UGC usage rights: how to ask, and what to ask for

Who owns UGC

In the US, a creative work is protected by copyright from the moment it’s created and fixed, according to the US Copyright Office. The person who made it owns it. So a creator’s TikTok about your serum belongs to the creator, even if you sent them the serum, and even if they tagged you.

Sending a gift doesn’t buy the video. Paying for a post doesn’t either, unless the agreement says it does. Sharing a post with the platform’s own share or repost button leaves it on the creator’s account, under their name. Downloading the file and uploading it as your own post, or putting it in an ad, needs the creator’s OK.

What to ask for, by how you’ll use it

The five things every permission should say

• Which video. The link, not “your content”.
• Where. Your organic accounts, your website, emails, paid ads, and on which platforms.
• How long. A start and end date. “Forever” is a big ask and usually costs more.
• Edits. Trimming and captions only, or cutting it with other footage.
• What they get. Credit, a fee, or both, and when the fee is paid.

Keep the creator’s written “yes” with the link, the date and what they agreed to. A DM reply or an email is enough for a repost; for paid ads, use a short UGC contract.

Messages to copy

Asking to repost a gifted video

Hi [first name]! We loved your video with [product] 😍 Would you be OK with us reposting it on our [Instagram / TikTok] account? We’d credit you as @[their handle] in the caption.

No pressure at all if you’d rather not. Thank you for making it!
[Your name], [Brand]

Asking to run a video in your ads

Subject: Using your [product] video in our ads

Hi [first name],

I’m [your name] from [Brand]. Your video about [product] ([link]) is one of the best we’ve seen, and we’d like to license it.

What we’re asking for:
- Where: [our paid ads on TikTok / Instagram / Facebook], [our website and emails]
- How long: [3 / 6 / 12] months, from [start date]
- Edits: [trimming and adding captions only / cutting it with other footage]
- Ads from your account: [yes, through a Spark Ads or partnership ad code / no, from our account only]

We’d pay [amount] for this, by [payment method] within [X] days of your OK.

If that works, just reply “I agree” to this email and we’ll send the details. If you’d like to change anything, tell us what works for you.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Brand] · [email]

Confirming what they agreed to

When a creator says yes in a DM, reply with the terms so you both have them in one place.

Thanks so much! To confirm what we agreed:

- Video: [link]
- We can use it: [where]
- For: [how long], from [date] to [date]
- Edits: [what we can change]
- Credit: @[their handle] [where shown, if anywhere]
- Fee: [amount], paid [when]

Could you reply “I agree” so we both have it in writing? We won’t use the video until you do.

Ads from the creator’s account

Running a creator’s post as an ad under their handle (often called whitelisting) needs both the license and the platform’s own permission. On TikTok that’s a Spark Ads video code the creator generates in the app, for 7, 30, 60 or 365 days. On Instagram and Facebook it’s a partnership ad code or the creator turning on the boost toggle. Our post on whitelisting and Spark Ads walks through both.

Disclosure still applies

If you gifted or paid the creator, an ad built from their video has to make that connection clear. The FTC’s endorsement guides Q&A says an ad featuring an endorser who was paid or given something is usually misleading if the connection isn’t clear. A TikTok caption can’t be edited after it’s authorized as a Spark Ad, so fix a missing disclosure first. See our disclosure guide, and test a caption with the free disclosure checker.

Finding the UGC to ask about

The hardest part often comes before the ask: knowing which creators posted, and which videos were any good. Creators show products without tagging the brand all the time, so searching your tag misses many of them.