--- title: "The Association That Brings Stock Footage Back to Life" id: "28850" type: "post" slug: "the-association-that-brings-stock-footage-back-to-life" published_at: "2015-06-08T23:33:56+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T14:08:33+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/06/08/the-association-that-brings-stock-footage-back-to-life/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/06/08/the-association-that-brings-stock-footage-back-to-life.md" excerpt: "The Association of Commercial Stock Image Licensors, a trade group representing firms that sell historic stock imagery or footage, is seeing its industry quickly expand in an age when online video consumption is reaching a peak. Among those benefiting from..." taxonomy_category: - "Business Development" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "licensing" - "media industry" - "stock footage" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "For-Profit CEO / President / Owner / Partner" taxonomy_persona: - "Industry Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » The Association That Brings Stock Footage Back to Life Public broadcasting is known for finding diamonds in the rough and resurfacing their value. Every so often, [the long-running Antiques Roadshow (opens in a new tab)](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/) happens to unearth an heirloom whose value is far higher than its owner was ever expecting. As it turns out, public television stations are sitting on some valuable antiques of their own. In recent years public-broadcasting hubs such as WNET (New York City), WTTW (Chicago), and WGBH (Boston) have been selling their old content as stock footage. Back in April, for example, WNET [launched a snazzy new image-licensing site (opens in a new tab)](http://licensing.wnet.org/) that highlights its wide-reaching arts content, particularly from the civil rights era. And the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an umbrella organization for public television stations, has a repository of its own, [the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (opens in a new tab)](http://americanarchive.org/) , which it also [launched in April (opens in a new tab)](https://americanarchivepb.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/aapb-website-launch/) . Helping these stations and others resurface this content is [the Association of Commercial Stock Image Licensors (ACSIL) (opens in a new tab)](http://www.acsil.org/) , a trade group that represents stock- and archival-footage sellers and resellers. Among the organization’s members are public broadcasters, wire services such as the stock-photo agency Getty Images, documentary image repositories, and HBO Archives. Each of these organizations, and more, [took part in ACSIL’s first Footage Expo (opens in a new tab)](http://www.acsil.org/events/expo2015) , held in April. ### History Worth Preserving There’s plenty of reason to keep a close eye on this space—because it’s growing, fast. Earlier this year the association announced that the industry represents a $550 million global business, a 40 percent increase from 2011. ”Big companies are getting bigger and smaller companies are growing too,” ACSIL Co-President Clara Fon-Sing [said in a statement (opens in a new tab)](http://www.acsil.org/about/board) . “While the industry is in transition with increased demand for footage on one hand and democratization of content on the other, the vast majority of companies surveyed are expecting revenue to grow and are planning to expand.” Public media companies are finding that footage that may seem a little pedestrian on its own—say, clips of pristine farmlands—is proving to be of immense value. Even smaller stations, such as Sacramento-based KVIE, are earning a couple thousand dollars per month from such footage. “We’re looking to increase that in the future as we provide more material,” KVIE Producer Jim Finnerty [told the public-media news site Current.org (opens in a new tab)](http://current.org/2015/06/public-tv-stations-are-discovering-revenue-potential-in-stock-footage/) . ### Stock Considerations Not that this footage is always easy to gather and find. Generally, the digitization process can be labor-intensive, and even when footage is available in digital format, it’s not always clear who owns the rights to the video and audio being sold. “So many archival sales are done every year throughout the world without any issue,” ACSIL Executive Director Matthew White said to *Current.org*. “What scares people is the threat of litigation. But that really is the exception.” But for organizations that have ample video or image-based content with strong cultural value, the potential could be strong with the right level of interest—especially considering that more sources than ever are on the hunt for stock footage. “The footage market is booming right now, and it’s a great time to get involved,” White added. [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#licensing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/licensing/) [#media industry](https://associationsnow.com/tag/media-industry/) [#stock footage](https://associationsnow.com/tag/stock-footage/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoPartnerships that Drive Success: ASAE Strategic Partnership AllianceAugust 26, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/08/26/partnerships-that-drive-success-asae-strategic-partnership-alliance/) - [VideoGenerate Leads and Brand Awareness: Master the ASAE MarketplaceJune 18, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/18/generate-leads-and-brand-awareness-master-the-asae-marketplace/) - [VideoUrban Land Institute- Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 WildfiresSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/urban-land-institute-project-recovery-rebuilding-los-angeles-after-the-january-2025-wildfires/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: All for the Love of Chicago: Rethinking the Destination ExperienceSeptember 10, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/10/associations-now-presents-all-for-the-love-of-chicago-rethinking-the-destination-experience/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2015%2F06%2F08%2Fthe-association-that-brings-stock-footage-back-to-life%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !