How to request content rights from a creator

Before you put a customer's photo or a creator's reel on your website, you need their permission. This guide covers the practical steps in cyrqle, from writing your terms to tracking the licences you hold. For the legal background, read UGC rights in the EU first.

There are two ways to get rights in cyrqle:

• For posts found in collectors (organic UGC): a rights request, covered in this guide.
• For paid campaign creators: the signed campaign agreement grants content-wall and campaign use automatically. See launching your first creator campaign.

Before you start

• You need editor access to request rights.
• You need posts in a UGC collector. Rights requests start from the collector's review queue.
• cyrqle can email a creator only when it has a contact email on file. For everyone else you send a link by DM.

Step 1: Write your rights terms

The rights template is the text a creator reads before they agree. Write it before you send a single request.

Rights templates live in your workspace settings, under rights templates. Create one per language you work in, for example Spanish and English, and set a default.

What to include

A clear template answers:

1. What you will use. "The post linked above", not "your content".
2. Where. For example: "on our website, in our email newsletters and on our own social media accounts".
3. Which markets. For example: "in Spain and Portugal", or "worldwide".
4. For how long. For example: "for 24 months from today", or "until you withdraw permission".
5. Credit. Whether you will show their handle.
6. Withdrawal. That they can withdraw permission at any time from the same link.

Write the territory and duration into the text. The template has no separate fields for them, so if the text does not limit them, the grant reads as worldwide and perpetual.

Paid ads are separate

The standard licence covers owned channels: your website, your own social accounts and your email. It does not cover paid advertising. If you want to boost a creator's post as an ad, that needs a separate paid-ads right, agreed with the creator on a campaign.

Keep it short and in their language

Creators read these on a phone. Five or six plain sentences in the creator's language get more yeses than a page of legal text.

Step 2: Choose the posts

Open the collector and review the queue. Before requesting, check each post:

• Is it on-brand and good enough to publish? Only request what you will actually use.
• Who is in it? The creator can license their own image, not other recognisable people in the frame.
• Could anyone in it be a minor? If there is any doubt, skip it.
• Is it a paid partnership with someone else? Check the caption for a competitor's tag.

Step 3: Send the request

Every request sends a real email at once, with no preview and no undo. Check the post and the handle before you click.

• One post: click Request rights on the card.
• Several posts: select the cards, then click Request rights on n.
• Rapid review: press R on each post you want as you move through the queue.

cyrqle reports how many creators it emailed and how many need a DM.

Step 4: Send DM links for creators without email

For creators with no email on file, cyrqle creates a grant link but sends nothing. Click Download CSV to get the DM list. Each row has that creator's own link.

Send each link by direct message from your brand account. A short note helps:

Hi, we love your post with our trainers. Could we feature it on our website? Here are the details and you can say yes or no in one click: [link]

Do this promptly. A request without an email is marked "requested" in cyrqle even though the creator has not heard from you yet.

Step 5: What the creator sees

The link opens a public page. The creator does not need a cyrqle account. The page shows your brand name and logo, the post, and your terms. They click to allow, or No thanks.

The licence is recorded the moment they click allow. cyrqle then offers to create a creator account, which they can skip.

If they decline, you cannot ask again for that post. Respect it.

Step 6: Track open requests

Open the content library and go to the Requests tab. Each request shows whether it was emailed or sent by DM, when it went out and when the link expires. From a request you can:

• Copy link to send it again by DM.
• Resend email to remind the creator.
• Refresh link to extend an expired link.

A bounced email currently looks the same as an ignored one. If a creator does not answer after a reminder, try a DM.

Step 7: Use the cleared content

Granted licences appear on the Cleared tab with the creator handle, the origin of the licence, what it covers and its expiry or "perpetual". The Agreements page lists every licence across the workspace, with a PDF of each.

Cleared posts can now go on a content wall. Walls check the licence on every render: if a creator withdraws or a licence expires, the post disappears from your site automatically.

Good practice

• Request less, publish more. A short list of posts you will actually use is better than a hundred speculative requests.
• Say thank you. Tag the creator when you feature their post, and consider a small gift or discount code.
• Review regularly. Licences with an end date expire silently. Check your cleared content every few months.
• Grant manually only with real consent. If a creator agreed outside cyrqle, an admin can record the grant as an operator, with an attestation. The creator gets no link to withdraw, so prefer a normal request.

FAQ

How long do creators take to answer?

It varies. Many answer within a day or two; some never do. Send one reminder, then move on.

Can I offer payment for rights?

Not on the rights request page itself. If you want to pay for usage, especially for paid ads, agree it as a campaign with a contract and a fee.

What if the creator wants their post taken down later?

They can withdraw from the same link, and the post drops off your walls on the next render. If they contact you directly, remove it promptly.

Do I need rights for posts I only reshare inside Instagram or TikTok?

Native sharing inside the platform is covered by the platform's own terms. Rights requests are for using content outside the platform, such as on your website.