For video editors
Before you sign that video editing contract, check these three things.
A video edit is agreed as a cut, a length and a deadline. The contract decides how many rounds of notes that includes, which files you hand over at the end, and who owns the project files and the footage you shot or licensed.
This post-production agreement ties the fee to open-ended revisions and puts music licensing on you.
Revisions “as needed” until approval
“As needed” sets no limit, so one edit can turn into many rounds of notes at the same fee.
Ask for
Ask for a stated number of rounds of notes, with a rate for extra rounds.
- Project files and raw footage are owed tooLow · Deliverables
- Music and stock licensing is on youLow · Liability
The numbers
In May 2025, there were 25,610 wage and salary jobs for film and video editors in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $75,420.
These figures count jobs, not people, and do not include self-employed work — so they say little about how many film and video editors work freelance or run their own business.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national estimates for SOC 27-4032. Public domain.
Notes, deliverables and music licenses
- Rounds of notes — “Revisions as needed” can turn one edit into many. A stated number of rounds keeps the fee tied to the work.
- Deliverables — Check whether you owe only the final export or also project files, raw footage and alternate versions.
- Music and stock licenses — If you supply music or stock footage, check who holds the license and whether it covers how the client plans to use the video.
Check the agreement before the first cut
A video contract decides what “finished” means. Free: one analysis every 30 days, no card. Each analysis gives a risk read of the key clauses, quotes the contract's own words for its findings, and turns each flagged clause into a specific ask.
Analyze my contract — free- Encrypted in transit & at rest
- Files auto-deleted after 30 days
- Never used to train models
- Informational — not legal advice