Whitelisting vs usage rights
Usage rights cover the video: where you may run it and for how long. Whitelisting covers the handle: permission to run ads that appear to come from the creator’s account.
| Usage rights | Whitelisting | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | The video, in your ads and channels | Ads that run from the creator’s handle |
| Shows as | Your brand page | The creator, often with "paid partnership" |
| On Meta | Upload as your own ad | Partnership ads |
| On TikTok | Upload as your own ad | Spark Ads with an authorization code |
| Typical ask | 30, 90 or 180 days of paid use | Same window as paid usage |
What to ask for: the six terms
Duration, channels, paid or organic, edits allowed, raw files, and whitelisting access. Six lines in the brief, priced before anyone films.
- Duration. 90 days of paid use from first spend is a sensible default. Start the clock at first spend, not delivery.
- Channels. Meta and TikTok, or everywhere digital. Broadcast and out-of-home are a different price.
- Paid or organic. Organic reposting is cheap or free. Paid usage is what you are really buying.
- Edits. The right to cut new hooks, add captions and make cutdowns. Without it, a new hook is a new contract.
- Raw files. So those edits are possible.
- Whitelisting access. Partnership ad permission on Meta or a Spark code on TikTok, for the same window as paid usage.
Exclusivity (no competitor work for a period) is the one term that costs real money. Ask for it only where a rival brand would genuinely hurt you.
Director by Sprites · private beta
The ads, without the creator ops.
At scale: Every creator signs a different window. At 40 creators a month you hold 40 expiry dates, a dozen partnership ad permissions and a few Spark codes that lapse on their own. The winning ad is the one most likely to still be spending on the day its rights run out.
Director is a full creative team for your startup. Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns. No creators to manage.
- Strategy, hooks, scripts, shooting and editing, end to end.
- Every video is checked by a person before it reaches your inbox.
- You never write a prompt. No endless revisions.
What UGC usage rights cost
It depends where you hire. Some marketplaces include broad rights in the video price, some time-box paid use, and individual creators usually quote paid usage and whitelisting as an add-on.
| Where | What the terms say |
|---|---|
| Billo | The creator assigns all rights to you, for paid, owned and earned media, worldwide. Creators set their own price for posting to their account or running as a Partnership or Spark ad. |
| Insense | Perpetual digital rights once content is approved and paid; the creator keeps ownership. How long it runs as a creator-handle ad is set in the brief. Partnership Ads connections cost $125 a month for five. |
| Backstage | The standard UGC licence is exclusive and commercial: 6 months of paid use (including Spark and whitelisted ads) and 12 months organic. The creator keeps copyright. |
| JoinBrands | Purchased content includes unlimited usage rights |
| Direct hire | Whatever you write down. Quote usage and whitelisting as their own lines |
The practical rule: get the usage price before you approve the creator, never after the video wins. A creator who knows their video is your best ad has every reason to reprice. Per-video prices for each marketplace are on video ad pricing.
How to set up whitelisting on Meta and TikTok
On Meta, the creator approves your brand as a partner in Instagram or Facebook and you run partnership ads from Ads Manager. On TikTok, the creator generates a Spark Ads authorization code for the post and sends it to you.
- Meta partnership ads. The creator adds you as an approved partner, or shares a partnership ad code, and you pick their post or upload the video as a partnership ad in Ads Manager.
- TikTok Spark Ads. The creator turns on ad authorization for the video, generates a code with a set duration and sends it. You paste it into TikTok Ads Manager. When the code expires, the ad stops.
- Keep an expiry calendar. One row per creator: video, channel, rights start, rights end, access end. Check it every Monday.
For specs and placements on each platform, see Meta ad specs and ad specs.
Questions
What is influencer whitelisting?
Running paid ads from a creator’s own handle with their permission, through Meta partnership ads or TikTok Spark Ads, so the ad appears to come from the creator rather than the brand.
What are UGC usage rights?
Permission to use a creator’s video in your own marketing for an agreed time, on agreed channels. Paid usage, running it as an ad, is the part that is usually priced separately.
How long should usage rights last?
Ninety days of paid use from first spend is a sensible default for ads. Ask for longer, or perpetual rights, when the price is fixed up front and the video is likely to run for months.
How much does influencer whitelisting cost?
Individual creators usually quote it as an add-on to the video fee. On Billo, creators set their own price for posting to their account or running as a Partnership or Spark ad. On Insense, partnership Ads connections cost $125 a month for five.
What is the difference between whitelisting and Spark Ads?
Spark Ads are TikTok’s version of whitelisting: the creator shares an authorization code and you run their post as an ad from their account. On Meta the equivalent is partnership ads.
What happens when usage rights expire?
You must stop running the video as an ad or renew the rights. Spark codes stop the ad on their own; Meta partnership permissions and uploaded videos need someone to switch them off.
Ads every Monday, no creators to manage
Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns.