Questions the paper has to settle
Agreements between a brand and an agency, a media seller, or a production company tend to turn on a few questions that get skipped in a rush. One is who owns the creative once it is paid for, and whether the agency keeps rights in its own templates, tools, and unused concepts. Another is how approvals work, because a brand that signs off on copy usually shares responsibility for it. Payment terms, including media spend passed through the agency, and what happens if the client pulls a campaign midstream are frequent sources of dispute. Talent, music, and stock footage in the work often carry their own usage limits, and the main contract cannot expand rights the agency never obtained.
Exposure from the ad itself
Advertising carries legal risk beyond the contract between the parties. Claims about a product generally need substantiation before they run, and comparative claims can draw a false advertising challenge from a competitor under federal or state law. Endorsements and influencer posts fall under FTC guidance on disclosing material connections such as payment or free products. Indemnity clauses decide who pays if a claim, a photo, or a jingle turns out to infringe someone's rights, and whether insurance follows is a separate question. Bring the draft agreement, the statement of work, any talent or licensing paperwork, and the product claims you plan to make.
Matching the terms to the campaign
Most of the value in a review comes from matching the paper to how the campaign will actually run. If the work will be reused in new markets or media later, the rights need to reach that far; if the agency subcontracts production, the chain of rights has to run back to you. Termination and transition terms deserve more attention than they usually get, especially for media buying and for ad accounts the agency set up in its own name. Reading an advertising draft, we mark the terms that carry real risk for your campaign and leave the boilerplate alone.
