A creator's obligations start the moment they agree to make something for someone else. A brand deal or a client project sets out what the creator owes: deliverables, deadlines, usage rights, and approvals. When you understand those promises, you understand where the business's exposure begins.
A brand deal is a contract even when it's only a few lines in an email or a direct message. The brand agrees to pay, and the creator agrees to deliver. Some deals arrive as long agreements written by an agency. Others are a rate, a date, and a "sounds good." Both create promises the creator is expected to keep.
Most brand and client agreements cover the same four things.
This is what the creator will make: a set number of videos, posts, photos, edits, or appearances. Ask what format, how many, and on which platforms.
This is when the work is due and when it goes live. A missed post date can matter to a brand that planned a campaign around it. Ask who sets the schedule and what happens if a date slips.
This is who can use the content, where, and for how long. A brand may want to run the creator's video as a paid ad, or keep it on its own channels for a year. Ask whether the creator gives up rights, keeps them, or licenses them for a set period.
This is who signs off before anything posts. Some brands review scripts, captions, and product claims. Ask who approves the work and whether the creator ever posts before approval.
Look past the four basics. Agreements can also include:
You don't need to interpret those clauses. Note that they're there and pass the facts along.
Client work is when a creator provides a service to a business: managing its social media, shooting its product photos, or editing its videos. The creator isn't promoting a brand to their own audience. They're delivering a professional service the client depends on. That often means ongoing work, access to the client's accounts, and expectations about results.
Start with the work, then the paper.
Write down the answers in the creator's words. Hold off on promising anything until the facts have been reviewed. If an activity is unclear, send the facts to Libby on Stuckey's licensed team for a class check. Coverage is always subject to the policy's terms, exclusions, and underwriting.
Tomorrow's post covers media exposure in creator work: likeness, copyright, music and footage, and product claims, and what to listen for in each.
It can be. A message that sets out payment and deliverables can create obligations even without a formal agreement. Note how the creator agrees to terms and pass that along.
Collect them if the creator is willing to share, but don't interpret the legal terms. Note anything that mentions insurance, indemnity, usage rights, or exclusivity, and route coverage questions to Stuckey's licensed team.
Not on its own. It shows a client expects the creator to carry insurance. Fit and terms come from underwriting review.
StudioGuard is coming soon from Stuckey & Company, and our agents hear about it first. Send StudioGuard questions to proquotes@stuckey.com, or request a class check with Libby on Stuckey's licensed team. Start your CoverCore profile at lk.stuckey.com/4yeQhcl before it goes live.