Usage rights for UGC videos are the permissions your business gets to publish, edit, and promote a creator’s video, usually defined by where it can run, how long it can run, and whether it can be used in ads.
Most of the time, buying a UGC video does not automatically mean you own it. Unless the agreement transfers ownership, the creator typically keeps the copyright and you receive a license to use the content in specific ways. That is why “usage rights” language matters just as much as the script and editing.
Here’s how we break usage rights down when you are planning campaigns, landing pages, or product listings.
| Rights option | What you can do | Typical term | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic-only license | Post on your brand’s social pages, website, email, and owned channels | 30-180 days or perpetual | Content for feed, Reels, Shorts, website sections, and nurture emails |
| Paid social ads license | Run the video as an ad from your brand account (Meta, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) | 30-90 days is common | Performance ads where spend and frequency are higher |
| Whitelisting or Spark Ads | Run ads from the creator’s handle (creator authorizes ad access) | 30-90 days | When you want creator “social proof” on the ad unit |
| Buyout or assignment | Ownership transfer or very broad license (often platform-wide and long term) | Perpetual | Evergreen brand assets and long-running ads, usually higher cost |
To avoid surprises, usage rights should spell out the four items below in plain language, not legal jargon.
- Where you can use it: brand socials, website, email, Amazon or marketplace listings, in-store screens, and any partner channels.
- How you can use it: organic posting, paid ads, whitelisting, retargeting, and UGC-to-landing-page embeds.
- How long you can use it: 30, 60, 90, 180 days, or perpetual, plus what happens after the term ends (stop running ads, pull posts, or renew).
- What edits you are allowed to make: cutdowns, captions, cropping for 9:16 or 1:1, voiceover swaps, translations, and using still frames as thumbnails.
Two rights are easy to miss: likeness permission and third-party content. In Florida, a person’s name or likeness used for advertising generally needs consent, so your UGC agreement should include a clear talent release that covers commercial use. Also confirm music and sound choices. Trending audio that works for organic posts can still cause problems in paid ads if it is not cleared for advertising.
If you already know the content will be used in ads, lock that into the deal upfront. Paid usage is different from organic posting because ads can run repeatedly, on multiple placements, and at higher reach, which is why creators price it differently. If you want a deeper breakdown of how rights shift once ad spend is involved, read our FAQ on usage rights for paid ads.
If you want a simple, business-friendly way to scope this, start with “where will this live for the next 90 days?” If the answer includes Meta or TikTok ads, add paid usage. If the answer includes running it from the creator’s account, add whitelisting. If you want to reuse it for months on your website and email, add a longer organic license or perpetual owned-channel rights. When you build UGC with us through our UGC services, we help you pick rights that match your actual plan, so you are not paying for channels you will never use.
