Brand Deal Contracts: 8 Clauses to Negotiate

A sponsorship agreement can look like a two-page formality. It is not. It decides what the brand owns, what you are prevented from doing, when you get paid, and who is responsible if something goes wrong. Here are the eight clauses we look at first.

1. Deliverables and revisions

The contract should say exactly what you are making: how many posts, on which platforms, in what format, by what date, and how long each must stay live. It should also cap the rounds of revisions. "Content acceptable to Brand" with no limit is an open-ended commitment.

2. Usage rights

This is the clause with the most money in it. Organic posting on your own account is one thing. The brand reposting your content, using it on its website, or running it in paid ads for a year is something else entirely, and it should be priced as such. Watch for "perpetual," "worldwide," and "in all media now known or later developed."

3. Whitelisting and paid amplification

Whitelisting, creator licensing, or Spark Ads let the brand run paid ads through your handle. Your audience and your face are being used to sell to people who never chose to follow you. Limit the duration, require approval of the ad copy, and charge for it.

4. Exclusivity

A reasonable exclusivity clause keeps you from promoting a direct competitor for a short window around the campaign. An unreasonable one blocks an entire category, such as "beauty" or "beverages," for a year or more, often for a fee that does not come close to the deals you will have to turn down. Narrow the category, shorten the term, and price whatever remains.

5. Payment terms

"Net 60" or "net 90" means you finance the brand's campaign for two or three months. Look for when payment is triggered, whether there is a deposit, what happens if the brand cancels after you have started (a kill fee), and whether there is any consequence for late payment.

6. Ownership of the content

Unless you sign it away, you generally own the copyright in what you create. Many brand contracts are drafted to take that ownership through an assignment or a "work made for hire" provision. A license that gives the brand defined rights is usually all the brand actually needs. An assignment means you may not be able to repost your own work.

7. FTC compliance and indemnification

Brands increasingly shift disclosure responsibility, and the liability that comes with it, onto the creator. Meanwhile, the indemnification clause may make you responsible for claims about the brand's own product. Disclosure is your obligation regardless, as we explain in FTC rules for influencers, but indemnity should run both ways and should cover the brand's product claims.

8. Morals clause and termination

A morals clause lets the brand end the deal if you do something it believes harms its reputation. Push for an objective standard instead of "in Brand's sole discretion," and make sure you are paid for work already delivered if the brand terminates. Ask for the same right in reverse if the brand becomes a company you no longer want to be associated with.

Before you sign

Every one of these terms is easier to change before signing than to live with afterward. If the brand wants you to deliver content for its own channels rather than post to yours, read UGC vs. influencer contracts, because the rules change. Contract review is a core part of our creator economy work.