Influencer marketing has come a long way. Budgets are bigger, strategies are smarter, and the lines between creator and brand are more collaborative than ever. But despite all this progress, there’s one issue that continues to slow the industry down: usage rights.
Usage rights should be simple. They define how content can be used: where, for how long, and in what context. But in reality, they’re one of the most misunderstood, mismanaged parts of any campaign. They’re buried in contracts, inconsistently applied, and often negotiated without a clear sense of their value.
For brands, this creates inefficiency and risk. Many still take a blanket approach and buying up all potential rights “just in case”, which leads to overspending on content that may never be repurposed. Others skip the conversation entirely, assuming they can reuse creator content however they like. The result? Misuse, potential legal recriminations, and a serious lack of trust.
For creators, the impact is even more frustrating. Content is regularly used in paid media long after the original agreement, with no additional payment or approval. And because there’s little visibility into when and where their work is being repurposed, it’s incredibly hard to track, let alone challenge. In short, creators are undercharging for work that’s delivering real value, and have few tools to do anything about it.
Recent research from TrueRights found that brands are overpaying by 69% for content they don’t use, while creators are undercharging by 195%, when their content is often used at scale. That’s not just inefficient, it’s unsustainable.
Part of the issue is structural. The way rights are priced today doesn’t reflect how content is actually used. Performance isn’t factored in. Paid media is often an afterthought or implemented fluidly and without transparency. And with no shared standard for calculating value, rights negotiations become a grey area that benefits no one.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. If the creator economy is going to mature, it needs better systems, ones that treat rights as a living part of a campaign, not a static line in a contract. Rights should be priced fairly, scaled responsibly, and tracked transparently.
That’s exactly why we built the TrueRights Calculator. It’s a new tool designed to bring clarity and accountability to rights licensing by aligning pricing with actual campaign performance. Instead of guessing what rights might be needed, or overbuying to stay safe, it allows brands and agencies to calculate value based on real usage. For creators, it means more transparency around where and how their content is used in paid media, and a clearer path to fair compensation for creators when it performs.
This new tool is all about building trust and giving everyone in the creator ecosystem the confidence that rights are being handled in a way that reflects the reality of modern media.
Usage rights might not be the most glamorous part of influencer marketing but getting them right could be one of the most important steps we take as an industry.
Unlock smarter usage rights pricing. Join beta and try the calculator free today.
