05/01/2026
If you earn income from influencing then it's not just fame and internet trolls that await you. You should remember that your name, face, content, and audience are business assets. And also that everything you do, say, and post can and will be used against you.
That means your brand protection should go beyond posting consistently and doing something because you saw another influencer do it.
Influencers and creators should be thinking about:
®️Trademarking names, slogans, handles, courses, merch lines, and signature phrases
©️Copyright protection for original posts, videos, photos, graphics, and creative content
💫Right of publicity, likeness, and NIL issues
📃Written ambassador and influencer agreements with clear payout terms and who owns the content created for a brand deal
🤑Whether a brand can reuse, edit, register, or monetize your work
🚓FTC, SEC, and advertising compliance (this includes you saying something is the "best" or comparing it to something else!)
After attending the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference and several sessions on influencer branding and marketing, one thing is clear that we've been knowing: creators are building valuable businesses.
Get your brand ducks in a row before you get too excited about that deal or reuse that song you don't own.
