Your name, image, and likeness have commercial value, and licensing is how that value gets paid out. A right of publicity license lets a brand put a person's identity on an ad, a product, or a campaign, with terms that protect the person being licensed and the company doing the licensing. We negotiate and draft these deals for talent, brands, and the agencies between them.
Building The Licensing Deal
The right structure depends on what's being licensed and for how long. We negotiate endorsement agreements, appearance and spokesperson deals, and merchandising licenses, nailing down the scope of use, exclusivity, channels, territory, and term. Whether it's a one-off appearance or a multi-year endorsement tied to a product line, we shape the agreement so both sides know exactly what was promised and what falls outside the grant.
Defining The Rights Granted
Most publicity disputes trace back to a fuzzy grant clause. We define precisely what's licensed, whether it's specific approved photographs, the name only, any likeness, or the full persona including voice and signature, and pin it to specific media and uses. A brand that licenses one campaign image shouldn't be able to plaster a face across every product, and clear language is what keeps that line from blurring later.
Protecting Image And Reputation
Lending your identity to a product means trusting how it gets used. We build in approval rights, quality standards, and morals-style protections so the person stays in control of how they're portrayed, while still giving the brand the certainty it needs to run a campaign. The result is a deal where the talent's reputation is safeguarded and the company isn't left guessing whether each use will get blessed.
Negotiating What It Pays
Compensation has to fit the person, the product, and the market. We negotiate flat fees, royalties tied to sales, advances against royalties, and performance bonuses, and structure payment and reporting so the money actually arrives as agreed. We match the deal economics to how the rights are being used, so a national merchandising program isn't priced like a single social post and everyone's expectations are set in writing.