An open standard for documenting AI in film production

APS (AI Production Standard) defines what a producer should record whenever AI tools are used at any stage of production: which tool, under which terms, with how much human contribution, and with what effect on the rights to the film.

Read the standard on GitHub Download version 1.0.2 (Zenodo)

Version 1.0.2, published 11 September 2026. Status: Draft for Public Review. Apache 2.0 licence, free to use, including commercially. The Polish text governs; the English text is a reference translation.

AI Registry, entry 0147 sample

Tool and version: [tool name and version] APS-REG-001
Provider, ToS verified on: [provider], 2026-06-22 APS-REG-002
Production stage: picture post APS-REG-003
Description of use: upscaling of archive footage, shot 24 / 3 APS-REG-004
Content category: A, AI as an auxiliary tool APS-REG-005
Commercial use per ToS: permitted, commercial plan APS-REG-007
Legal risk assessment: medium: the archive licence must cover AI modification APS-REG-009, APS-VFX-004
ToS snapshot: PDF, archived 2026-06-22 APS-REG-010

The data is illustrative. This is one entry, from which the chain of title documentation and the AI Disclosure are later built.

Why this standard exists

I have worked in film production for more than twenty years, and with AI the hard part is not the tools themselves. The hard part comes later, when a distributor, co-producer, platform or insurer asks: what was this made with, under which terms, and who holds the rights to it.

In every contract a producer gives representations and warranties about the rights to the film. For material made with AI there is often nothing to back them up. Large studios have legal departments for this. An independent producer carries the same risk without that infrastructure. In my view this is the biggest gap today, and independent producers are who this standard is written for.

Second: the terms of service of AI tools change every few months, and nobody keeps the version that applied on the day of generation for you. If it is not recorded while you work, it cannot be reconstructed later.

Add to this the transparency obligations of the EU AI Act and increasingly specific distributor requirements. Existing initiatives cover either the licensing of source material or the labelling of the finished work. What was missing was the layer in between: a record of what actually happened during production.

APS is an attempt to fill that gap. It is open and free, because a standard you have to pay for will never become the industry's common language.

Marcin Marczyk, author of the standard, Udyssey Creative Technologies

What APS covers

The standard applies to all forms of audiovisual production: feature films, documentaries, short films, episodic and web content, advertising, music videos, and animation, in which AI tools were used at any stage.

Version 1.0.2 carries 63 normative requirements in ten identifier groups, plus requirements for six production stages: development, screenwriting, breakdown and budgeting, principal photography, picture post and sound post.

AI Registry: A living record of every use of an AI tool: tool name and version, provider, production stage, description of use, content category. Ten requirements, APS-REG-001 to APS-REG-010.
Content classification: Three categories: A (human content, AI as an auxiliary tool), B (hybrid content), C (content produced entirely by AI). The category determines how much documentation is required, and whether there is any copyright to defend at all.
Documentation of creative contribution: For Category B and C content: the original and final versions, the edit history, and a written statement by the author on the scope of their contribution. This is the part of the chain of title most often missing for AI-involved material. APS-COT-001 to APS-COT-005.
ToS verification: Five questions to put to the terms of service before a tool is first used in a commercial production, covering commercial use, rights in the generated content, and indemnification clauses.
ToS snapshot: Preservation of the terms in force on the date of use, as an archived PDF or a link carrying an archive date. APS-REG-010.
AI Disclosure: A statement of the extent of AI use, forming part of the delivery package, verifiable against the AI Registry rather than written separately. APS-DIS-001 to APS-DIS-005.
Legal risk assessment: Recorded with the Registry entry: low, medium or high, with reasons. APS-REG-009.

Where APS fits

Input What may be used: licences to source material, likeness and voice releases.

APS What actually happened during production: the AI Registry, content category, creative contribution, ToS snapshot.

Output What goes into the delivery package: the AI Disclosure, a report in the format the platform requires, metadata embedded in the file where the platform requires it.

APS does not replace the C2PA specification or ISO/IEC 42001:2023. It remains complementary to both: it supplies the record of process on which either can rest. The standard is not legal advice and creates no presumption of conformity with Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 or any other instrument.

Versions

1.0

6 May 2026

First publication of the standard. Withdrawn: it contains errors corrected in 1.0.1 and its use is not recommended.
10.5281/zenodo.22690398
1.0.1

2 September 2026

Errata to 1.0. The table mapping APS requirements onto the AI Act and the citation of Article 13 were withdrawn. No change to normative requirements.
10.5281/zenodo.22691242
1.0.2

11 September 2026

Current version. Attribution layer, proposed governance model, open implementation register. No change to normative requirements: a declaration of conformity with 1.0 or 1.0.1 remains valid.
10.5281/zenodo.22702647
2.0

in progress

A single standard built on whether evidence can be reconstructed, without the BASIC, EXTENDED and ENTERPRISE level structure. A MAJOR change: it will require a new declaration of conformity. Scope of work in the changelog.

The version colours follow the order of screenplay revision pages: white, blue, pink, yellow. A published version of the standard is never modified; every correction is issued as a new version. The rules are in the versioning policy, the full history in the changelog.

How to take part

Comment on a requirementCite the identifier, for example APS-REG-010. Every comment becomes a public thread in the repository and is recorded in the changelog, including comments that were not adopted.
Contribute to APS 2.0A substantive proposal is submitted in public and goes through a consultation of no less than 30 days. A change introduced outside that procedure is not a version of the standard.
Submit a tool to the implementation registerAn open register of tools and systems implementing APS. Listing is free of charge and non-exclusive; it is not a certification or a vendor recommendation.
Open discussionThe scope of the standard, industry practice, questions about applying APS in production.
hello@ai4.filmQuestions, collaboration, adoption in schools and institutions.

Cite as: AI4.FILM, AI Production Standard (APS) 1.0.2 (2026), DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22702647. A citation in delivery documentation states the DOI of the version. The DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22690397 covers all versions and resolves to the most recent one.

A declaration of conformity must state the version: "Production conducted in accordance with the AI Production Standard (APS) 1.0.2 (2026)." A declaration that does not state a version is ineffective.