# Internet Archive

> Internet Archive as searched by Video Assets Server: Public-domain and Creative Commons films: the Prelinger Archives (industrial, educational and advertising films), newsreels, home movies and community stock footage. Only items marked CC0, public domain or CC BY(-SA); uploader-asserted licences are flagged.

- Website: https://archive.org
- Best for: Public-domain and Creative Commons films: the Prelinger Archives (industrial, educational and advertising films), newsreels, home movies and community stock footage. Only items marked CC0, public domain or CC BY(-SA); uploader-asserted licences are flagged.
- Categories: Archive & vintage, City & urban, People, Transport, Nature, Science & data, Technology, Food & drink, Space, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX
- Pricing: free
- Licence: set per clip
- How it is searched: api
- Direct download through Video Assets Server: yes
- Restrict a search to it: `https://video.shep.bot/v1/search?q=...&providers=internetarchive`
- Video listings counted 2026-10-28: 502,626, 502,626 free
- By category: Archive & vintage 10,461

## What it is

The Internet Archive's moving-image collection holds millions of items: films, TV captures, home movies and community uploads. This server searches only the movies whose licence is CC0, public domain or CC BY(-SA), which still covers about half a million items, including the Prelinger Archives' ten thousand or so industrial, educational and advertising films from 1903 to the 1980s, newsreels and stock-footage uploads.

## Best for

Period footage: newsreels, mid-century educational and industrial films, travelogues, home movies, old advertising. Expect SD transfers in 4:3, often black and white, with sound.

## Licence

Licences on Internet Archive items are set by their uploaders, and some modern films carry a public-domain mark they shouldn't, so they are capped at 'check the terms'. The Prelinger collection is the exception: its curators state the films are public domain. Historic footage shows people and brands without releases, so it is flagged editorial.

## How Video Assets Server searches it

Through advancedsearch.php, restricted to CC0, public-domain and CC BY(-SA) licences, with TV captures, trailers and fan uploads excluded. Search results carry a poster but no playable file, so cards have no hover preview: opening a clip reads its file list (MP4 and Ogg derivatives) and starts the player.

## Example searches

- [Newsreels](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=newsreel&category=archive.newsreel&providers=internetarchive)
- [Prelinger films](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=prelinger&providers=internetarchive)
- [1950s kitchens](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=1950s+kitchen&providers=internetarchive)
- [Factories](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=factory&providers=internetarchive)
- [Home movies](https://video.shep.bot/search?q=home+movie&providers=internetarchive)

Guides: https://video.shep.bot/guides/prelinger-public-domain-films.md, https://video.shep.bot/guides/editorial-vs-commercial-footage.md

## In these collections

- [Free 4K nature footage: landscapes and skies](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-4k-nature-footage.md): 14 of 28
- [Free cloud timelapses: skies, storms and sunsets](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-cloud-timelapses.md): 14 of 14
- [Free timelapse videos: cities, skies and nature](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-timelapse-videos.md): 14 of 28
- [Free space footage: planets, stars and missions](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-space-footage.md): 14 of 33
- [Prelinger and public-domain archive films](https://video.shep.bot/footage/prelinger-archive-films.md): 14 of 15
- [Public-domain newsreels and documentary footage](https://video.shep.bot/footage/public-domain-newsreels.md): 14 of 14
- [Free motion backgrounds and abstract loops](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-motion-backgrounds.md): 14 of 14
- [Free slow-motion footage: high frame rate clips](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-slow-motion-footage.md): 14 of 19
- [Free vertical nature videos for Reels and TikTok](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-vertical-nature-videos.md): 14 of 28
- [Free vertical videos (9:16) for Reels and Shorts](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-vertical-videos.md): 14 of 28
- [NASA data visualisations and science animations](https://video.shep.bot/footage/nasa-data-visualizations.md): 10 of 36
- [Earth from space videos: orbit views and globes](https://video.shep.bot/footage/earth-from-space-videos.md): 9 of 36
- [Free ocean footage: waves, beaches and seas](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-ocean-footage.md): 7 of 20
- [Free city footage: skylines, streets and traffic](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-city-footage.md): 6 of 6
- [Rocket launch footage: liftoffs and missions](https://video.shep.bot/footage/rocket-launch-footage.md): 5 of 19

## Examples

- [Nature Cat - Full Series](https://archive.org/details/nature-cat-s-01-e-07-where-have-all-the-butterflies-gone-for-the-birdies) (`internetarchive:nature-cat-s-01-e-07-where-have-all-the-butterflies-gone-for-the-birdies`, Public domain)
- [Cloud To Cloud Lightning CGI & Timelapse (Wide Screen)](https://archive.org/details/CEP238) (`internetarchive:CEP238`, Public domain)
- [Calgary, Vancouver Timelapse](https://archive.org/details/TimeLapse) (`internetarchive:TimeLapse`, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- [Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)](https://archive.org/details/TeenagersFromOuterSpace1959) (`internetarchive:TeenagersFromOuterSpace1959`, Public domain)
- [San Francisco (1955 Cinemascope film)](https://archive.org/details/SanFrancisco1955CinemascopeFilm) (`internetarchive:SanFrancisco1955CinemascopeFilm`, CC BY-SA 3.0)
- [Universal-International Newsreel](https://archive.org/details/tmp_05001) (`internetarchive:tmp_05001`, Public domain)
- [Abstract Swirls Background Loop](https://archive.org/details/redgreeturquoiseswirls) (`internetarchive:redgreeturquoiseswirls`, CC BY 3.0)
- [Slow Motion Flame](https://archive.org/details/SlowMotionFlame) (`internetarchive:SlowMotionFlame`, CC BY 3.0)
- [About Bananas](https://archive.org/details/AboutBan1935) (`internetarchive:AboutBan1935`, Public domain)
- [Sid The Science Kid - TV Series (2008)](https://archive.org/details/STSKTVSeries) (`internetarchive:STSKTVSeries`, Public domain)
- [The Last Man on Earth (1964)](https://archive.org/details/TheLastManOnEarth_72) (`internetarchive:TheLastManOnEarth_72`, CC0 1.0)
- [Ocean Lava underwater](https://archive.org/details/pillow_lava_480) (`internetarchive:pillow_lava_480`, Public domain)

All sources: https://video.shep.bot/docs/sources.md

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Source: https://video.shep.bot/sources/internetarchive