Contractor agreement for a videographer

Video involves more rights than any other freelance deliverable: copyright in the film, which starts with the person who makes the arrangements and the director, music that needs licensing, performers whose consent is required to record them, locations that need permission and drones that need a licensed operator. The agreement has to collect those rights for the business, set the shoot and the deliverables, pay the videographer for shooting and editing, and reflect a self-employed engagement. I draft that agreement, for the business or for the videographer, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Status is checked case by case with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and no agreement can guarantee an individual's status.

Who this is for

Businesses, agencies and production companies in England and Wales engaging freelance videographers, camera operators and editors for promotional, corporate, event, wedding and social media video, and videographers who want an agreement for every client.

What matters in a videographer's agreement

The brief, shoot days and deliverables

The agreement should define the project by a brief or treatment: the shoot days, locations and crew, the deliverables (edits, lengths, formats, aspect ratios, subtitles), the number of edit revisions included, the timetable, the client's responsibilities (access, participants, content, approvals by dates) and the rate for additional shoot days and revisions; a video 'for social media' with no stated edits is an open commission.

Copyright in the film and who owns it

The author of a film under section 9 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is the producer and the principal director, which for a freelance shoot is the videographer, so the agreement should assign the copyright in the film and the footage to the business on payment, in writing under section 90, with moral rights waived, or grant a licence defined by use, media, territory and period where the business does not need ownership; the videographer's right to use the work in a showreel should be stated, and ownership of raw footage, project files and unused rushes decided.

Music, performers and releases

Music in a film needs synchronisation and master licences, and the agreement should say who obtains them (library music under the videographer's subscription with its licence terms, or music the business clears), because a licence held by the videographer may not cover the business's use. Recording a performance requires the performer's consent under section 180 and following of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and filming identifiable people creates personal data under the UK GDPR, so the agreement should allocate release forms and consents to the business or the videographer and say who holds them.

Drones, locations and permissions

Where the videographer flies a drone, the agreement should require the operator registration and any authorisation the Civil Aviation Authority requires under the Air Navigation Order 2016, insurance for commercial drone operation, and compliance with flight restrictions; location filming needs the owner's permission, which the business or the videographer obtains as the agreement says, and filming in public places follows the local authority's requirements. The videographer should hold public liability insurance at a stated level.

Pay, editing and expenses

The agreement should state the day rate for shooting, the rate or fixed fee for editing, a deposit before the shoot, payment on delivery with interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, travel, crew and equipment hire at cost with approval, a cancellation fee for shoot days cancelled late, and a kill fee where the project is abandoned after work has started; delivery deadlines should allow for the client's approval rounds, and late approvals should not extend the videographer's commitment indefinitely.

Status, equipment and ending

A videographer with their own equipment, several clients, control over how the shoot and edit are executed within the brief and the right to bring their own crew is self-employed, and the agreement should say so, with the off-payroll working rules in Chapter 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 noted where the videographer works through a company for a medium or large client; the agreement should require the videographer to back up footage until delivery, keep the business's unreleased content confidential, and allow either side to end on notice with payment for work done and the IP in paid-for work assigned, liability capped at the fee under section 11 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

We paid for a corporate video. Can we use the music in it on our website indefinitely?

Only if the music licence covers that use. A videographer's library subscription may license their own productions but not the business's wider use; the agreement says who clears music and for what.

Who owns the raw footage?

What the agreement says. The business usually owns the finished film and footage once paid for; some videographers retain raw footage and license it. The agreement decides it before the hard drive is wiped.

The videographer used a drone over our site. Were we at risk?

If the operator was registered and authorised and insured for commercial use, no. The agreement requires those things and makes the videographer responsible for compliance; the business should ask for proof before the shoot.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Contractor agreement for a photographer working for a studio

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.