Contest Rules

The purpose of the Public Domain Film Festival is to promote a greater understanding of copyright law among students training in creative disciplines. The festival provides an opportunity for student filmmakers to learn about and respect copyright law while fulfilling its purpose: to promote creativity.

Registered teams will have 14 days to create an original screenplay, film, and musical score (collectively, the entry) inspired by works recently entered in the public domain.

A broad selection of public domain works included in the festival are available on this website, but teams will be assigned only a few of these public domains works at the film festival's Launch Event. Learn more about how we will assign public domain works to each team on the Launch Event page on this site.

Entries will be judged according to the judging rubric available on this website. Please note that the integration of and inspiration from a team's assigned public domain works weigh heavily on the judging rubric in most award categories.

Teams
1. Teams must register before the festival Launch Event on February 3, 2027.
2. At registration, each team must designate a student to fill the primary roles of Producer, Director, Screenwriter, and Composer. Two or more of these roles may be filled by the same student, but each team will need to designate an award recipient for each role category for administrative purposes such as award disbursement, communication, etc. A team can be a single student and that student can fill all roles.
3. In addition to the primary roles, teams may also have students fill the optional roles of Cinematographer, Sound Designer, and Production Designer.
4. Each team will need a Team Captain. The Team Captain will be responsible for responding to communications from the contest organizers to ensure the team is fully compliant and qualified before and during the contest.
5. Teams may have as many members as they desire, so long as all crew members are current BYU, BYU-Idaho, or BYU-Hawaii students. Teams may use actors or musicians that are not BYU, BYU-Idaho, or BYU-Hawaii students in their films. All actors will be eligible to receive the prize award for Best Acting Performance, so long as they are nominated at submission.
6. No student may be registered as or act as a Producer, Director, Screenwriter, Composer, Cinematographer, Sound Designer, or Production Designer on more than one team. However, students may participate as actors or musical performers for more than one team, even if they're registered or acting as any of the team roles set forth in this section on a different team.
7. For interested participants who do not yet have a team, or for teams interested in recruiting crew members or actors for specific roles, the event website will feature a crew and talent directory. Actors or crew members may sign up for this directory to exhibit their willingness to join a team and list their qualifications. It is the responsibility of individual participants and Team Captains to ensure all teams are finalized before the festival’s start date. Please note, adding your name to this directory does not guarantee that you will be added to a team to participate in the competition.
The Public Domain Works
1. During the Launch Event on February 3, 2027, teams will participate in a Public Domain Works Draft. Team Captains will take turns selecting the public domain works they would like to use in their films. It is very possible that not every team will get to use the public domain works they prefer. We encourage teams to become familiar with a variety of the works listed on the event website before this Draft so they can use suitable alternatives to their first choices.
2. The public domain works available in the Draft may contain content which could be offensive or objectionable, such as language, attitudes, violence, sensuality, or sensitive themes. The works reflect the period they were published in and their inclusion is for educational and creative purposes and does not constitute an endorsement of such content. Students are encouraged to research the works and consider their own comfort and well-being when selecting a work in the Draft. Please use discretion when creating your entry and ensure that your entry reflects BYU standards and the contest guidelines in 3(f), even if the public domain works don't adhere to such guidelines.
Submissions
1. All films must be no more than five minutes long, including title cards, credits, etc.
2. All films must be limited to original footage recorded within the festival’s time window. Films cannot include any third-party video, AI-generated video, or previously recorded video other than footage or stills from their selected public domain film.
3. All screenplays must be limited to text drafted within the festival's time window and cannot contain any non-incidental third-party creative works, including characters, other than works selected by the team in the Draft.
4. Any non-incidental pictorial graphics or sculptural works used in the film must be original and created within the festival's time window.
5. All music used in the film must be arranged or composed by the team’s Composer and recorded within the festival’s time window. Original lyrics from the public domain musical work may be used or modified. No other music may be used regardless of copyright status, ownership, or permission.
6. In addition to the five-minute film, teams will also be required to submit two additional, 90-second videos in which representatives from their crew explain how their entry integrates their selected public domain works. This is a required part of each team's submission and will be sent to the judges to help them deliberate during scoring.
7. Each team must upload their submission by 5:00 PM MT on February 17, 2027, either in person at the Copyright Licensing Office at 3760 Harold B. Lee Library or digitally at the available upload link. The door to the Copyright Licensing Office automatically locks at 5:00 PM. All uploads are timestamped and late submissions may result in a deduction or disqualification. Please be aware of rendering, export, and upload times and don’t miss your deadline!
8. All submissions should adhere to BYU's Honor Code. Although a submission may treat any theme and be in any style, it must conform to standards of general good taste, as determined by the judges, organizers of the contest, or BYU administration. Submissions with explicit language or other objectionable content may result in a deduction of points or disqualification.
9. Submissions must be one gigabyte or less and in .mp4 or .mov format.
Cash prizes will be paid to the individual specified on the Award Recipient Designation Form distributed to finalist Team Captains before the Awards Ceremony. In the event a team wins an award, and no recipient has been designated, the prize money will be distributed to that team's Captain. After the case prize or award basket has been received, it is the responsibility of each team to decide how to divide any prize money or goods awarded to any member of their team.
All participants must agree that their individual contributions to any submission, and all completed submissions entered in the contest, will be made available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 copyright license.
Current Copyright Licensing Office employees are not eligible to collaborate with any team or participate in the creation of any submission, other than answering questions about the public domain works, the judging rubric, or the contest rules. Immediate family of employees of the Copyright Licensing Office are not eligible to collaborate with any team or participate in the creation of any submission for the contest.
The Audience Choice award category requires audience voting LIVE at the screening event, and during an online session. More details about voting for this award will be made available at the event. Any attempt to violate the rules and procedures for these voting sessions will result in disqualification of the team's film for ALL AWARD CATEGORIES. Examples of the type of behavior that violate this rule include: contacting individuals not present at or tuned in to the screening to cast votes for the award; providing information to individuals to have their votes unfairly multiplied, counted, or included; soliciting votes from individuals that have not viewed the films they're voting on, etc.
At least one member of each team must complete the Student Filmmaker Copyright training provided by the Copyright Licensing Office. Training must be completed prior to the submission deadline.
Use of AI
1. Generative AI - Any use of AI to substitute for original content creation or production work for the purposes of this festival is prohibited. All scripts, recordings, photography, and music must be created by individual festival participants within the festival's time window.
2. AI Editing and Refining Tools - Tools that exist within existing editing software that refine participant-made content, or merely speeds up technical processes, are permitted.
3. This non-exhaustive list may help you further understand permitted uses and prohibited uses.
  1. Prohibited Uses
    1. Using AI to write any portion of your script
    2. Using AI to generate CGI characters or graphics that are essential for the story
    3. Using AI to generate images to be used as backgrounds or in compositing for video
    4. Using AI to write music or produce a musical recording
  2. Permitted Uses
    1. Using AI to spell check scripts or check scripts for clichés and bad language
    2. Using AI for color grading
    3. Using AI tools to help with audio mixing
4. Participants should be able to provide draft files/version history to verify original content, upon request.
Dangerous Filming Practices
1. The BYU Copyright Licensing Office does not condone any film practice that is inherently dangerous and puts crew or performers at risk of spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical injury. We expect film festival participants to adhere to industry best practices in safety standards and expect that the scope of the 14-day production will limit practices that might be possible for productions with more resources.
2. Prohibited practices include:
  1. Stunts without qualified stunt coordinators
  2. Putting cast or crew in hazardous situations
  3. Using real firearms
  4. Using fake or real weapons in any way that endangers cast, crew, or public
  5. Any form of sexual harassment
  6. Pressure or discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, religion, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, citizenship, political affiliation, ancestry, or age.
  7. Trespassing
  8. Pranks of strangers or involving strangers without their consent
  9. Filming in ways that obstruct vehicle traffic
  10. Filming in conditions that prevent performers or crew from accessing necessary facilities for prolonged periods
3. These issues come up often in the film industry, and we expect you to take structured opportunities during your student tenure to learn how to navigate them with maturity. We reserve the right to deduct points from or disqualify any film that has endangered any of its crew or performers by not adhering to proper film industry best practices. If you have questions about dangerous filming practices or would like to report an incident that happened in connection with the festival, contact the Copyright Licensing Office at copyright@byu.edu or any appropriate authority, which may include:
  1. BYU
    1. Campus Police: 801-422-0911
    2. Compliance Hotline: 1-888-238-1062
    3. Title IX: 801-422-8692
  2. BYU-Idaho
    1. Campus Security: 208-496-3000
    2. Compliance Hotline: 1-888-238-1062
    3. Title IX: 208-496-9209
  3. BYU-Hawaii
    1. Campus Security: 808-675-3503
    2. Compliance Hotline: 1-888-238-1062
    3. Title IX: 808-675-4585
The contest organizers reserve the right to deduct points or disqualify submissions for failure to comply with the rules of the competition laid out on this website or given through other communications with the Copyright Licensing Office or BYU.