Two years of orders leave a folder nobody can audit. Here is how to keep a usable inventory, and why renewing often costs less than reshooting.
Why it breaks after two years
For the first six months, everybody remembers everything. Past a year, the people who ordered the videos have changed roles or companies. Past two years, files remain whose licence end date nobody knows, and that is exactly when the volume gets big enough to rebuy without noticing.
The four states of an asset
Four statuses, written down plainly.
Runnable, licence in force.
Runnable with conditions, limited use.
Expired, to be pulled from all distribution.
Withdrawn at the request of the person filmed.
An asset with no status is treated as expired.
And a status with no date is not a status.
What the register must contain
Seven columns, not one more.
The file name.
The creator and their contact.
The delivery date.
The licence end date.
The permitted territories.
The permitted uses, advertising included.
And the link to the written agreement.
How to name a file
Seven elements, separated by simple hyphens.
The year and month of delivery.
The product code.
The creator's name.
The format.
The language.
The month the licence ends.
And the version number.
The most expensive naming mistakes
Six habits that make a folder unusable.
Naming a file final, then final2.
Using accents and spaces.
Changing convention mid-year.
Renaming a file after it has run.
Storing two versions under the same name.
And keeping the software's export name.
When renewing costs less than reshooting
Six situations.
The video still performs after six months.
The product has not changed.
The creator is still reachable.
The audience has not seen the video on repeat.
The season returns identical.
And redoing it would need a full shoot.
When reshooting is better
Six signals.
The product's packaging has changed.
The commercial promise has changed.
The creator no longer answers.
The video shows an outdated statement.
Performance has been dropping for three weeks.
And the format is no longer the platform's.
Taking on two years of mess, in order
Seven steps.
List every file, without sorting.
Set aside the obvious duplicates.
Find the written agreement for each video.
Mark as expired anything with no agreement.
Rename to the new convention.
Fill in the register.
And set a review every three months.
What to ask the creator before archiving
Six pieces of information.
Confirmation of the licence duration.
Permission for paid advertising.
The accepted territories.
The presence of other people on camera.
The music used and where it came from.
And the procedure for a renewal.
The people filmed, a subject of its own
A video is not only a file: it contains people, sometimes children, sometimes passers-by. What you may keep and run, and for how long, depends on the permissions obtained and on the applicable law. This is the point to have checked by a lawyer rather than settled internally.
What triggers a withdrawal
Six cases.
A written request from the person filmed.
The end of the licence.
A statement that has become false.
A product pulled from sale.
Music whose rights have expired.
And an unresolved doubt about a permission.
The British points to have checked
Seven questions, for a local lawyer.
The wording of the image release.
The handling of creators' personal data.
The advertising rules applicable to your sector.
The disclosure of paid partnerships.
The regulated claims in your category.
The retention of written agreements.
And the procedure when a withdrawal is requested.
What to check before every new run
Seven checks, two minutes per video.
Is the licence still running on the launch date.
Is the target territory in the agreement.
Is advertising use permitted.
Is the product shown still on sale.
Are the on-screen statements up to date.
Is the music still covered.
And has the person filmed asked for a withdrawal.
The questions to ask at the quarterly review
Seven questions, always the same.
Which licences expire within three months.
Which videos are still running as ads.
Which videos have never run at all.
Which files have no agreement on record.
Which creators need to be contacted again.
Which duplicates can be deleted.
And what renewal budget to plan for.
What makes a library genuinely searchable
Six qualities, in this order.
One single source, not three competing sheets.
A fixed vocabulary for the categories.
Search possible by product and by creator.
A thumbnail visible without opening the file.
A status column readable at a glance.
And a last-updated date on display.
Who should keep the library
Six organising rules.
One named person, not a team.
A quarterly review in the calendar.
Read access for the creative teams.
Limited write access.
A backup outside the main service.
And a written handover when somebody leaves.
What to ask for in the brief to make archiving easier
Six requirements, set before the shoot.
The expected file name.
The format and the resolution.
The spoken language and whether subtitles are present.
The licence duration wanted.
The territories targeted.
And a version with no burned-in text.
Tools, from the simplest to the heaviest
Six levels.
A shared spreadsheet, enough below a hundred videos.
A structured folder, with the naming convention.
A company storage space.
An asset management tool, from several hundred up.
A link to the advertising account.
And an automatic reminder of licence endings.
What keeping the register wins you
Six measurable effects.
Fewer videos bought twice.
Less time lost searching.
Less risk of running outside a licence.
Renewals negotiated in advance.
A predictable production budget.
And creators who answer faster.
How a usable library is organised
| Sorting criterion | What it allows | The common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| The product concerned | Finding it in ten seconds | Sorting by date |
| The format and aspect ratio | Delivering without reconversion | A catch-all folder |
| The rights end date | Avoiding illegal distribution | Not noting it at all |
What makes a library unusable
The absence of rights dates. A video nobody knows the expiry of ends up either unused or run out of period, and both cost money.
What is filed with every file
The quote, the approval, the rights purchased and the end date. Those four documents turn a folder of videos into an asset the whole team can actually use.
What the platform keeps
On UGC MATCH, every order keeps its trail: the brief, the delivery date, the file delivered in a private space, and the terms accepted. The brand pays at ordering, the funds are not released straight away, and payment goes out on approval. The platform retains 10% of the price on the creator side, who keeps 90%, and charges the brand a 6% service fee, with a minimum of 1.50 EUR. That does not replace your register, but it gives you a source to copy from rather than a memory to reconstruct.
One last marker: your library is not worth what it contains, it is worth what you can run tomorrow without checking anything.
