A royalty library versus a distribution gig
Stock footage is a licensing business. You shoot original clips, upload them to a marketplace, and earn a royalty each time a buyer licenses one. The appeal is that a single strong clip can be licensed repeatedly for years — genuinely passive income. The catch is that it takes a large, well-shot, well-tagged library before the royalties add up, and the marketplace takes a cut and sets the terms.
Clipping needs no camera, no original shoot, and no marketplace approval. You are paid on the reach of clips you cut from existing footage, not on licensing your own.
Where stock footage genuinely wins
If you can shoot quality video and are patient, stock footage builds a real, owned asset — a catalogue that keeps paying long after the work is done, with a ceiling tied to how large and in-demand your library becomes. It is one of the more genuinely passive options available.
The trade is a slow, front-loaded grind with quality and equipment requirements, and income that depends on buyers finding your clips. Clipping's earnings depend on the views your clips receive, but it asks for none of that upfront investment.