Sora-era files, read against the rules that ask for a description
The Sora app was discontinued on April 26, 2026 and its API on September 24, 2026, with an export window before the data was deleted. Files it made carried a visible moving watermark and C2PA metadata on all assets, and the terms put ownership of the output with the user. From 9 source pages, read 2026-09-25; no maker pays to be listed.
1What this register already keeps
Four readings of the maker's own pages, then six rules from the register that ask a submission to name what made it.
- Ownership of contentOpenAI's terms say the user owns the output and assign OpenAI's rights in it, as far as the law allows
- DurationUp to 20 seconds on sora-2 and sora-2-pro
- Extend completed videosA finished video can be extended into a new, stitched result
- ProvenanceA visible moving watermark on videos from sora.com or the Sora app, and C2PA metadata on all assets
- Rule 24Any use of AI must be disclosed; failing to disclose can disqualify a project
- Competition rulesA production file explaining the AI tools used, for every submission
- Rules of admissionModel or models and the pipeline disclosed on submission, with every contributor credited
- AI ethics and disclosureEvery entry lists the main AI tools and models and how AI was used
- Rule TwoThe Academy may ask for more information about generative AI use and human authorship
- Rule 03Major AI tools and human roles disclosed
2What the maker's pages state about a file it made
The help page that announced the closure is now the maker's main statement about the tool, and it is about files rather than features: the app stopped on April 26, 2026, the API followed on September 24, and export was offered at a sunset address with the data deleted after any final window.
The pages that describe the files themselves are still the register's source. Terms put ownership of the output with the user, as far as the law allows; sora-2 and sora-2-pro made clips of up to 20 seconds; a finished video could be extended into a new, stitched result; and every asset from the app carried a visible moving watermark with C2PA metadata. Those properties do not expire when a service does.
3Where the register stands once a model closes
Every reading in the register is dated, and this is why. A festival page records what an organiser's rules said on the day they were read; a tool page records what a maker's pages said on theirs. When one side of that pair stops being updated, the other side keeps its date and its wording, and a film made in the closed tool is read by the same rules as any other entry.
The practical consequence sits with the entrant. A film cut in 2026 from Sora clips will be entered under rules written for whatever the festival runs next, and the register's answer to what those rules say is only ever the organiser's own words, quoted with the day they were read. The maker's table below keeps a second row for the other side of the same comparison: Google Flow, still publishing pages that name its models and say how characters and references are carried, so a reader can see what a live page looks like beside a closed one.
4The rules that ask an entry to be written down
The rules read for this register divide cleanly on one question: whether a submission has to be described in words. Sundance asks that any use of AI be disclosed and allows a project to be disqualified when it is not. Cannes editions ask for a production file; the Astana festival wants the model or models and the pipeline named, with every contributor credited; the African AI Film Festival asks every entry to list its main tools and models and how AI was used.
Two others phrase it as a question the organiser may put later. The Academy's rules say it may ask for more information about generative AI use and human authorship; AI Cinema Festival NYC asks for the major AI tools and the human roles to be disclosed. Against those six, a watermark in the file is a different kind of statement — it is a property of the asset, not a line on the entry form.
5What the counted material counted
The largest set of counts in the material gathered for this column belongs to Sora: 11,729 posts and 4,662 comment mentions, with 1,112 positive against 452 negative. The two quotations kept beside it ask what creators do now and whether anyone will miss making those videos — both are about the work, not about the files.
None of that measures an entry, and the register is careful about the boundary: counts describe talk, readings describe pages. SceneMixer's row in the table below is a reading of the second kind, and the one most often asked about at submission time — what is written into the file and what is burned into the picture are recorded as two separate things.
6What each maker says about its own files
| Maker | What its own pages state | What it states besides | Pages read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Flow | Google's models: Veo 3.1 (native audio), Nano Banana, Gemini Omni; an agent and Scenebuilder | Characters and avatars, and ingredients-to-video from references | 2026-10-13 |
| SceneMixer | “The terms grant you the output to the extent the law allows, and that includes commercial use.” | Not carried on the pages read | 2026-10-13 |
| Sora | App discontinued April 26, 2026; API discontinued September 24, 2026 | Export was offered at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset; data is deleted after any final export window | 2026-10-13 |
Inclusion rule. Rows are the makers this page is about, each read on its own public pages, plus the drama pipeline whose readings this register keeps. A line a maker's page does not carry is written here as not carried on the pages read, which describes the reading rather than the product. Order. Alphabetical by maker name.
| Asked of each reading | Sora | Google Flow | SceneMixer |
|---|---|---|---|
| One generation runs | Up to 20 seconds on sora-2 and sora-2-pro | Up to 10 seconds on Gemini Omni Flash 1.1; Veo 3.1 clips run 4, 6 or 8 seconds | 15 or 30 seconds per segment, chosen per episode |
| Marks on the file | A visible moving watermark from the app, C2PA metadata on all assets | An invisible SynthID watermark on every output; a visible one can be switched on | A corner badge burned into the picture, metadata written into the file |
| Status of the tool | App discontinued April 26, 2026; API discontinued September 24, 2026 | Not carried on the pages read | Not carried on the pages read |
| Who owns the output | The user owns the output, as far as the law allows | Google will not claim ownership of the generated content | The user owns the generated results as far as the law allows |
Inclusion rule. Answers read from each maker's own pages as this register recorded them — the vendor pages on 2026-10-13, the register rows on 2026-09-25. A line the pages do not carry is written here as not carried on the pages read, which describes the reading rather than the product. Order. As the lines are listed above.
7What the collection put numbers against
Sora is the family this page is about, and the counts below are its record in the collection. They measure talk, not files.
| Family | Posts | Comment mentions | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sora | 11729 | 4662 | 1112 | 452 |
Inclusion rule. Families the collection counted that bear on this page's subject, from one subreddit. A thread can be counted on both sides. Order. Descending by posts.
Sora is dead — what do creators do now?
r/SoraAi, collected 2026-10-14
Will you miss making Sora videos?
r/SoraAi, collected 2026-10-14
8When the other maker's pages fit better
- The film is finished and only needs more room — A completed video extends into a new stitched result, which suits an entry that has to grow into a running-time rule rather than be shot again.
- The provenance is already in the file — C2PA metadata on all assets gives an entry form something in the file itself to point at, but the disclosure is still the entrant's to write.
- Ownership has to be stated plainly — The terms put ownership of the output with the user as far as the law allows, which is the line an organiser's rights clause meets.
The search behind this page comes from the collection's own material: "Do film festivals using AI posters bother you?" Beside it: a film built partly from stock footage and the file one tool's own contest asks for.