Usage Rights vs Whitelisting vs Partnership Ads: What's the Difference?
Usage rights are permission to use your content. Whitelisting is access to run ads from your account. Partnership ads (Meta) and Spark Ads (TikTok) are the platforms' built-in ways of doing that second thing. A deal can include any mix of them, and each one needs its own end date and its own price, because each one can keep running after the deal is over.
Key takeaways
- Usage rights: the brand uses your content, usually from its own account.
- Whitelisting or allowlisting: the brand runs ads from your account, under your name.
- Partnership ads: Meta's version, with permission per post (an ad code) or for your whole account.
- Spark Ads: TikTok's version, with an authorization code that lasts for a period the creator picks.
- Each one needs an end date in the contract, and a check after it ends.
Pricing a deal? Read how much to charge for usage rights, or try the free fee calculator.
The four terms side by side
| Term | What the brand gets | Whose name is on the ad | How it ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage rights | Permission to use your content (organic, paid or both) for a period | Usually the brand's | On the date in the contract. Nothing switches off automatically |
| Whitelisting (allowlisting) | Access to run ads from your account | Yours | When you remove the brand's access, or the contract's end date |
| Partnership ads (Meta) | Permission to run ads that show you and the brand, per post (ad code) or for your account | Both, as a partnership | When you remove the brand from your ad partners, or as the contract says |
| Spark Ads (TikTok) | Permission to run your post as an ad from your account | Yours | When the authorization period the creator picked runs out, or as the contract says |
Usage rights
Usage rights are a license. The brand may use your content in the ways and for the time the contract sets: posting it organically, putting it on its website, or running it as paid ads. In most deals you keep ownership; the brand rents the right to use it.
The catch is that nothing enforces the end date. The brand can download your video and run it from its own ad account for as long as it likes. Only the contract, and someone checking, stops it.
Whitelisting (allowlisting)
Whitelisting gives the brand access to run ads through your account, so they appear under your name and handle. Brands ask for it because the ad comes from a real person's account rather than the brand's. "Allowlisting" is the same thing; many platforms and agencies now use that word.
Because the ads carry your name, whitelisting is usually priced on top of usage rights. It also has its own risk: if the brand's access isn't removed when the deal ends, it can keep running ads as you.
Partnership ads (Meta)
Partnership ads are Meta's built-in version of whitelisting for Facebook and Instagram. The ad shows both you and the brand. You need a professional account with Meta's branded content tools turned on, and you give permission in one of two ways:
- Per post: you generate a partnership ad code for one post (the "Get partnership ad code" option) and send it to the brand, which pastes it into Ads Manager.
- For your account: you accept the brand as an ad partner, and it can then create partnership ads with you without asking for each post.
Account-level access is convenient during a campaign and easy to forget afterwards. When a deal ends, check your partnership ad settings and remove brands you're no longer working with.
Spark Ads (TikTok)
Spark Ads let a brand run your TikTok post as an ad from your account. You generate an authorization code for the post and choose how long it lasts, commonly between 7 and 365 days, and send the code to the brand. When it expires, the brand needs a new code from you.
Match the authorization period to the usage period in your contract. A 365-day code on a 30-day deal hands the brand 11 months you haven't been paid for.
Which ones does your deal need?
| The brand wants to | You need | Set an end date for |
|---|---|---|
| Repost your video on its feed | Organic usage rights | Usage |
| Run your video as ads from its own account | Paid usage rights | Usage |
| Run ads under your name on Instagram or Facebook | Paid usage plus partnership ads or whitelisting | Usage and the partnership or whitelisting access |
| Run your TikTok as an ad from your account | Paid usage plus a Spark Ads code | Usage and the code's authorization period |
What to write in the contract
- Which of the four the brand gets, by name.
- A start and end date for each, or "N days from go-live".
- The platforms covered.
- An extension rate for any use past the end date, per 30 days.
- That the brand stops ads and that access is removed on the end date.
Then check after the end date. Usage rights and partnership access don't switch themselves off, and ads that keep running after the deal are the ones creators are most often owed for. If you find one, our guide to what to do when a brand uses your content without permission walks through the next steps.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between usage rights and whitelisting?
Usage rights are permission to use your content. Whitelisting (allowlisting) is access that lets the brand run ads from your account, under your name. Most paid deals need both, each with its own end date.
Is a partnership ad the same as whitelisting?
They do the same job: the ad shows your name alongside the brand's. Partnership ads are Meta's built-in way to do it, with permission given per post through an ad code or for the whole account. "Whitelisting" is the older industry term and is still used for both.
What is a Spark Ads code?
A code a TikTok creator generates so a brand can run one of their posts as a Spark Ad from the creator's account. The creator picks how long the authorization lasts, commonly between 7 and 365 days, and a new code is needed after it expires.
Do usage rights include whitelisting?
Not unless the contract says so. Usage rights usually cover the brand running your content from its own accounts. Running ads from your account is a separate permission, and is usually priced separately.
How much should I charge for whitelisting?
Often a monthly fee on top of usage, or a share of the brand's ad spend. Our pricing guide covers the published ranges, and our fee calculator works out what's owed if an ad runs past the end date.
What happens when whitelisting ends but the ad keeps running?
If the brand still has access to your account, it can keep running ads under your name after the deal ends. Remove the brand from your ad partner settings when the term ends, and check Meta's Ad Library for ads still running from your page.
What is paid usage?
Paid usage is permission for the brand to run your content as ads. It is different from organic usage, where the brand only posts your content on its own feed. Paid usage is usually what the usage period and fee in a contract refer to.
Check every deal after it ends
Every term on this page has an end date, and on Meta, Usage Hawk checks them for you. Add your deals and it searches the Ad Library every day once each usage window ends, including ads running from your own page. For how it compares with other options, see the buyer's guide.