AI likeness licensing agreement: a campaign checklist
Use a filled campaign record to check identity use, tools, approvals, payment and expiry before signing a likeness agreement.
Before an AI likeness ad is made, the agreement should name whose identity may appear, which product and claims the ad can use, where and when it may run, and who approves the final file. It should also say which tools may handle samples, how the creator is paid, and what happens when the licence ends.
Use this checklist to prepare the scope. Have counsel review the agreement for the parties, planned uses, and applicable law.
Identify the buyer, creator, and campaign
Name the creator, the legal buyer, the advertised brand and product, and any agency acting for the brand. State who can sign and who handles production, review, and media buying.
For legal review, record where the buyer, creator, and agency are based and which governing law the parties are considering. List permitted ad territories separately; territory does not by itself identify the law that governs the agreement.
Keep one signed agreement with its date and version. Give everyone making or placing ads access to the same scope.
Describe the identity and the message
Specify which parts of the creator's identity the campaign may use. Permission to use a face should not leave the team guessing about synthetic speech, a name, or a new language.
Capture the creator's relevant experience, words, and limits. Separate statements about personal experience from product claims the advertiser must support. Canada's Competition Bureau says testimonials should reflect actual experience and material brand connections should be disclosed. Read its influencer guidance.
A signed licence does not establish that an advertising claim is true.
Define where, when, and how much
List the channels, ad accounts, territory, formats, and allowed versions. Give the start and end dates a time zone, and distinguish production time from the period when ads may run.
If the buyer wants exclusivity, define the competing category and length of the restriction. Discuss creator posting and use of the creator's account separately; those requests add work and access beyond running an ad through a brand account.
Agree how samples and tools will work
Before collection, name the production team, tools, and people who will receive samples. Set out storage, access, reuse, retention, and deletion terms. Check that the chosen tools can follow them.
Distinguish permission to process samples for a campaign from permission to train a reusable model. Semblanse's planned sample rules exclude training rights from a campaign licence and do not automatically give brands raw samples or reusable models.
Connect approval to a finished version
State whether the creator reviews the concept, script, finished ad, or each of these. Set a review period and a process for changes or rejection before production starts.
Record approval against an exact file and version. A new voice line, translation, or product claim should return for review. A change to the agreed channels or dates also needs agreement on the rights involved.
Set payment terms: amount, currency, due date or trigger, deductions, cancellation, and what happens when the creator approves only part of the work.
Plan for the end of the campaign
Name who stops the ads and how they confirm that each account has stopped using them. Agree what happens to generation access, samples, and retained records. Set a renewal process before the current term ends.
Consider this fictional scope: a creator permits their face and synthetic voice in two English video ads for one desk-lamp brand, through one named ad account, in Ontario for one calendar month. That gives the team concrete limits to discuss. It still needs agreed tools, approval, payment, and end-of-term steps; it is not a contract or a real campaign.
Copy a campaign scope record
This fictional record shows the detail to gather. Replace each entry with agreed terms and send the record with the proposed agreement for review. It is a briefing sheet, not a signed licence or approved contract wording.
| Field | Filled example | Confirm for your campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Parties and product | Creator A; named buyer; desk lamp | Legal names, signatories and product |
| Identity and production | Face and synthetic voice; named agency and selected tool | Allowed identity elements, recipients and tool settings |
| Outputs | Two English vertical ads, up to 30 seconds each | Concepts, versions, languages and revision limit |
| Distribution | Named brand account; paid Instagram placements in Ontario | Every account, channel and territory |
| Dates | Ads run 1–30 November 2026, ending 23:59 Toronto time | Production window and permitted ad-use window |
| Message limits | Factual lamp features; no claim of improved sleep | Supported claims, real experience and exclusions |
| Approval | Creator approves each exact final file before it runs | Review window, version record and changes needing review |
| Payment | C$900 total; buyer funds before work; release terms agreed | Amount, currency, payer, trigger and cancellation terms |
| Samples | Named production team only; no training permission | Access, retention, deletion and vendor confirmation |
| End of use | Agency stops placements and saves confirmation | Owner, backup and renewal decision |
Check training and advertising permissions separately. Then use the expiry register to turn the agreed end date into tasks someone owns.
How Semblanse approaches the campaign
Semblanse is preparing paid pilots run by hand. Its planned service connects campaign permissions, creator context, final approvals, payment records, and expiry. Buyers normally supply production; Semblanse can help make ads during the pilot.
Read the pilot overview or book a pilot call to discuss a campaign's scope.
Download the plain-text campaign scope record. Save a copy and replace the fields with your agreed scope and figures.
Connect this decision to the campaign
Start with the category definition when identity permission and generation access are getting mixed together. Use the campaign brief to settle creative intent before legal review; Semblanse’s trust approach describes planned controls, not a tool guarantee.