What you actually sell, the duration of a licence, image rights, and the five lines that prevent disputes.
What not to accept
Five requests, frequent and costly.
An unlimited duration with no supplement, presented as an administrative simplification.
An unpriced category exclusivity, which closes a whole sector to you for months.
A payment conditional on the end client settling, which transfers a risk that is not yours.
The transfer of raw files as a free extra, when they allow variants to be produced without you.
And the right to modify the video without limit, including redoing the subtitles or changing the message.
One rule that is enough in almost every case: what is not written is not transferred, and what is asked for on top is priced on top.
What must appear, even with no formal contract
Six lines, and they fit in a message.
The channels: the brand's account, paid advertising, the website, the product page, the shop, a trade fair.
The duration, in months, from the first publication and not from the delivery.
The territory, written out in full.
The permitted modifications: re-editing, cutting, subtitling, dubbing.
The price, and what triggers payment.
And the end procedure: who takes it down, within what deadline.
An agreement by written message is better than nothing, provided those six lines appear in it and both parties have replied. Have your template read once by a lawyer, then reuse it.
Your image is yours
That is the part you do not get back, and it is handled separately from the licence on the video.
Three points to write down.
Your permission covers precise channels and a precise duration, and it is not automatically included in the transfer of the video.
What happens if the brand wants an extension: a new permission, a new amount.
And what happens if you request withdrawal: within what deadline, and for which channels.
Two additional precautions. Third parties appearing in frame give their own agreement. And minors fall under a particular framework, to be checked with a lawyer before the shoot.
What to keep
Four documents, filed in the same place, for every job.
The signed agreement or the written exchange standing in for it.
The permissions of the people filmed.
The delivered version, with its date, and the version with no burnt-in text.
And the rights end date, noted somewhere you actually look, not only in the contract.
One habit avoiding conflicts: a reminder thirty days before each expiry, set on the day of signature.
What each document covers
| Document | What it settles | When it is signed |
|---|---|---|
| The accepted quote | Price, content, date | Before the shoot |
| The rights licence | Media, duration, territory | With the quote |
| The image release | The people filmed | On the day of the shoot |
| The data agreement | What is collected and kept | With the contract |
What is most often missing
The third-party release. A friend, a child or an employee filmed without a written form makes the video unusable, and it is discovered at release time.
What is re-read before signing
Automatic renewal, transfer to a third party, the exclusivity clause, the fate of the source files and the data handling, to be confirmed with a lawyer.
What is easily negotiated
Three things, and brands say yes more often than people think.
The duration: moving from unlimited to twelve months is simply asked for, and many accept because their campaign lasts three months.
The right to show the video in your own file, outside advertising, which costs the brand nothing and is worth a lot to you.
And the payment term, often more flexible than the first message suggests.
One last point, specific to this market: the advertising disclosure falls to whoever publishes, but its absence also exposes whoever commissioned. If the brand distributes it itself, write that into the agreement, and keep a dated screenshot of the publication: it is the only proof that counts the day the question comes up.
