Strategy
Part of UGC marketplaces strategy: buyer-owned evidence checks
UGC marketplaces planning template: the authority and rights sheet
A blank UGC marketplaces planning template for one England commission: who may say yes, one rights row per source asset, and who pays whom.
Planning one English commission starts with a plain question: who may say yes to one short-form creator-made asset? The authority and rights sheet records the answer in blank fields that the buyer fills only from named documents, never from a public profile or a supplier's assurance.
What to take away
- A public profile is not evidence of consent or contracting authority.
- A rights row for every source asset, each with a named document attached.
- Add an expiry date to every approval and source, because an undated sign-off cannot show whether evidence still fits.
- Record creator cash, gifted product, commission, marketplace charge, paid media and production separately.
Name the asset and its owners first
Fix three things before any authority is requested: the exact commissioning problem, the asset with its authorised publication channel, and the owners for product and claim evidence and for spend. Every later row hangs off these entries, so leave them blank until a named person can fill them.
Decision record fields
- English operating unit and legal entity
- Exact commissioning problem
- Asset, format and authorised channel
- Product and claim evidence owner
- Routes being examined
- Decision owner and spend authority
- Review date and evidence cut-off
State whether each route under consideration is direct buyer-run production, a self-service marketplace, a managed marketplace, a creator agency or a content-production service. In England, examples include a self-service marketplace such as UGC Marketplace and a managed agency such as The Goat Agency.
A filled entry might read: self-service marketplace for raw creator footage, then managed agency for paid amplification. The route changes who holds each permission, so the sheets below ask who, not which platform.
Who may say yes: the authority sheet
List every person whose permission the asset needs, and the evidence that shows it. Creator, representative and featured-person authority must each be written down, because a public profile is not evidence of consent or contracting authority. Enter an expiry date on each line.
| Person | Authority to confirm | Document to attach | Entry and expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Performance and authority to contract | Signed creator agreement | ___ |
| Representative | Authority to act for the creator | Written authority from the creator | ___ |
| Featured person | Consent to appear in the asset | Signed likeness release | ___ |
| Product and claim owner | Evidence behind each permitted claim | Substantiation file per claim | ___ |
| Approval owner | Sign-off of the brief version | Dated approval of that version | ___ |
Record the permitted claims and the prohibited claims on the same sheet, tied to the brief version they belong to. The CAP Code, which the ASA applies, governs claims and recognition, and the advertising rules article checks one advert against them.
One rights row per source asset
Each source asset gets its own row in the rights schedule. GOV.UK says you get copyright protection automatically, with no application or fee, so a missing copyright symbol proves nothing. Document permission instead, and answer every line below on each row.
| Right | Source of the right | Document to attach | Buyer entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Performers' rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 | Signed creator agreement | ___ |
| Music | Copyright in the track and recording | Music licence | ___ |
| Image | Copyright in photographs and footage | Written permission from the owner | ___ |
| Likeness | The featured person's agreement | Signed likeness release | ___ |
| Edit | The licence terms | Agreement clause allowing cuts | ___ |
| Territory and channel | The licence terms | Agreement naming both | ___ |
| Period and reuse | The licence terms | Agreement naming term and reuse | ___ |
An undated sign-off cannot show whether the evidence still fits. A right whose period has ended should read as ended, not be carried forward.
Who pays whom, and when acceptance happens
Record creator cash consideration, gifted product or service, commission, marketplace charge and paid media as separate buyer-supplied fields. Then add who invoices, who pays, when acceptance occurs and what cancellation evidence applies. These entries show which party holds which obligation.
Budget and rate depend on usage term, territory, exclusivity, paid media spend and whether the creator supplies raw files, so record them from current quotes. The budget template turns those entries into a cost record, and the commercial contracts checks show where each term belongs in the paperwork.
HMRC's page for people selling through a digital platform explains platform reporting; a report does not automatically mean tax is owed. A named tax and accounting reviewer must assess the arrangement.
Publication controls
For publication, enter the commercial relationship, recognition treatment, placement, claims record, accessible alternatives, caption requirement, final-render test and approval version. Each entry names a person who can be asked, so a gap shows up before the asset goes live.
CMA guidance for brands says you should check content that refers to your brand or business to ensure it is properly identified as advertising. It addresses payment and other incentives, and tells brands to correct relevant content.
Creator contact details and other personal data belong in a separate register. ICO guidance says controller and processor labels depend on the parties' actual roles, so do not copy a label from supplier terms. Personal data through one commission takes that from lawful basis to deletion.
Stop card for authority gaps
Write the stop trigger, the person authorised to stop, the containment step and the restart approver. A missing authority row is a stop trigger in its own right. Test those fields with synthetic records and an unbranded asset, and keep creator contact, contracting, payment and publication disabled.
The risk scenarios article covers what follows when rights expire or a supplier loses publishing access. For a dated sequence of checks, use the ninety-day investigation.
Before you act
- List creator, representative and featured-person authority, each with an expiry date.
- Create a rights schedule with one row per source asset and reuse.
- Record permitted and prohibited claims against the brief version.
- Enter who invoices, who pays, when acceptance occurs and what cancellation evidence applies.
- Name a person for each publication control.
- Write the stop trigger, authorised stopper, containment step and restart approver.
Common questions
What should the template not supply during planning?
It leaves buyer, creator, audience, budget, rate, staffing, timetable and target blank. Fill them from current buyer records, and keep contact, contracting, payment and publication disabled during planning.
Does a public profile show a creator consents to reuse?
No. A public profile is not evidence of consent or contracting authority. Document permission for each source asset on its own row.
What does HMRC say about platform reporting and tax?
A platform report does not automatically mean tax is owed. A named tax reviewer must assess the arrangement, so record who invoices and pays.
