Rules and ethics
Part of YouTube sponsorship agreement: UK clauses for video ads
YouTube sponsorship agreement: UK clauses for video ads
A YouTube sponsorship agreement for UK video ads should set out disclosure, deliverables, approval, usage rights, payment, cancellation and takedown terms.
What to take away
- A YouTube sponsorship is an ad under the CAP Code, so the disclosure has to be obvious to a viewer who is not looking for it.
- Your sponsorship agreement should name the deliverables, the fee, the approval process, the licence you grant and the takedown rules.
- Audio-only mentions late in a long video often fail the test; pair a spoken line with an on-screen label.
- Usage rights and exclusivity are the two clauses most likely to cost you money when they are left vague.
Where ASA rules for YouTube ads bite
Advertising rules for UK video sponsorships come from the CAP Code, written by the Committee of Advertising Practice and enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. CAP Code rule 2.1 says marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such; rule 2.3 says their commercial intent must be clear if it is not obvious from the context.
A paid partnership on YouTube counts as an ad whether the brand pays cash, sends free products or hands you a discount code to share.
The ASA's guidance on recognising ads says a label must be visible, timely and unambiguous. A spoken thank-you at the end of a 15-minute video is easy to miss, and a hashtag buried among twenty others is not enough.
Clear labels include “Ad”, “Advert” and “Advertising”, placed prominently at the start of the video and in its description. “Sponsored by [brand]” may be clear when it plainly identifies the commercial relationship, but “#spon”, “spon”, “gifted”, “thanks to [brand]”, “partner” or “brand ambassador” alone are not reliable labels; neither is a disclosure buried among hashtags. See our guide to ASA influencer disclosure rules UK for more examples.
Clauses for a video sponsorship agreement
A YouTube brand deal contract works best as a production brief with legal hooks. Each clause should point to something you can prove you did.
Sample clauses to adapt
Use the following wording as a starting point, filling in the bracketed details and making sure the clauses work together.
- Deliverables:“Creator will produce and publish [video description] on [channel] by [date], keep it live for [period], and include [link or code] as set out in the agreed brief.”
- Fee and approval:“Brand will pay Creator £[fee] for the deliverables, with VAT [included/excluded] where applicable. Brand may request [number] consolidated review rounds and must send feedback within [period]; extra work or changes to the brief require written agreement.”
- Disclosure:“Creator will clearly identify the video as advertising in the video and its description, and will use YouTube’s paid-promotion disclosure setting where applicable.”
- Licence:“Creator retains copyright and grants Brand a non-exclusive licence to repost the final video on [Brand’s YouTube channel] for [term] in [territory]. This excludes paid-media use, editing, other platforms and use through Creator’s account unless separately agreed in writing for a separate fee.”
- Exclusivity:“For [period], Creator will not promote the competing brands listed in [schedule]. No other category-wide restriction applies unless agreed in writing.”
- Cancellation and takedown:“If Brand cancels, it will pay the scheduled amount for each milestone completed, plus approved non-cancellable expenses. If Brand requests removal for its own reasons after publication, the full agreed fee remains payable; the parties will agree in writing when the licence ends.”
Clauses for a video sponsorship agreement
- Deliverablesvideo length, number, upload date, format
- Disclosurelabel placement, spoken line, description text
- Approvalreview rounds, brand feedback deadline
- Usage rightsorganic or paid media, duration
- Exclusivitynamed competitors, fixed end date
- Paymentfee, invoice date, late payment interest
Usage rights and exclusivity are where the money sits. A licence to run your video as a paid ad on the brand's channel is a separate purchase, and it should carry a separate fee.
Exclusivity should name the brands you cannot work with and end on a fixed date. An open-ended ban on a whole product category is usually a bad trade at any fee.
Disclosure in video, audio and description
Build the disclosure into the shoot rather than the edit. A workable sequence for a sponsored video:
In YouTube Studio, open the video details and enable the paid-promotion disclosure for a video containing a sponsorship or other paid promotion; YouTube will display its own notice. Do not rely on that setting alone: clearly identify the advert in the video and description as well.
Disclosure sequence for a sponsored video
- Say paid partnership in first 30 seconds
- Keep text label on screen at same time
- Tick paid promotion box in YouTube Studio
- Put brand name and 'ad' in first two description lines
- Repeat label after any mid-roll break
The ASA can act on a single complaint and publishes its rulings, so a weak label can damage a brand relationship you want to keep.
The Competition and Markets Authority can act against hidden advertising as a misleading commercial practice. The relevant legislation depends on when the conduct occurred: it includes the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and, for newer conduct, the unfair-commercial-practices provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
Payment, VAT and kill fees
Put the fee, the invoice date and the currency in the agreement. State whether the clock starts when the video goes live or when the brand approves the final cut.
If you are VAT registered, add VAT on top of the fee and say in the contract whether quoted figures include it. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes the threshold published on GOV.UK.
Agree a kill fee. Set out a cancellation schedule in the contract: the fee is the sum of the amounts assigned to milestones completed when the brand cancels, plus approved non-cancellable costs. Assign an amount to filming in advance, so the payment due if the brand cancels after filming is clear. If the brand pulls the video for its own reasons after publication, the full agreed fee should still stand.
Staged fees and late payment interest are worth writing down; our guide to influencer payment terms UK sets out what to include.
Common questions
Does a YouTube sponsorship need an ad label?
Yes. Paid partnerships fall inside the CAP Code, and the ASA expects the label to be clear before or at the point a viewer sees the promotion. A spoken mention plus an on-screen label is the safest combination.
Can the brand approve my video before it goes live?
Only if the agreement says so, and then only with a fixed number of review rounds and a deadline. Unlimited approval rights let a brand stall your channel indefinitely.
Who owns the video after a brand deal?
You keep the copyright unless the agreement assigns it, but the brand will usually want a licence to reuse the footage. Set the scope, the channels and the duration in the contract.
What happens if I fail to disclose a paid partnership?
The ASA can publish a ruling against the brand and the creator, and require the content to be changed or removed. Repeated failures can also attract action from the Competition and Markets Authority.
