Clearance agreements for campaigns, content and creative releases

You will usually need a clearance agreement when you want to use third-party material in a public or commercial project and need written permission that is specific enough to rely on later. Common examples include music in ads, stock or commissioned images, archive footage, artwork, logos, voice recordings, and talent content. The agreement records what material is covered, who is granting permission, and the exact use allowed. That becomes important if a platform, distributor, publisher, or client asks for proof of rights, or if the project later expands into new channels or territories.

A clearance agreement usually identifies the asset being cleared and sets out the permitted use in practical detail. That often includes the media channels, territory, duration, campaign or project type, edit rights, credit requirements, approval rights, exclusivity, and any fee or royalty terms. Depending on the material, it may also cover moral rights consents, sublicensing, withdrawal rights, warranties about ownership, and what happens if the material is delivered late or cannot be used. Clear wording matters because vague permission can create problems when content is reused, adapted, or distributed more widely than first planned.

Tailoring depends on the asset, the chain of rights, and how the material will actually be used. A one-off social post using a licensed image is very different from a multi-channel campaign using music, performer content, branded visuals, or footage supplied through an agency. We would usually look at whether the permission needs to cover edits, paid advertising, sublicensing, overseas use, future campaigns, or use by related parties. If another party sits between you and the rights owner, the drafting also needs to match that structure so the permission is clear and commercially workable.

A free template can be risky if the content has real commercial value or the proposed use is broader than a simple one-off permission. Templates often use general wording that does not properly define the asset, the approved channels, the term, or who is responsible if the rights turn out to be incomplete. That can leave gaps around edits, paid promotions, overseas distribution, or later reuse. A tailored clearance agreement is usually more useful where multiple parties are involved, the content may be repurposed, or a client, broadcaster, or platform is likely to ask for precise rights documentation.

Timing depends on the quality of the information available and whether the commercial terms with the rights holder are already agreed. In most matters, the practical next step is to provide the material details, who owns the rights, how you want to use it, where it will appear, and whether any draft permission wording already exists. If there are multiple assets, unclear ownership, or negotiation with the other side, timeframes can vary. Requirements and timeframes can vary by jurisdiction if the project is being distributed internationally or involves rights granted under different legal systems.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Clearance Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.