UGC usage rights: buying rights, whitelisting and Spark Ads
Buying UGC usage rights means agreeing in writing where, for how long and on which channels you can use a video: organic only or paid ads, for a given duration and territory. In France, the law requires each right transferred to be listed separately, with its scope, purpose, place and duration. Whitelisting (TikTok Spark Ads, Meta partnership ads) runs the ad from the creator's account. Public price grids put paid use at about 20 to 50% on top of the video price. On UGC Pocket, reuse of the videos in ads or on your site is defined in the commercial proposal.
What UGC usage rights are
When a creator delivers a video, they usually grant you a usage license, not an unlimited transfer. The license answers three questions:
- What use? Organic (posting on your accounts or the creator's, with no ad budget) or paid (turning the video into a funded ad). Paid use is worth more, so it costs more.
- What duration? Price grids reason in periods: Influee's, for example, uses 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and in perpetuity. At the end, you renew or stop running the video.
- What territory? France, Europe, worldwide. The wider the territory, the more the use is worth.
Specifying these three points up front avoids disputes. Our UGC brief template adds usage rights to its 8 core blocks: state the use, the duration and the channels before the creator films.
Copyright and image rights: what the brand actually buys
A UGC video carries two sets of rights, and a brand that wants to run it needs both.
- The creator's copyright on the video. In France, article L131-3 of the Intellectual Property Code makes a transfer of the author's rights subject to two conditions: each right transferred must be mentioned separately in the deed, and the field of use must be defined by its scope and purpose, place and duration. A vague "all rights" line does not meet that requirement for a separate mention: list each use you need (posting, editing, ads, website) and its limits.
- The creator's image. The video shows the creator's face. Service-Public, the French administration's information site, states that a written agreement is needed to use an image in which a person is recognisable, and that the agreement must be precise: which medium, what purpose, how long. Reusing the image for a different purpose needs a new agreement.
Sources: Légifrance, article L131-3 of the Intellectual Property Code (version in force since 3 July 1992) and Service-Public, droit à l'image et respect de la vie privée (page checked by the administration on 6 May 2022). Checked 30 September 2026.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a contract that commits your brand, ask a lawyer.
License or transfer
There are two ways to buy rights, with different consequences.
- License. The creator keeps the rights and lets you use the video within agreed limits: uses, channels, territory, duration. For a UGC video bought for a set campaign, it can be enough.
- Transfer (assignment). The creator transfers the listed rights to you, within the scope written in the deed. Under French law, the deed must still list each right and define its scope, purpose, place and duration.
In both cases, what protects you is the written scope. Check what happens at the end of the period: whether you must stop running ads, and whether posts already online can stay. What to put in the contract is covered in our UGC contract guide.
Whitelisting & Spark Ads
Whitelisting (also called "creator licensing") means running an ad from the creator's account instead of the brand's official account. The ad keeps the creator's handle, photo and history, so it reads less like an ad.
TikTok Spark Ads
TikTok describes Spark Ads as a native ad format that lets you use organic TikTok posts in your advertising. The creator shares an authorization code for the post, and you use it in TikTok Ads Manager. According to TikTok, all views, comments, shares, likes and follows gained while the video is boosted are attributed to the organic post. TikTok also lets you customize how long the authorization code lasts: agree on that duration in writing, and plan for renewal if the video keeps performing.
Sources: TikTok Ads, About Spark Ads and TikTok Ads, how to create Spark Ads (both updated June 2026). Checked 30 September 2026.
Meta partnership ads
On Instagram and Facebook, the equivalent is partnership ads, formerly called branded content ads, according to Meta for Business. AdNabu's guide (updated 22 June 2026) adds that the ad shows both the creator's and the brand's accounts in its header, with a "Paid partnership" label. AdNabu describes three ways for the creator to give permission: a partnership ad code for a given post, the "Allow brand partner to boost" setting on a post where the brand is tagged, or account-level permission, which the brand requests from Meta Business Suite and the creator accepts in the Instagram app. The guide adds that the creator can revoke these permissions at any time.
Sources: Meta for Business, partnership ads resources and, as a secondary source, AdNabu, Meta partnership ads guide. Checked 1 October 2026.
In both cases, whitelisting requires an explicit, time-limited authorization from the creator, which is precisely what usage rights frame.
How much rights cost
Rights are priced as a surcharge on the video's base rate, depending on the use, the duration and the territory. Here are two public grids. Neither publishes a method: use them to check a quote, not to set one.
| Scope | Surcharge reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Organic use | Included in the base rate | Influee |
| Paid ads, 3 months | +20 to 30% of the base rate | Influee |
| Paid ads, 6 months | +25 to 40% of the base rate | Influee |
| Usage rights, 1 year | +30 to 50% of the base rate | Influee |
| In perpetuity | 100 to 150% of the base rate | Influee |
| Ads or whitelisting | Often +20 to 50%, or a monthly flat fee | Influentials (French-language page) |
Sources: Influee, UGC usage rights (5 January 2026, examples based on a $180 video) and Influentials, combien coûte l'UGC (no date shown). Checked 30 September 2026.
Base rates per video are in our guides to UGC pricing and UGC video prices in France. On UGC Pocket, reuse of the videos in ads or on your site is defined in the commercial proposal.
How UGC Pocket frames rights
On UGC Pocket, creators film and post on their own TikTok and Instagram accounts, through challenges written by our team. The video lives on their account, which is the starting point for Spark Ads and partnership ads. Other platforms also offer posting on the creator's account: what matters is that the rights are written down.
Reuse of the videos in ads or on your site is defined in the commercial proposal. The price: from €2,000 per campaign, no subscription, price and terms set out in the commercial proposal. See the pricing details.
Frequently asked questions.
What are the usage rights of a UGC video?
They are the terms that define where, for how long and on which channels the brand can use the video: organic or paid use (ads), duration (for example 3, 6 or 12 months) and territory (for example France, Europe or worldwide).
What does a brand actually buy with UGC rights?
A license or a transfer of the creator's copyright on the video, plus the creator's agreement to use their image. In France, article L131-3 of the Intellectual Property Code requires each right transferred to be mentioned separately, with its scope, purpose, place and duration.
What are whitelisting and Spark Ads?
Whitelisting means running an ad from the creator's account rather than from the brand's. On TikTok this is done with Spark Ads, on Meta with partnership ads. The ad keeps the creator's identity.
How much do UGC usage rights cost?
Public grids put paid use at about 20 to 50% on top of the video's base rate (Influee, Influentials), and Influee gives 100 to 150% of the base rate for perpetual rights. On UGC Pocket: from €2,000 per campaign, no subscription, price and terms set out in the commercial proposal.
How does UGC Pocket frame rights?
Creators post on their own TikTok and Instagram accounts, through challenges written by our team. Reuse of the videos in ads or on your site is defined in the commercial proposal.