Terms of service

These terms cover every purchase, request and desk arrangement with FOIA Farm. Buying a case, sending a request, or signing a desk agreement means you accept them.

What you are buying

Every file we deliver is a public record released by a state or local government agency under its open-records law. Public records of this kind are generally not subject to copyright, and FOIA Farm does not claim to own them. What you pay for is our work: finding the case, filing and chasing the request, reviewing the release, and delivering it to you in one place. This is an access and delivery agreement, not a copyright license.

What you may do

• Publish, edit, narrate and monetize the footage on the channels covered by the license you bought: one channel for a single license, any channels under one owner for a network license.
• Keep the files for as long as you like.

What you agree not to do

• Resell, redistribute or share the delivered files or the download folder with anyone outside your organization.
• Register any delivered footage with YouTube Content ID or any similar fingerprinting system, or issue copyright claims against other publishers of the same public record.
• Use a preview from the catalog in a published video. Previews are for evaluation only.
• Use the catalog or our descriptions to locate and re-file the same request in order to avoid paying. If you do, we close your account and the window on anything you hold ends immediately.

First-publish windows and exclusivity

A window means we hold the case off our public catalog and do not deliver it to another customer for the stated number of days from your purchase. It is a promise about our own conduct. Because the underlying footage is a public record, we cannot promise that nobody else will ever obtain it from the agency.

Custom requests

The filing fee is earned when we file and is not refunded if the agency denies, delays, or releases nothing usable. The delivery fee is charged only when we deliver files. Agency charges are passed through at cost plus a 15% handling fee and never exceed the cap you approved in writing. If an agency quotes more than your cap, we ask before paying.

Revenue-share arrangements

Where you choose a share instead of a flat price, you grant FOIA Farm Viewer access to the YouTube channel for as long as the share runs, so that per-video revenue can be read. Shares apply to long-form videos only. Where a video mixes our footage with other material, the share is pro-rated by runtime. Statements are due monthly and payable within 15 days. While a statement is more than 30 days late, deliveries pause and any window you hold ends.

Content and your responsibility

Agencies redact before release. We review what we list and hold back anything showing minors, sexual-offense victims, or private interiors we can spot, but we do not warrant that a release is free of such material. You are responsible for how you edit, caption and publish, and for compliance with platform policies and the law where you publish.

Refunds

If a delivered case does not substantially match its listing, tell us within 7 days and we replace it or refund it. Otherwise digital deliveries are final.

Liability

FOIA Farm's total liability for any purchase is limited to the amount you paid for it. We are not liable for lost revenue, demonetization, strikes, or claims arising from your publication of the footage.

Changes

We may update these terms. The version in force is the one on this page on the day of your purchase or request.