Who owns the footage from a video shoot in New Zealand?
Most people assume the opposite of what the law says. Worth five minutes before you sign anything.
The default position
Under section 21(3) of the Copyright Act 1994, a client who commissions and pays for a video or photographs is the first owner of the copyright by default, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
Most people, including plenty of people working in the industry, assume it is the other way round, that the person holding the camera automatically owns what they shot. In New Zealand, without a written agreement saying otherwise, it is the client.
Why almost every videographer's contract says something different
Because the default does not suit either side particularly well as written.
A videographer who loses copyright on everything they shoot cannot reuse footage or show it in a portfolio.
So most professional contracts include a written clause reversing the default: the videographer keeps copyright, and the client receives a licence to use the delivered files for an agreed purpose. That is a deliberate, legal agreement to the contrary, which section 21(3) explicitly allows.
Licence versus assignment
If you need outright ownership, whether for legal reasons, for resale or because you plan to re-edit the material heavily later, say so before the job starts. It is a harder conversation to have afterwards.
What to check before you sign anything
If it does not say, ask. Silence usually means licence, but it is worth confirming.
Some are broad, some are scoped to a specific use or platform. A licence for 'your website' is narrower than one for 'any purpose'. Mine covers your own website and social channels, internal use and paid promotion of your own business, worldwide, with no time limit, unless the quote says otherwise.
Usually not, by default. It is a separate, often chargeable item, and it is worth knowing before you assume you will have it.
Files delivered by a transfer service often have an expiry. Download and back up promptly.
Most video is scored with licensed production music, and those licences usually stop short of television, cinema and paid placements inside streaming services. If there's any chance the finished piece runs as a TV or streaming ad, say so before the edit.
The short version
By default, you own it. Almost every contract you will sign changes that in writing, and reasonably so. Read the ownership clause before you sign, not after you need the raw file.
How this works on jobs booked through this site is on the terms page.