying the video. If the voiceover is the content — you talking, a script, commentary, a joke — that is your video and it is fine. If the audio is only music or ambience and the loop is what people are there for, that is out, and slowing it, mirroring it or recolouring it does not change that.

Can I use one behind my channel trailer?

Allowed Yes. Build it into the trailer — your clips, your voice, your titles — and you are fine. A minute of untouched loop with your channel name in the corner is not a trailer, it is my loop with a logo on it.

I record a video podcast. Can the loop play behind us for the whole two hours?

Allowed Yes. Two people talking for two hours is the podcast and the loop is the set. Publish it wherever you like, monetised or not — but do not put the episode through Content ID.

I want to run a 24/7 lofi radio stream with one of the loops as the visual. That is a stream, so it is covered, right?

Not allowed No. There the loop is the picture people leave on screen for hours, which makes the loop the thing being watched — that is what my own channel is. Free or monetised makes no difference to this one; it is the use that competes with me directly.

Me and my co-host both stream. Can we both use the loop, or does she need her own?

Depends It depends on whether the file changes hands. She can buy her own licence and use the same loop — nothing here is exclusive and other channels will have it too. What you cannot do is send her your download, even though you stream together, because a licence covers one person, so she needs one of her own.

Client and agency work

I’m making a launch film for a client and invoicing them four figures for it. Can I use one of your loops in it, or is there a commercial tier I need?

Allowed Yes. Commercial work is included — there is no commercial tier and no extra fee, so the loop is $39 whether it goes in a video for my own channel or in one a client is paying you properly for. Charge what you charge; I don’t take a cut of the job.

Does my client need to buy their own licence to run the video I made for them?

Allowed Yes, they can run it without one. What they are getting is the video you made — they can air it, post it, put it on their own channels and keep it up for years, and none of that needs a licence in their name. The licence only comes into it if the loop file itself ends up in their hands.

The job’s signed off and the client wants the After Effects project with all the assets in it. Can I include the loop?

Not allowed No. A project file is one of the places I name specifically — the client ends up with an MP4 they can pull out and drop into anything, which is the file changing hands even though it arrived wrapped in your work. Send a flattened render, or hand over the project with my loop taken out and a placeholder or a still in its place.

There are five editors at my studio. Is one licence enough for the company?

Not allowed No — one licence covers one person, so five editors means five licences. They are per person, not per machine or per project: each of the five can then use theirs on unlimited jobs, machines and clients. A freelancer you bring in for a week isn’t on your staff, so they need their own.

We’re cutting a TV and cinema advert with a national media spend. Is broadcast covered, or do I owe you a media fee?

Allowed Yes, broadcast and cinema are covered. Adverts are named in the licence and there is no separate broadcast tier, no territory limit and no media fee — the $39 is the whole thing, whatever the client is spending to air it. A credit is appreciated and never required.

The client’s distributor wants to register the finished advert with Content ID so nobody re-uploads it. Is that a problem?

Not allowed No, and this is the one that catches agencies out. You cannot register the loop with Content ID or any similar rights or monetisation system, and that covers a finished piece the loop is a substantial part of — an advert built on one of my loops is exactly that. Tell them to leave it out of the system, or use footage they can register.

A loop is going on the big LED wall behind the stage at a client’s conference, running between the talks. Do I need anything extra for that?

Allowed Yes, that’s fine as it is. Screens at venues and events are explicitly allowed, along with installations and projections, and it makes no difference that a corporate client is paying for the day. Send the AV company a render of your sequence rather than my MP4 — the moment they have the raw file on their media server, that’s the file changing hands.

A year on, the client has moved to another agency and wants the source files so the new lot can re-cut the video. Can I hand the loop over?

Not allowed No. They keep the finished video and can carry on using it, and your project can go across with my loop stripped out, but the loop file cannot travel with it — not to the client and not to the incoming agency. If the new agency wants it to work with, it’s $39 and the licence is issued to them, which is a purchase rather than a handover.

My client contract signs over all rights in everything I deliver. Can I sign that and still use your loops?

Depends It depends on how wide the clause is drawn. The edit is yours and you can assign it outright — but I keep the copyright in the loop, so a clause that hands the client rights in every element of the delivery is one you cannot actually honour. Most work-for-hire contracts already carve out third-party licensed material; if yours doesn’t, add a line saying licensed footage is used under licence and excluded, and you’re clear.

Can I bill the $39 back to the client as an expense on the job?

Allowed Yes, bill it however you invoice anything else — that’s between you and your client. Just be clear with them that paying for it doesn’t move the licence across: it’s issued in your name with your licence number, and it stays yours no matter who reimbursed the cost.

VJs, events and installations

I VJ at a ticketed club night. Can I use the loops in my set?

Allowed Yes. Live visuals are one of the uses I wrote the licence around, and it makes no difference that the door is paid. Play them as often as you like.

I’m on a festival main stage this summer, big screens and the whole thing is being streamed. Am I covered?

Allowed Yes. There is no audience-size limit and no separate large-event fee, and a stream of the stage is your set being watched, not my loop being published. One thing to watch: if the screen crew ask for the files to run from the house server, that is the file changing hands, so keep playback on your own rig.

Resolume wants DXV. Do I need permission to convert the MP4 to DXV or HAP?

Allowed Convert it, no need to ask. Re-encoding for your own playback is editing, and you can edit however you like. The converted file is still my loop, so it stays with you.

A bar wants a screen running one of the loops permanently, and I’ve been asked about a museum piece too. Can I install it?

Allowed Yes. Installations and projections are allowed, permanent ones included, in a bar or a museum. Build the install and load the player yourself — what you cannot do is hand the venue the file to keep and use on their own after you’ve gone.

I record my sets. Can I sell the recording, or put it up on YouTube?

Depends It turns on what a viewer would say they are watching. A document of the performance — your mix, your cuts, the room, the music — is your work, and you can sell it or post it. An hour of my loop running clean and full-frame under a track is the loop itself being watched, and that is out; either way, never put the recording through Content ID.

I’ve got a wedding this weekend and a corporate product launch next month. Do I need anything extra for paid client work?

Not allowed No, nothing extra. Client work is included and there is no commercial tier and no additional fee. Turn up and play.

The venue’s production manager is asking whether the venue needs its own licence. Does it?

Not allowed No, not while you are the one running the visuals. Your licence covers you as a person across unlimited jobs, venues and clients. They would need their own only if their staff were running my loops with you not involved.

Can I tour the same set across twenty dates on one licence?

Allowed Yes. One person, unlimited jobs — that covers playing the same set every night for a year. There is nothing to report and nothing to renew.

My b2b partner wants my converted DXV files so we can share a set. Can I send them over?

Not allowed No. Converting them does not make them yours to pass on, and a b2b partner or a mate covering your set is still someone else getting the file. They buy their own licence, or you buy them one if they are staff at your company.

Products, prints and templates

I want to sell prints of a frame from one of the loops — posters and canvases on a market stall — and put one on t-shirts and phone cases for my band’s merch table. Some of the merch we give away free at gigs. Is any of that alright?

Not allowed No, none of it. Printing is out on anything physical — posters, canvases, apparel, phone cases, mugs, mouse mats — and it makes no difference whether you sell it or hand it over free. On a print there is nothing else going on: the loop is the whole product, and the person walks away with my picture rather than your work.

I build CapCut and Canva templates for creators. Can I use a loop as the background of one? The template is my design, the loop is just the backdrop.

Not allowed No. Once it is in a template, everyone who opens it can pull the loop out and drop it into their own video, so the template becomes a way of handing out my file. Your work can use the loop. Your product cannot be the place other people go to pick it up.

I sell After Effects templates on Envato. If the loop sits on a background layer in the project file and I write in the description that it’s not for reuse, does that work?

Not allowed No. The file is inside a project file and it is going out on a marketplace — either one on its own is out, and a line in the description does not change what the buyer has just downloaded. If you want to sell the template, build it so my file is not in the download and tell the buyer to buy the loop themselves.

I’m putting a pack of LUTs and transitions together to sell. Can I throw in two or three loops as free bonus backgrounds? People aren’t paying for those.

Not allowed No. An asset pack is named in the licence, and a bonus is still the file changing hands. Part of what you would be shipping is my loops, and that is the one thing I do not sell on.

I run a paid course on compositing. Can I give students one of the loops as a practice file to follow along with?

Not allowed No, not as a download. You can put the loop on screen and work on it while they watch, because what the students are getting there is your teaching. What you cannot do is put the file in the course materials for them to keep — that is a course handing out my file, which is out however good the lesson is.

My game is going on Steam at about £15. One level has a loop playing on a big screen behind the action. Is that allowed, given I’m charging for the game?

Allowed Yes. Games are in, and the price makes no difference — the player is buying your game and the loop is set dressing inside it. Build it into the game rather than leaving the MP4 sitting loose in an assets folder where someone can lift it straight out, and you are well inside the line.

I’ve made a live wallpaper and screensaver app. Can I ship a few loops with it? Users pay for the app, not for the loops.

Not allowed No. In an app like that people install it to watch the loop, so the loop is the product, and the file lands on their device on the way. That is what separates it from a game: in the game the loop is behind your work, in a screensaver app it is the work.

Can I use a loop as my own desktop wallpaper in Wallpaper Engine, and upload it to the Steam Workshop so other people can use it too?

Depends Depends which half you mean, and you control which. On your own machine, use it as your wallpaper as much as you like — nothing leaves your computer and nobody else gets anything. Uploading it to the Workshop is out: that hands my file to strangers and puts the loop up as the thing they are sitting there watching.

Someone has offered to mint one of the loops as an NFT and split the sale with me. I’d be doing the minting, not you. Fine?

Not allowed No. Minting it or registering it on a blockchain is out on its own, and on top of that the buyer is paying for my loop as the item — there is nothing of yours in the deal. No split makes that work.

I VJ live and people ask for the visuals afterwards. Can I sell USB sticks at the merch table after a show?

Depends Depends what is on the stick, and that is your call. A recording of your set — your mix, your cuts, timed to the music — is your work, and you can sell that. The loop files, or a folder of the clips you played, is out; a USB stick is only a slower download, and if the “set” is really the loops played through with a filter over the top, that is still my loop being sold.

The free GIFs

The four-second GIFs on /gifs/ are free and none of this page’s rules about buying applies to them. Two rules still do, because a GIF is a piece of the same footage.

The GIFs are free — so can I put one on merch, or in a Canva template, or mint it?

Depends Free to use is not free to resell. Post them, react with them, drop them into your videos, your streams, your slides, your website — all fine, commercial or not. What does not change with the price is the reselling rule: a GIF on a print or a t-shirt, in a template pack, or minted as an NFT is my footage being sold as the product, and that is out for the GIF exactly as it is for the loop.

Can I upload a GIF somewhere as a video — loop it out to ten minutes, or run it through Content ID?

Not allowed No, and this is the one that matters. A GIF stretched into an ambient upload is the loop published in part, which the licence forbids whether or not money is involved. And never register one with Content ID or any matching system — the GIF is cut from my footage, so a claim on it becomes a claim against my own channel and against everyone who licensed the loop properly.

Grey areas and admin

If I crop it, recolour it, slow it right down and comp it under three other layers, is it my own footage at that point?

Not allowed Edit it however you like, and what you make is yours. But no amount of editing turns the file into something you can pass on or upload as the video itself, because the restriction covers it whole or in part, looped, extended, slowed, mirrored or recoloured. The test was never how much you changed it, it is what the other person ends up with at the other end.

I only need about a second of one loop as a flash in a title sequence. Do the rules really apply to one second?

Allowed Yes, they apply to any part of it, and I am not counting frames either way. A second inside your own edit is fine and always was. What that second cannot do is get passed on to somebody else as a file, or become the thing a viewer is actually watching.

Can I map a loop onto 3D geometry as an emissive texture, on screens in a scene, for a paid client job?

Allowed Yes. That is a video you made, the client is buying the render, and commercial work is included with no extra fee. One catch: send them the render, not the scene. Handing over the project file or a texture folder with the MP4 sitting in it is passing the file on.

Can I run it through Topaz to upscale it, interpolate it to 60fps, or put it through an AI tool at all?

Depends Upscaling and frame interpolation are fine. That is editing, and the result is still your work under the same rules. What you cannot do is let the loop or frames from it become training data, so check whether the tool trains on what you upload and turn that off; if it cannot be turned off, do not upload the loop.

Where am I allowed to keep the file? My NAS, my laptop, my desktop, my Dropbox?

Allowed All fine. Your licence covers a person, not a machine, so copy the file to as many of your own drives and your own cloud accounts as you want. It stops the moment somebody else can reach it: a client Dropbox, a project archive you hand over, a company server open to people without a licence. If everyone with access to that folder holds one, that is licensed people holding a file they are licensed to hold, and that is fine.

We are a studio of six. Can we buy one licence and use it across the team?

Not allowed No. One licence is one person. Buy six licences for six people, and each of those six can then use theirs on unlimited jobs, machines and clients. If a seventh person needs to open the file, that is a seventh licence.

I am selling my company. Does the licence go across to the buyer?

Not allowed No. The licence does not transfer, and the clause says so including when the business is sold. The videos you already made are yours and stay exactly where they are. What does not move is the right to keep using the source files, so the buyer needs their own licence. Email me and I will sort it out rather than make it awkward.

If you take a loop off sale after I have bought it, do I lose it? And do I keep the files forever?

Not allowed You lose nothing. Your licence has no expiry and me retiring a loop from the shop has no effect on it, so you can carry on using it in work you make, old jobs and new ones. Keep your own backup though. The download is a shop feature, not a promise that I will host that file for you forever.

What is the licence number actually for? Does it need to go in the credits?

Not allowed It does not need to go anywhere. A credit is appreciated and never required, and there is no requirement to display your licence number either. VD-L-YYYY-NNNNNN is simply the record of your purchase, issued per licence, so keep it with your receipt and quote it if you email me about anything. If you want to put it on a delivery note or in your credits you are welcome to, it is just not something I ask for.

I put one up as a 10-hour ambient video before I read any of this. How much trouble am I in?

Depends It depends entirely on what you do in the next hour. Take it down and email me. Strictly, a breach ends the licence automatically and I can require a takedown, and that clause exists for people who ignore me, not for people who tell me themselves.

Still not covered

Then email me and ask. I would much rather answer one message than find out afterwards that you guessed, and a licence is easier to widen for one person beforehand than to argue about later. Tell me what you are making, who it is for, and where it will end up — that is usually enough for me to answer in a line.

The short version is always the licence itself. This page exists to save you a message, not to replace it.