Enrichment · Passion Projects

Every interview released.
Every clip cleared.

A documentary can be finished and still not showable: one interview without a release, one clip nobody can trace. Track the question your film answers, each interview with its signed release, and every photo, clip and song you did not make with where it came from and whether you may use it. It doubles as a Historical Documentary Project Organizer, with primary and secondary sources marked.

Start a filmWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Your films

The worked example is made up: a history documentary about a 1934 mill strike, cut at 11 and a half minutes against a 10-minute limit, with a curator’s release unsigned and a TV clip of unknown origin. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion ProjectsAlso for Enrichment · Cultural Studies$5

What you finish with
A record per film with title, kind, question, logline, target length, current cut and due date; interviews with date and release; archival and outside material with source, primary or secondary and rights status; ten production steps. Flags missing releases, unknown or pending rights and a cut over its target; counts cleared items and signed releases.
Who it is for
Middle and high school students making documentaries for class, National History Day or festivals, and the teachers who guide them.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per film. Prints the plan with its rights list, every film as a table or a blank planning sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment; also listed in the Cultural Studies space (as the Historical Documentary Project Organizer).
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write the question and a one-sentence logline before you shoot.
  2. Add each interview and get the release signed on the day.
  3. Log every outside item as you collect it, with its source and rights.
  4. Work through the production steps; show the rough cut to someone outside the team.
  5. Before the deadline, clear every flag.

Start a film

Rights, quickly

Can you use it?Made by you?Use itPublished in the U.S. before 1931, or a U.S.government work?Public domain: use it, and c…A license that covers your use?Follow its terms, credit itPermission in writing?Use it, keep the emailA short piece you comment on, with nosubstitute?Fair use may apply: write do…None of these? Replace it, or ask the owner. “Found online” is not a source.Can you use it?Made by you?→ Use itPublished in the U.S. before 1931,or a U.S. government work?→ Public domain: use it, and credit itA license that covers your use?→ Follow its terms, credit itPermission in writing?→ Use it, keep the emailA short piece you comment on, withno substitute?→ Fair use may apply: write down whyNone of these? Replace it, or ask theowner. “Found online” is not a source.
A general guide to U.S. copyright, not legal advice. Contests and schools may add their own rules.

Primary and secondary

A primary source comes from the time you are studying: a 1934 photo, a newspaper from that week, a ledger, someone who was there. A secondary source looks back on it: a book, an article, a later TV special. Historical documentaries are strongest when primary sources carry the story and secondary ones give context.

Public domain, in general

In the United States, works published before 1931 are in the public domain as of 2026, and works made by federal government employees as part of their job are not protected by copyright. Many Library of Congress items say “No known restrictions”; check each item’s rights note and credit it anyway.

Sources

  1. U.S. Copyright Office. Duration of Copyright (Circular 15a) and Fair Use Index (copyright.gov).
  2. Library of Congress. Copyright and Other Restrictions That Apply to Publication/Distribution of Images and rights statements (loc.gov).
  3. National History Day. Contest Rule Book: documentary category (nhd.org).
  4. Center for Media and Social Impact. Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use (cmsimpact.org).

The worked example is made up. This page is a general guide to U.S. copyright and releases, not legal advice; follow your school’s and contest’s rules. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.