Public Domain explained

This is footage that has never been, or is no longer, in copyright and is not subject to the usual licensing constrictions and prices. It is material that was produced by American government agencies, or gifted to the American people by producers, thereby lifting any existing copyright. The Universal Newsreel, for example, covered all the main international events, and in many cases contains footage identical or similar to other newsreels which may be in copyright.

When you acquire public domain material from Footage Farm you no longer have to worry about licences or counting seconds and frames. You can finalize your archive budget once youve ordered your masters rather than have to wait for the online to calculate footage returns.