The seven clauses that actually cost you money

The fee is the line you check first — and the least dangerous line in the document. Nobody lowballs the number you both stared at; the losses live in the clauses around it: how long they can run the video, how many free re-edits you owe, who you can't work with next, and when the money actually lands. Ten minutes, seven clauses, before you sign.

1. Usage: "in perpetuity, all media"

Standard is a defined window — paid usage in 30, 60, or 90-day blocks, organic on the brand's own channels for 6–12 months — with renewals priced separately. Vague usage defaults to everything — make it specific.

The redline: "Can we define usage as organic plus paid social for 12 months? Happy to quote a renewal or full buyout separately."

2. Revisions: "until final approval"

"Revisions until the client is satisfied" is unpaid labor with no ceiling. Standard is two rounds, scoped to the original brief. A new hook or concept after delivery is a new deliverable.

The redline: "Two revision rounds within the original brief are included; changes beyond the brief are quoted separately."

3. Exclusivity: "no competing brands"

Check the width and the clock. "No beauty brands for 12 months" fences off your whole niche for the price of one video. Standard is named competitors — three to five companies, not a category — for 30–90 days, and it's paid — you're selling forgone income.

The redline: "I can offer 60 days' exclusivity against [three named competitors], priced on top of the project fee."

4. Payment terms: net 60

Net 60 means you fund the brand interest-free for two months. Standard freelance terms are net 15–30, and a 50% deposit is normal with a new client. If finance can't move off net 60, the deposit stops being optional.

The redline: "My terms are 50% on signing, balance net 15 from delivery."

5. Raw files

Handing over raws lets a brand re-cut your footage into ads you never approved, without paying for another video. Raw footage is a separate deliverable with its own fee — if you sell it at all.

The redline: "Raw files aren't included in this package; I can quote them as a separate licensed deliverable."

6. Kill fee

Most contracts are silent here — the brand can cancel the day before the shoot and owe you nothing. Add a schedule.

The redline: "If the project is cancelled after signing, 25% of the fee is due; 50% after filming; 100% after delivery."

7. The payment trigger

"Paid when the content goes live" hands your invoice to their content calendar — if they never post, you never bill. Tie payment to delivery, with an approval window so silence can't stall it.

The redline: "Payment is due on delivery, with content deemed approved if I've had no feedback within five business days."

What "in perpetuity, all media" really means

Plain English: forever, everywhere, in anything — with no further payment to you, ever. "In perpetuity" removes the end date. "All media, now known or hereafter devised" covers TikTok ads, TV, packaging, and platforms that don't exist yet. "Royalty-free" means the project fee is the last money you'll see. String them together and a $250 video can run as the brand's best-performing ad for five years while you watch.

Perpetual buyouts are a real thing brands buy — the problem is buyout language attached to a single-video fee. If the paper asks for forever, the number should look like forever. When it doesn't, fix the clause or fix the price — how to price usage rights has the actual ranges.

How to push back without losing the deal

Send one polite email with the fix already written — that's the whole move. Brands redline vendor contracts every week; a specific, calm ask reads as professional — a lecture about exploitation doesn't.

The format:

"The agreement looks good overall — two small things before I sign: usage at 12 months organic plus paid social, and payment net 15 from delivery. Everything else works as written."

Pick your one or two most expensive clauses, not all seven. If the answer is "this is our standard agreement" — that's information, not an insult. Reprice the job to match what the paper takes, or pass. Signing unchanged and hoping is the one option that never pays.

What to do when the brand sends no contract at all

Write the paper yourself: a deal-memo email that recaps every term and asks for a one-word confirmation. Plenty of small brands have no template — that's usually no process, not a scam. A brand that refuses to confirm terms in writing is a different animal — see brand-deal red flags.

The recap:

"Before I book the shoot, confirming what we agreed: two videos, 30–45 seconds, 9:16, two revision rounds included. $600 total — 50% deposit now, balance on delivery, net 15. Usage: organic on your TikTok and Instagram for 12 months; paid usage or raw files quoted separately. Reply 'confirmed' and I'll get filming."

Offer, acceptance, and money changing hands make an enforceable agreement in most places — the recap turns yours into one with a timestamp, which is what settles it when a brand later "remembers" unlimited revisions. Every deal gets one. Especially the friendly ones.

Do you need a lawyer, or is a template enough?

For a standard one-to-five video deal, a decent creator contract template plus this read-through covers you — that's what most working creators run on. Money spent once, reviewing your own template, goes further than reviewing every incoming deal.

Bring in a real lawyer when the stakes change shape:

  • Exclusivity longer than 90 days, or covering your whole niche
  • Retainers or campaigns worth four figures and up
  • Indemnification language — "creator indemnifies the brand" can mean you pay their legal bills if the ad triggers a claim
  • Anything transferring copyright ownership outright instead of licensing it

One hour of review is cheaper than one bad signature. And no paper moves your FTC duties — disclosing the partnership stays your job either way.

FAQ

Is a deal agreed in DMs legally binding?

Generally yes — offer and acceptance can happen in a chat window. The hard part is proving terms later, so recap the final numbers over email before money moves.

What's a reasonable approval window?

Five business days, written in: content is deemed approved if no feedback arrives by then.

Can I show the work in my portfolio if there's an NDA?

Ask for a carve-out before signing: "creator may display the deliverables in their portfolio after the campaign goes live." Keeping a launch secret is normal; a permanent gag on your own work costs you future deals.

Do gifted collabs need the same scrutiny?

Yes — product-only deals carry the same usage clauses with no fee to cushion them. A brand running paid ads on a video you made for free product is the most common quiet loss in UGC. Same seven clauses, same ten minutes.