Archival Metadata & Sanctions Compliance

1. Archival metadata is descriptive, not commercial

Stockfilm preserves historical footage with accurate archival metadata. Country names, locations, people, and events visible on clip pages are descriptive historical information only and do not indicate that Stockfilm provides services to, from, or within any restricted jurisdiction.

Removing or rewriting accurate historical metadata would undermine the archival integrity that documentaries, museums, educators, and researchers rely on. We do not redact place names, dates, or descriptions for that reason.

2. Stripe checkout is unavailable for restricted-jurisdiction clips

Stripe checkout is not available for clips whose archival metadata references a restricted jurisdiction. Licensing inquiries for such clips require manual review and may be declined where required by law, payment-processor policy, sanctions obligations, or compliance controls.

This block is enforced both in the user interface (no “License Direct”, “Buy Now”, or “Instant Download” controls are shown) and server-side (the checkout API refuses to create a Stripe Checkout Session for restricted clips and logs every attempt).

3. Restricted jurisdictions

The following jurisdictions trigger manual review. The matched term, jurisdiction, and field are recorded for every blocked inquiry to support compliance audits.

• Cuba — OFAC comprehensive sanctions (Cuban Assets Control Regulations)
  Matched terms: Cuba, Cuban, Havana.
• Iran — OFAC comprehensive sanctions (Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations)
  Matched terms: Iran, Iranian, Tehran, Teheran.
• North Korea — OFAC comprehensive sanctions (North Korea Sanctions Regulations)
  Matched terms: North Korea, North Korean, DPRK, Pyongyang.
• Syria — OFAC comprehensive sanctions (Syrian Sanctions Regulations)
  Matched terms: Syria, Syrian, Damascus.
• Crimea — OFAC regional sanctions (Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations)
  Matched terms: Crimea, Crimean.
• Donetsk region — OFAC regional sanctions (so-called Donetsk People's Republic)
  Matched terms: Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast.
• Luhansk region — OFAC regional sanctions (so-called Luhansk People's Republic)
  Matched terms: Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Lugansk.
• Donetsk/Luhansk (Donbas) — OFAC regional sanctions covering the Donbas region
  Matched terms: Donbas, Donbass.

4. Manual licensing review

For clips that match the criteria above, the only path is a manual licensing inquiry. There is no automatic checkout flow — including for crypto. Wallet addresses and delivery URLs are never published on restricted-jurisdiction clip pages.

Eligible inquiries are reviewed against the applicable sanctions lists. Approved inquiries are responded to with payment instructions and delivery details out-of-band; BTC, SOL, and bank-wire options may be offered where legally permitted.

5. Non-discrimination

The matcher flags archival metadata strings, not buyers. Eligible buyers in non-restricted jurisdictions are welcome to license non-restricted clips through the standard direct checkout. Eligible buyers may also use the manual review flow for restricted clips when sanctions law and processor policy permit it.

6. Audit trail

Every blocked Stripe attempt and every manual inquiry is logged with the matched jurisdiction, matched term, matched field, clip ID, timestamp, and request context. Inquiry records are persisted in our database under the ManualLicensingInquiry table with statuses PENDING_REVIEW, APPROVED, REJECTED, PAID, FULFILLED, and CANCELLED.

7. Contact

For compliance questions, contact us through the contact form. To request manual licensing review for a specific archival clip, open the clip page and use the “Request Manual Licensing Review” link.