The five things a licence defines
Every content licence, however casual, answers five questions. If your agreement doesn't answer all five, you have a dispute waiting to happen.
- Where — Which channels — their own social accounts, their website, paid ads, email, retail displays, packaging?
- How long — A defined term with a start and end date. "Ongoing" is not a term.
- Where in the world — One market or global. Global costs more because it's worth more.
- Exclusive or not — Are you barred from shooting for competitors, and if so, how is "competitor" defined and for how long?
- Can they edit it — Can they recut, add captions, splice it with other footage, or hand it to an agency to remix?
The terms you'll actually see
- Organic use — They post the content on their own accounts as a normal post. The cheapest and most common licence; usually included in base rate.
- Paid media / paid usage — They run it as an advertisement behind ad spend. Much more valuable to them — it's directly generating revenue — and priced accordingly.
- Whitelisting (or spark ads) — They run paid ads that appear to come from your handle, using your identity for social proof. Distinct from paid usage and priced on top of it.
- Exclusivity — You agree not to create for competing brands for a period. Always negotiate the category definition narrowly — "beverages" can lock you out of an entire industry.
- Perpetual / buyout — They can use it forever, everywhere. You lose all renewal revenue and all future control. Price as a multiple of base, and be reluctant.
- Raw footage / working files — Access to unedited material. Means they can produce unlimited new cuts without you. Price separately or decline.
The question that earns the most money in UGC
"What are you planning to do with the content — organic only, or are you running it in paid?" Ask it before you quote, every single time.
Clauses worth reading twice
These show up in otherwise standard agreements and are worth pushing back on.
- "In perpetuity, in all media now known or hereafter devised" — A full buyout in formal dress. If the fee doesn't reflect a buyout, ask for a term limit instead.
- "Work made for hire" / full assignment of copyright — You don't licence the work, you cease to own it. You may lose the right to show it in your own portfolio — carve that out explicitly.
- Unlimited revisions — Not a rights issue but the same category of problem. Cap the included rounds in writing.
- Broad exclusivity with no time limit — Ties up your entire category indefinitely for a single fee. Always bound it in both scope and time.
- No portfolio rights — Some agreements bar you from showing the work at all. If they insist, price it as a buyout, because it removes the marketing value of the job.
Language you can adapt
You don't need a lawyer to put a clear licence in an invoice or email — you need specificity. This is not legal advice, and a real contract for a large engagement should be reviewed properly, but for a typical deal something like the following removes most ambiguity:
"Creator grants Brand a non-exclusive licence to use the delivered content on Brand's owned social channels and website for 12 months from delivery. Paid media usage, whitelisting, use beyond 12 months, and use outside [market] are not included and are quoted separately. Creator retains copyright and the right to display the content in their portfolio. Brand may not transfer this licence to a third party."
Then bill the extensions as line items when they ask — which they will, and gladly, because by then the asset is already performing.
Track your expiry dates
A licence with an end date is a renewal conversation with a date attached. Log every usage window when the deal closes, and reach out a few weeks before it lapses: "the 12-month licence on the three videos ends on the 14th — want to renew, or should I mark them as retired?"
That message converts unusually well, because the brand knows exactly how the asset has performed. Creators who track expiry dates earn recurring revenue from work they finished a year ago.