UGC usage rights explained: a guide for UK brands

By default, the person who films a video owns the copyright in it, and their face and voice appear in it. Paying a creator for a video doesn't automatically mean you can use it anywhere, forever. What you can do with it is set by the usage licence you agree.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For contracts with significant value, speak to a solicitor.

• Channels: your organic social, paid social, website and product pages, email, marketplaces, TV or out-of-home.
• Territory: UK only, or worldwide.
• Duration: for example 3, 6 or 12 months, or perpetual.
• Edits: whether you can cut, caption, re-order or combine the footage.
• Exclusivity: whether the creator can work with competitors during the term.

Organic usage lets you post the video on your own channels. Paid usage lets you put ad spend behind it. Paid rights usually cost more because the video will reach far more people. If there's any chance you'll run a video as an ad, agree paid rights from the start. Renegotiating after a video takes off is harder and more expensive.

Whitelisting (Meta's partnership ads) and TikTok Spark Ads let you run ads that appear to come from the creator's own account. They often feel more native, but they need the creator's explicit permission, account access or an authorisation code, and usually a separate fee and time limit.

Under UK advertising rules, content that's part of a paid relationship must be obviously identifiable as advertising. If a creator posts your UGC on their own account, it needs a clear label such as "#ad" up front, or the platform's paid-partnership tag.

Every No Filter UGC project includes a written usage licence agreed before filming. By default it covers organic and paid digital use for 12 months, and extended terms, whitelisting or Spark Ads can be added. See our terms for brands, or ask us what you need.

Do I own UGC videos I pay for?

Not automatically. The creator usually keeps copyright, and you receive a licence that defines where, where in the world and for how long you can use the videos.

What's the difference between organic and paid usage rights?

Organic rights let you post the video on your own channels. Paid rights let you run it as an advert with spend behind it, which usually costs more.