Organic usage
Organic usage is the brand sharing the content without paying to promote it: reposting it on its own accounts, putting it on its website, or including it in an email.
It is usually agreed for a period, such as 30 or 90 days. After that, the brand stops posting it again, but what it already posted normally stays up unless you agree otherwise.
Paid usage
Paid usage is the brand running the content as an ad: spending money so more people see it. Agree which channels (for example Meta, TikTok or YouTube) and for how long.
Paid usage reaches people who don't follow the creator and keeps their face in front of an audience for as long as the ads run, so it is usually priced on top of the content fee, per period.
Ads from the creator's account
Some ads run from the creator's own handle rather than the brand's: Meta calls these partnership ads and TikTok calls them Spark Ads (also known as whitelisting). The ad shows the creator's name and profile picture.
The creator grants access in the platform's own settings, for a set time, and can remove it. Agree how long the access lasts and whether the creator sees the ad before it runs.
Exclusivity
Exclusivity means the creator won't work with the brand's competitors for a period. It should name the category (for example "skincare" rather than "beauty") and the number of days.
Exclusivity stops the creator from taking other paid work, so it is usually paid for, and the narrower and shorter it is, the easier it is to agree.
Perpetual rights
Perpetual (or "in perpetuity") means the right never ends. A perpetual paid-usage right lets the brand run the content as an ad forever.
Because there is no end date, perpetual rights are usually priced as a much larger amount, or replaced with a renewable period. Read any "perpetual" or "worldwide, irrevocable" wording carefully before agreeing.
How it reads in an offer
Offers on Collabaway spell usage out one line per right, so both sides agree the same thing. Three examples:
A simple post
- Brand may share it organically for 30 days
- No paid ads
Content used as ads
- Brand may share it organically for 90 days
- Paid ads on Meta, TikTok for 60 days
- Ads may run from the creator's own account (partnership ads / Spark Ads)
Exclusive, with perpetual organic use
- Brand may share it organically in perpetuity
- No paid ads
- Exclusive in skincare for 90 days
Agree these before you start
- Who may use the content: the brand only, or also its agency, retailers or partners?
- Organic use: where, and for how many days?
- Paid use: which channels, for how many days, and at what extra fee?
- Ads from the creator's account: for how long, and does the creator see each ad first?
- Exclusivity: which category, and for how many days?
- What happens when a period ends: does content come down, or only stop being reused?
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Usage rights depend on your contract and the law where you and the brand are. For a contract you're unsure about, ask a qualified lawyer.