What should you agree in writing before a UGC job starts?
Before a UGC job starts, agree in writing the deliverables, revision rounds, usage, deadlines, approvals and payment timing. Spell out how many videos you owe, where and for how long the brand can use them, and when you get paid. One written summary that both sides confirm turns most later disagreements into a quick check of the page.
Why put a UGC job in writing before you film anything?
Writing the job down before you film gives you and the brand one shared answer to check whenever a question comes up later.
A call or a chat thread feels clear on the day, but memories drift once the footage is in. If the agreement lives in one place, a request for a fourth video or a new ad placement becomes a simple question: is this in what we agreed? You are not arguing about what someone meant, you are reading a list.
This does not have to be a formal document you draft yourself. It can be the brand's own paperwork, or an email from you that the brand replies to and confirms. Whatever form it takes, read the brief alongside it, because how to turn a brand brief into a script depends on knowing which parts of the job are fixed. This article is a working checklist, not legal advice; if you want advice on a contract itself, ask someone qualified to give it.
What are the points to agree before a UGC job starts?
Agree six points before you start: deliverables, revisions, usage, deadlines, approvals and payment, each written plainly enough that a stranger could follow it.
| Point | What to write down | Question to ask if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverables | How many videos, how many hooks per video, the length, the aspect ratio, captions or not, and whether raw clips are included. | How many finished videos do you need, and in what versions? |
| Revisions | How many rounds are included and what counts as a revision versus a new concept. | How many rounds of changes would you like included? |
| Usage | Where the videos can appear, for how long, and whether they can run as paid ads. | Where will these videos run, and for how long? |
| Deadlines | When the product arrives, when the draft is due, how long feedback takes and the final delivery date. | When do you need the first draft, and when will I get feedback? |
| Approvals | Who signs off the script and the cut, and how that sign-off is given. | Who approves the script and the final cut? |
| Payment | The amount, when it is paid, how it is paid and what happens if the job is cancelled partway. | When is payment sent, and what happens if the project stops? |
If a row stays blank after you ask, write your own assumption into the summary and ask the brand to confirm it. A blank row is where scope tends to creep.
How do you describe deliverables and revisions so they stay clear?
Describe deliverables as countable things and revisions as numbered rounds, so both sides can see when each one is finished.
"Some videos for launch" can grow. "Two finished videos, three hook options each, captioned, delivered vertical" cannot. If the brand also wants unedited clips, say so here and price it separately, because raw footage is a different deliverable from a finished cut.
- Define a revision as a change to the existing script or edit, such as a reworded line, a trimmed shot or a swapped clip.
- Define a new concept as a change of format, product angle or setting, and agree that it is quoted separately.
- Say whether a reshoot is included, because filming again costs more of your day than an edit does.
- Ask for all feedback in one message per round, so changes do not trickle in one at a time.
What should you write down about usage rights?
Write down where the brand can use each video, for how long, and whether it can run as a paid ad or from the brand's own account.
Usage is the part of the job that keeps going after you deliver, so it is worth naming precisely. Paid ads, organic posts on the brand's page and running ads from your account are separate permissions; what are usage rights in UGC explains each one, and whitelisting covers the last. Agree a start and end for each permission, and write down what happens if the brand wants to extend it, so an extension is a new conversation rather than an assumption.
How do you agree deadlines, approvals and payment timing?
Agree dates for each handover, one named approver, and a payment date tied to a step you can point to, such as delivery or approval.
A deadline only works if the brand's side has dates too. If your draft is due a set number of days after the product arrives, write that, so a late parcel moves your date with it. Name the person who approves, because feedback from several people at once can contradict itself. Then tie payment to an event, for example a deposit before filming and the balance on approval, and write down what is owed if the brand cancels after you have filmed. How do UGC creators get paid walks through the ways money can move.
What does a short written summary to a brand look like?
A written summary is a short email that lists each agreed point and asks the brand to reply to confirm it before you start.
- Hi [NAME], before I start filming, here is what we agreed for [PRODUCT].
- Deliverables: [NUMBER] finished videos, each with [NUMBER] hook options, captioned and vertical.
- Revisions: [NUMBER] rounds included, covering edits to the agreed script; a new concept is quoted separately.
- Usage: paid ads and your own page until [DATE]; anything after that we agree separately.
- Timeline: draft by [DATE], your feedback within an agreed window, final files by [DATE].
- Payment: [AMOUNT] before filming and the balance on approval. Could you reply to confirm this, or tell me what to change?
Keep the reply with the job's files. If the brand sends its own agreement, check it against these same six points and ask about any that are missing.
Write your next UGC script with lynxr
Paste a public TikTok or Instagram link on the homepage and lynxr works out the format — hook, beats, turn, close — and writes it as a script for the brand you make content for. How lynxr writes scripts shows each step. Free to start: 3 scripts a week, no card.
More questions about UGC rates, pay and usage rights
- What should a UGC rate card include? — A UGC rate card lists one base video and every add-on a brand can choose, each with a plain description of what it includes.
- Should you charge extra for raw footage in UGC? — Charge for raw footage as its own line, separate from the edited video, because the unedited clips let a brand cut new ads from your work without booking you again.
- What is whitelisting in UGC? — Whitelisting in UGC means a brand runs paid ads through your own account, so the ad shows your handle instead of theirs.
- All questions about UGC rates, pay and usage rights — getting paid and pricing your work.
Keep reading
- How to turn a brand brief into a script
- A UGC script template that holds up
- Questions and answers — about lynxr, and every topic UGC creators ask about.