You pay an editor or a partner for shooting, and one day you see your videos on their channel. Or a contractor leaves and takes the source files. Or demands you remove videos that contain their work. Who’s right?
Almost all such disputes start the same way: the deal was “verbal”. Below is what’s worth putting in writing while the relationship is good.
Why rights are disputable without a contract
In most countries the rights to a work initially belong to its author — the person who created it. Editing, shooting, animation, music and scripts are creative contributions, and a contractor may have rights to the result of their work.
Paying money doesn’t always mean the rights passed to you. For the videos, source files and design elements to be yours, it has to be stated explicitly in a contract. Verbal agreements and chat messages like “make a video for $100” work poorly in a dispute.
What I have seen in practice
- A creator paid a partner for shooting, and the partner started posting the same videos on their own channel. We assessed both sides’ positions and evidence and suggested negotiating. The parties agreed: the partner works on their own channel and doesn’t use the creator’s videos (case).
- A creator hired an animator and wanted to protect the rights to the materials up front. We went through how to formalize the relationship, and the creator turned to a lawyer for the contract. It’s a case where an hour of a lawyer’s time costs less than a future dispute.
What to put in a contract with a contractor
- Scope. What exactly the contractor does: editing, shooting, animation, thumbnails, scripts.
- Rights to the result. That the exclusive rights to the videos, source files, project files and design elements are assigned to you, or that you get an exclusive license — with the ways of use, territory and term.
- Source files. That the contractor hands over project files and raw materials, not just the finished video.
- No use by the contractor. That they don’t publish the videos on their own platforms. If you want to allow portfolio use, state it separately, with conditions.
- Payment and paperwork. Amount, deadlines, an acceptance document or invoice.
- Confidentiality. Not disclosing ideas, scripts and channel data before publication.
Channel access: roles only, no passwords
A separate risk is access to the channel. You should remain the channel owner.
- Give contractors roles in the channel permissions (editor, manager), not a login and password.
- Don’t make a contractor the owner of the Brand Account.
- When the collaboration ends, revoke access the same day.
A password shared “for a while” is one of the common reasons channels get hijacked. What to do if it has already happened: YouTube channel hacked.
If the dispute has already started
- Collect evidence: messages, payments, source files, publication dates.
- Try to negotiate: many disputes are settled without complaints or court.
- Don’t file complaints against the contractor’s videos in the heat of the moment: if the rights weren’t formalized, a complaint can backfire.
What next
A contract with a contractor isn’t bureaucracy; it protects the channel. It’s easier to sign before the work starts than to prove rights later.
If you have a dispute with an editor or a partner, or want to set up work with a team in advance, in a consultation I’ll review the situation. For drafting the contract itself, it’s best to talk to a copyright lawyer.