Creator disclosure and partnership compliance resources
Creator marketing rules differ by country, platform, product category and campaign structure. This page is a practical starting point for creators, brands and agencies—not legal advice.
United States
The Federal Trade Commission expects creators and advertisers to clearly disclose material relationships, including many paid, gifted and affiliate relationships. Disclosures should be hard to miss and placed with the endorsement itself.
FTC endorsements, influencers and reviews guidance
United Kingdom
The ASA and CAP provide dedicated influencer guidance on when creator content is advertising and how to make advertising obviously identifiable. Their current guidance generally emphasizes prominent, upfront labels rather than relying on a profile bio or ambiguous wording.
ASA/CAP influencer marketing resources
European Union
The European Commission's Influencer Legal Hub provides consumer-law and intellectual-property learning resources for influencers, brands and agencies, including advertising disclosure and creator-as-seller responsibilities.
European Commission Influencer Legal Hub
Canada
Ad Standards and the Competition Bureau publish influencer guidance covering material connections, clear disclosure and truthful testimonials.
Ad Standards Canada influencer guidance
Competition Bureau influencer marketing guidance
Platform disclosure is not the whole compliance job
Using a platform's paid-partnership label can be important, but creators and brands may still have separate obligations under local advertising, consumer-protection, intellectual-property, privacy or product-specific rules. Platform policy and local law are separate layers.
StartUGC partnership checklist
- Identify whether anything of value is being exchanged.
- Confirm the market where the content will appear and who the audience is.
- Use clear disclosure language appropriate to the format and jurisdiction.
- Use any required platform paid-partnership or branded-content controls.
- Only make claims the creator can truthfully support and the brand can substantiate.
- Confirm music, footage, trademarks, product claims and other intellectual-property permissions.
- Define organic use, paid use, boosting, creator-handle advertising, duration, territory and exclusivity separately.
- Keep records of the agreed brief, approvals, final content, payment and rights period.
- Re-check rules when repurposing one asset into another country, platform or ad format.
Special caution areas
Health, finance, children, alcohol, gambling, political advertising, regulated products and other sensitive categories can carry additional rules. Creators and brands should get qualified advice when a campaign falls into a regulated or high-risk area.
For commercial scope planning, use the UGC Quote & Usage Rights Calculator. For broader creator and brand workflows, explore StartUGC Creator Systems.