The influencer agreement: clauses a brand actually needs (and the ones that scare creators off)

Keep these

• Deliverables, dates and platforms, as a table. What, where, when, with a draft date and a live date.
• Fee and schedule: 50% on signature, 50% on delivery, Net 15 or Net 30. Nothing builds trust faster than paying the deposit on time.
• Usage: named channels, fixed term (90 days organic, paid usage priced separately by term), license not assignment.
• Whitelisting, if you want it: its own clause, its own fee, its own end date.
• Exclusivity, if you need it: named competitors, 30 days from the post, sponsored posts only, paid.
• FTC disclosure: creator will use #ad or 'Paid partnership' clearly and visibly; brand will not ask them to remove or bury it. This protects you more than them.
• Approvals: one draft, two rounds of revisions, 3 business days to respond or the draft is approved.
• Kill fee: 50% after concept approval, 100% after delivery. Your protection against cancelling late is to not cancel late.

Drop these

• 'In perpetuity, in any media now known or hereafter devised.' You do not need forever. You need a quarter, maybe a year, priced.
• 'Work made for hire.' You need a license. Ownership costs more and buys you nothing you will use.
• Unlimited revisions. Two rounds. If it is still wrong, the brief was wrong.
• One-sided morals clauses. Make it specific and mutual, or expect pushback from every creator with a manager.
• Auto-renewal. Renewals should be a conversation. A clause that renews silently loses more creators than it keeps.
• Broad indemnification. Limit it to the creator's own breach of the agreement. Their edits and your product claims are yours.

Signing without a law firm

Send the agreement as a link, not a PDF. The creator reads it on their phone, types their name, and it is signed with a timestamp and a copy to both inboxes. Templates with the fields filled from the deal (name, deliverables, fee, dates) mean the agreement is generated in a minute, and every creator gets the same fair terms. Company OS does this end to end: template, fill, send, sign, stored against the creator, with the usage and exclusivity dates pulled into the calendar the moment it is signed.

Keep reading

• Creator whitelisting for brands: setup, pricing, and the expiry problem
• Creator tiers and commission structures that do not fall apart
• Usage rights in brand deals, explained