Scope. The baseline license usually covers organic use — the brand's own social channels and website. Paid usage (running the content as ads), whitelisting from the creator's handle, email, marketplaces, and out-of-home are each separate grants that should be named explicitly in the agreement. Edit rights — whether the brand may cut, caption, or remix the footage — belong in scope too.
Duration. Rights run for a defined window or in perpetuity, and perpetual paid rights command a premium; many creators price usage as a recurring fee precisely because a winning ad can run for months. On TikTok, Spark Ads authorization adds a second clock: each code a creator generates is valid for 7, 30, 60, or 365 days and must be renewed when it lapses, regardless of what the contract says.
Exclusivity. A separately priced term preventing the creator from working with competing brands in a category for a period. Non-exclusive is the default.
The cardinal rule is to secure rights in writing before media spend starts — retro-negotiating rights on a proven winner is expensive.
Why it matters for brands
Ads built on lapsed or missing rights expose brands to mid-flight takedowns and legal claims, and vague terms sour creator relationships. Clean, explicit rights are what turn one good video into a durable advertising asset.