Influencer brand deal — who owns the content I create?

I'm a mid-tier lifestyle influencer (about 320K followers across platforms) and I just got my first big sponsorship deal with a skincare brand. The money is great but the contract has a clause that says the brand owns "all deliverables created in connection with this agreement, in perpetuity, throughout the universe."

That means if I make a video, a set of photos, and some stories for them, they own all of it forever? They could use my face in their ads for the next 20 years? That feels really wrong for the amount they're paying me.

I don't have an agent or manager yet. Is this standard? What should I push back on?

This is extremely common in brand contracts and it is not in your interest to sign it as written. Let me break down the key concepts:

Assignment vs. License: What they're asking for is a full assignment of copyright, meaning you transfer ownership entirely. The alternative is a license, where you retain ownership but grant them permission to use the content in defined ways. You almost always want to grant a license, not an assignment.

Under the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101), "work made for hire" has a specific legal meaning. For independent contractors (which you are), a work is only work-for-hire if it falls into one of nine enumerated categories and both parties sign a written agreement saying it's work-for-hire. Most influencer content doesn't fit neatly into those categories, so brands use broad assignment language instead.

Here's what I'd negotiate:

• License instead of assignment — grant them a non-exclusive license to use the content
• Time-limited usage — 12-24 months is standard, not "in perpetuity"
• Platform restrictions — specify where they can use it (their social channels, website) vs. everywhere (billboards, TV, third-party ads)
• Approval rights — require your approval before they use your content in paid ads or modify it
• Likeness rights — separate from copyright, your right of publicity controls how your image is used commercially

For more on structuring these agreements, see our resource at /Demand-Letters/Influencer-Media/.

Thank you, this is exactly what I needed. The license vs. assignment distinction makes total sense. I definitely don't want to hand over ownership of content featuring my face forever.

Quick question: if I push back on this, is there a risk they just walk away? I don't want to seem difficult. This is a big deal for me financially.

I work on the brand side and I can tell you: every professional creator negotiates these terms. We expect it. The initial contract is always drafted in our favor because, well, why wouldn't it be? But any brand worth working with will negotiate.

The creators who just sign everything without question are actually the ones we worry about, because it usually means they're inexperienced and might not deliver professional-quality content either.

Common compromises I see: 12-month organic usage license with an option to extend for an additional fee, paid media usage (running your content as ads) at a separate rate, and a "whitelisting" fee if they want to run ads from your account handle.

Kim's perspective from the brand side is spot on. I'll add that you should specifically address paid media usage (also called "whitelisting" or "dark posting"). This is where the brand runs paid ads using your content or your account. It's worth significantly more than organic posting because your face and credibility are being used to sell directly.

Industry standard is to charge an additional 30-100% of the base fee for paid media rights, depending on duration and spend. Don't bundle this into the base rate.

Also: make sure the contract specifies what happens to the content when the agreement ends. You want a clear takedown provision requiring them to stop using the content within 30 days of expiration, except for any agreed-upon wind-down period.

Okay I went back to the brand with a redline and proposed a 12-month non-exclusive license, separate paid media fee at 50% of base, platform-limited usage, and a 30-day takedown after expiration. They came back and agreed to almost everything but want 18 months instead of 12 and pushed back slightly on the paid media rate.

I think that's totally workable. I'm going to have a lawyer review the final version before I sign. Thank you all so much — I was about to sign that original contract as-is and that would have been a huge mistake.

Glad you pushed back, Nadia. I signed one of those "in perpetuity" deals early in my career and the brand is still running my content three years later. I've changed my entire look and brand positioning since then, and there's nothing I can do about it. Learn from my mistake.

One more thing: make sure you retain the right to use the content in your own portfolio and on your own channels. Some contracts quietly restrict that too, which is absurd since it's your content featuring you.