There are no easy solutions to the many problems associated with the conservation, restoration, and distribution of moving images. UNESCO, The Council of Europe, and FIAF (the International Federation of Cinematographic Archives) have made various attempts to adopt a range of different solutions, but all to no avail. The difficulties arise from problems associated with finding the right storage conditions, the lack of precise laws governing the question of authors' rights, and of the deposit system with all its difficulties in locating the owner of the rights for deposited film material. The conservation of film footage that plays testimony to an age, to the lifestyle and the culture of the peoples of the world, could be resolved on a national level. The idea of a legal depository along the lines of the present setup for written material is put forward.