Brand deal contract checker
Paste a clause from a brand agreement and get a plain-English read on what it actually means for you.
This is not legal advice. It is a plain-English read on common contract language. For anything with real money or real risk attached, talk to a lawyer.
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Creators commonly push back on this
Read as a exclusivity clause. What normal looks like in this category
What it means
For a set period you cannot work with other brands in the same category, and sometimes in adjacent ones too.
Why it matters to you
Exclusivity is the term most often granted for free. It takes away future income in the category where you are most bookable, and a vague category definition can cover far more than the brand meant.
What creators commonly ask for instead
Happy to include exclusivity. Could we define the category precisely, cap it at 30 days from the live date, and price it as a separate line rather than folding it into the content fee?
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This is not legal advice. It is a plain-English read on common contract language. For anything with real money or real risk attached, talk to a lawyer.
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How this read is produced
Common clauses come from a reviewed library
Most brand agreement language repeats. Those clauses are matched against a library written and reviewed in advance, in your browser, with nothing sent anywhere.
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Neither one is a lawyer
This tells you what a clause commonly means and what creators commonly ask for instead. It does not tell you whether to sign.
It cannot see your jurisdiction
The same words carry different weight in different countries and states, and some terms are unenforceable in one place and routine in another.
It cannot see the rest of the contract
A clause that looks harsh alone may be softened by a definition or a cap three pages later, and the reverse is also true.
It cannot see what was said elsewhere
What you agreed by email or on a call, and any prior agreement with the same brand, are part of the picture and are not in the paste.
Payment terms
Payment clauses set two things: how much, and what has to happen before the clock starts. The second one is where deals go wrong. Normal looks like net 30 from the date of an invoice issued on approval of the deliverables, with a deposit on larger jobs. Net 45 and net 60 appear often at larger companies and are usually a finance process rather than a negotiating position. Stop when payment is tied to the content going live, because that hands your payment date to a campaign calendar you do not control, or when the contract removes any late fee, which takes away the only lever you have when an invoice drifts.
Exclusivity
An exclusivity clause stops you working with competing brands for a period. Normal looks like a narrowly defined category, 30 to 90 days from the live date, priced as its own line. Stop when the category is left vague, when the brand decides what counts as competing at its sole discretion, or when the period runs from signature and has no end. Exclusivity is income you are giving up in the exact category where you are most bookable, so it should never be free.
Usage rights
Usage says where the brand may run your content, in what media, and for how long. Normal looks like organic use on brand owned channels for a defined term, with paid media, whitelisting and partner use priced separately. Stop at perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, in all media now known or hereafter devised. That sentence grants every future use for the price of one post, and it is the single most valuable thing most creators hand over without noticing.
IP assignment
There is a real difference between licensing content and giving it away. A licence lets the brand use your work on agreed terms while you keep ownership. A work made for hire clause, or an assignment of all right, title and interest, makes the brand the owner. Normal for a UGC deal is a licence, sometimes exclusive. Stop at assignment unless it is priced as a buyout, and watch for a waiver of moral rights, which removes your right to credit and your ability to object to an edit that changes what the content says.
Scope and revisions
Scope clauses list what you are making. Normal looks like a specific list of deliverables, a fixed number of revision rounds, a definition of what counts as a round, and a rate for anything beyond. Stop at revisions until the brand is satisfied, satisfaction judged at sole discretion, or a line allowing the brand to request additional content at no additional fee. Those three phrases are how a two-day job becomes a three-week one.
Termination
Termination says how either side gets out. Normal looks like notice on both sides, payment for work completed, and a kill fee if the brand cancels after production has started. Stop when the brand may terminate for any reason with nothing owed, or when the clause requires you to refund fees already paid. Money spent on a shoot day cannot be returned, and a refund clause moves the brand's risk onto you.
Morality clause
A morality clause lets the brand exit if your conduct could damage its reputation. They are standard in this work and not unreasonable in principle. Normal looks like conduct resulting in a criminal conviction or a widely reported public allegation, assessed reasonably, and applying from the date you sign. Stop at open language about bringing the brand into disrepute judged at the brand's sole discretion, especially when it reaches backwards over everything you have ever posted and lets the brand reclaim fees.
Indemnity and liability
Indemnity means you cover the other side's costs if a claim arises. Normal looks like a mutual indemnity where yours is limited to your own content and your own statements, with both sides' total liability capped at the fees under the agreement and indirect losses excluded. Stop at any and all claims with no cap, which can leave a 500 dollar video carrying exposure many times its value. It is also the clause brands most often soften when asked, because their own lawyers cap liability as a matter of course.
None of the above is legal advice, and none of it replaces reading the whole agreement. What it does is let you spot the six or seven sentences that carry the money, so the questions you ask the brand, or the lawyer, are the ones worth asking.
Questions people ask
What should I look for in a brand deal contract?
Six things carry most of the money and most of the risk: when and on what trigger you get paid, how long the brand may use the content and in what media, whether you keep ownership, how many revision rounds are included, what happens if either side walks away, and whether your liability is capped. Read those before the rest.
What is a morality clause?
A clause letting the brand end the agreement, and sometimes reclaim fees, if it decides your conduct could damage its reputation. They are common. The problem is usually the wording: broad language judged at the brand's sole discretion can be triggered by something that was never controversial when you posted it.
Can a brand really own my content forever?
Yes, if the contract says so. A work made for hire clause or an assignment of all right, title and interest transfers ownership rather than granting a licence, which can leave you needing permission to post your own work. Creators commonly ask for an exclusive licence with a defined term instead.
What does indemnity mean for a creator?
You agree to cover the brand's legal costs and losses if a claim arises out of the work. Written narrowly, covering claims about your own content and your own statements, that is reasonable. Written broadly and uncapped, it can make you responsible for problems with the brand's product or its ad targeting.
Is net 60 normal?
It is common at larger companies, because their finance systems run on fixed cycles. It is still worth pushing on, since the clock usually starts at invoice acceptance rather than delivery, so net 60 in practice can be three months from the shoot. A deposit on signature is the usual compromise.
Can I negotiate a contract a brand says is standard?
Standard means it is the brand's template, not that it cannot change. Most template terms are drafted wide because nobody asked them to be narrower. Asking for a liability cap, a defined usage term or a fixed revision count is routine, and the answer is often yes.
Related
- UGC rate calculatorPrice the rights the contract is asking for.
- Brand deal deliverables trackerKeep the terms you agreed next to the work itself.
- UGC contract builderStart from your own terms rather than the brand's. Not built yet.
- The brand deal contracts guide
Keep the terms with the deal
Cabana keeps the rate, the rights window and the approvals on the same record as the work, so the terms you agreed are still findable a year later.