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Endorsement Agreements
Learn the key points of writing an endorsement agreement. Plus, where to find the right legal support.
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In the business world, an endorsement can be of huge benefit to your company. Creating a legally-sound Endorsement Agreement will help both parties understand their responsibilities and ensure no one breaches the contract terms.
Read on to find out more about how this legal document works and how to write yours. Plus, where to find free customisable legal templates to help you kick-start your agreement.
What's in this guide?
What is an Endorsement Agreement?
Put simply, an Endorsement Agreement is a legal contract between a business and a public figure. This could be a figure like a celebrity, an influencer or an athlete who you're looking to hire in order to endorse your company or product.
This type of legal document can outline all the key terms and conditions, the compensation the public figure will get and their key duties. It may also include some details on how the company should be promoted by the public figure.
What does an Endorsement Agreement include and not include?
Every agreement drafted between a business and an individual endorsing a product is, to a certain degree, unique to the specifics of that situation. Although it's important your contract is unique, there are some areas that need to be covered. These may include:
Typically included
- The amount to be paid to the endorser
- The responsibilities of an endorser
- Length of the deal
- The circumstances under which termination can occur
- Intellectual property rights
Typically not included
- Any vague or unexplained clauses
- Overly complicated language or confusing jargon.
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Endorsement Agreement vs Licensing Agreement
With an endorsement, a public figure backs or promotes a company's product or service. Whereas with a licensing agreement, the product or service is typically portrayed as being owned by the public figure. In reality, it is in fact under the terms of a business license for the company.
The terms of a Licensing Agreement often last longer than an Endorsement Agreement and usually involve a cash advance that is recoupable against royalties. Regardless of the level of the talent's personal involvement, the public figure will generally be contracted to participate in media and promotional material.
How effective is an Endorsement Agreement?
An effective Endorsement Agreement will help to secure revenue streams, limits your liability and ensures the commercial relationship stays positive throughout the agreement. An effective Endorsement Agreement also covers protections, rights and responsibilities.
By including a moral clause in your Endorsement Agreement, you can ensure the endorses doesn't do anything harmful that may reflect badly on you or your brand.
Do I need a lawyer for an Endorsement Agreement?
A lawyer is not strictly needed to draw up an Endorsement Agreement, but having an agreement that is legally binding is key. Ultimately, a poorly drafted Endorsement Agreement could lose your company money and its reputation in the long run. So, many people decide it is worth hiring a lawyer to check over their legal drafts to get a level of peace of mind.
In addition to using a lawyer for an Endorsement Agreement, there are templates that could help you to start the writing of your agreement.
How do I write an Endorsement Agreement?
- Parties. The Endorsement Agreement should start by identifying all the parties involved.
- Terms. Describe the duration of the Endorsement Agreement. Also, disclose the terms should the agreement be renewed or extended.
- Indemnity. The party will usually recover should any losses occur due to their negligence or due to any false representation.
- Dispute Resolution. If any disputes arise from the agreement this clause should specify the way it can be resolved.
- Termination. The circumstances in which the Endorsement Agreement can be terminated. Also, it can disclose the events that may occur should the party violate the agreement and should be terminated.
- Responsibilities. The duties expected from both parties. This usually covers the actions that the public figure must avoid as it may lose the character and reputation of the business. By including specific incidents that should be avoided will let the public figure now what is expected from them.
- Entitlement. The public figure must explicitly permit that the company can use their name, biography and image for advertising or promotional purposes.
- Consideration. Indicate the methods and schedule of payments. It should also disclose the interest charged for late payment.
- Exclusivity. This clause in an agreement will prevent the public figure from using competitors' products for a specific time period.
- Moral clause. This protects the risks taken by the public figure, should their value be damaged by their behaviour. This also permits an organisation to end the agreement should the celebrity become devalued.
- Insurance. It's important to specify the level of insurance, should the public figure die or become seriously injured.
- Intellectual Property. This will grant the company a limited right to use the name, image and signature of the public figure.
- Confidentiality. This will keep the confidential information private both during and after the Endorsement Agreement.
- Territory. Specify the geographic area the Endorsement Agreement covers.
Where to get free legal documents and templates like an Endorsement Agreement
There are a number of places to get customisable templates to help get you started with an Endorsement Agreement. These include:
- LawDepot. LawDepot offers hundreds of legal documents, free to download. Fill the documents in online before downloading them straight to your computer.
- Lawpath. Lawpath is an online legal resource aimed at providing small businesses and entrepreneurs with effective documents. You can view samples of legal document templates for free, but a fee is required if you wish to customise and download it.
- LegalVision. With a monthly membership plan at LegalVision, you'll get unlimited access to free downloads of legal document templates.
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