Published by LegalLens | legallens.co.uk
You promoted the product. You posted the content. You sent the invoice. And then the brand went silent.
Or maybe it was worse than that. The "brand" that reached out was not a real company at all. The deal that seemed too good to be true turned out to be exactly that. And now you are sitting with content you created, money you are owed, and no idea what your legal options actually are.
Influencer scams and brand non-payment are two of the fastest-growing problems in the US creator economy in 2026. They are also two of the most under-reported, because most creators assume there is nothing they can do — that the money is gone, the content has been used, and the best they can hope for is to learn from it and move on.
That assumption is wrong. This guide explains what to do, step by step, whether you were scammed outright or simply not paid by a brand you legitimately worked with.
First: Understand What Type of Situation You Are Actually In
Not every bad brand experience is the same, and the steps you take depend on what actually happened. There are three distinct scenarios, and they each have different legal remedies.
Scenario 1: A legitimate brand has not paid you. You have a real company, a real campaign, and a real invoice that has not been paid. The brand exists, the deal was genuine, and the non-payment is a breach of contract — not fraud. This is the most common situation and the most straightforward to resolve.
Scenario 2: A brand paid you but has used your content beyond what was agreed. The deal was real and you were paid, but the brand has since run your content in paid ads, extended the campaign without your permission, or used your image in contexts you never agreed to. This is a usage rights or licence violation — a form of IP theft.
Scenario 3: The "brand" was not a real company. You were contacted by what appeared to be a brand, agreed to a collaboration, and either sent the product back, paid a fee, or created content — only to discover the company does not exist, the person is not who they claimed to be, or the entire thing was a scam from the start.
Each of these requires a different response. We will walk through all three.
Scenario 1: A Real Brand Has Not Paid You
This is the most common situation LegalLens deals with, and it is also the one creators are most likely to handle badly — either by doing nothing, or by escalating in a way that damages the relationship without recovering the money.
Step 1: Check the contract
Before you do anything else, find the agreement — whether that is a formal contract, an email exchange, a DM thread, or a written brief. Identify:
The agreed fee and the payment terms (Net 30, Net 60, on posting, etc.)
Whether the payment deadline has actually passed
Whether there is a late payment clause or interest provision
Whether there is a dispute resolution clause
If the payment deadline has passed and the brand has not responded to a polite reminder, you have a legitimate non-payment claim. The strength of your position depends on how well-documented the agreement was.
Step 2: Send a formal written demand
A friendly follow-up email is not enough. Once a payment deadline has passed without resolution, you need to put the brand on formal notice. This means a written demand that:
States the amount owed and the original due date
References the contract or agreement under which it is owed
Sets a deadline by which payment must be made (typically 14 days)
States the consequences of continued non-payment — specifically, that legal proceedings will follow
This is different from a letter before action, which is the formal pre-litigation notice that signals you are about to sue. A formal demand is the step before that — it is firm, professional, and designed to resolve the matter without escalation. Most brands respond at this stage.
Step 3: Revoke the content licence
This is the step that most creators do not know about, and it is often the most effective lever available.
When a brand uses your content as part of a paid collaboration, they are doing so under a licence — a legal permission — granted by your contract. If the brand has not paid, they have breached the contract. In many cases, that breach gives you the right to revoke the licence: to withdraw the brand's permission to use your content.
For a brand running an active paid campaign using your content, licence revocation creates immediate financial pressure. The moment they receive a formal notice that their licence has been revoked, they must cease all use of your content — paid ads, website, social media, everything. Running the content after revocation constitutes copyright infringement, which exposes them to damages far exceeding the original invoice.
In our experience, a professionally drafted licence revocation notice — sent at the same time as a formal demand — resolves non-payment cases faster than almost any other approach.
Step 4: Issue a Letter Before Action
If the formal demand and licence revocation notice do not produce payment within the deadline, the next step is a Letter Before Action (LBA). This is a formal legal document stating that unless payment is received within a final deadline (typically 7 to 14 days), you will commence legal proceedings.
An LBA carries significant weight because:
It creates a paper trail that strengthens your position in any subsequent legal action
It triggers the brand's legal team or insurance to advise settling rather than litigating
Under the FTC's rules for small claims and the relevant state courts' pre-action protocols, courts look more favourably on claimants who followed proper escalation procedures
It signals that you are not going away
Most non-payment cases involving real brands are resolved at the LBA stage. Brands that were simply slow to pay suddenly find the invoice, and brands that were actively avoiding payment realise that the cost of litigation exceeds the cost of settling.
Tired of chasing unpaid invoices or having your content stolen by brands?
You do not have to accept non-payment as a cost of doing business. Book a consultation with LegalLens today to recover your overdue fees, issue formal legal demands, and revoke content licences to get paid what you are owed.
Step 5: Pursue recovery through the courts or a recovery service
If an LBA produces no response, your options depend on the amount owed:
For amounts under $10,000: Small Claims Court is accessible, relatively inexpensive, and designed to be used without a lawyer. Filing fees are typically between $30 and $100 depending on the state. You present your contract, your invoice, your correspondence, and your evidence of non-payment. Judgments are typically enforceable within 30 days.
For amounts over $10,000: You may need to consider formal civil litigation or arbitration, depending on what your contract specifies. This is where having legal support is particularly valuable — the cost of pursuing a large claim incorrectly, or missing a limitation period, can significantly undermine your position.
For any amount, no win no fee recovery: At LegalLens, we handle influencer debt recovery on a no win, no fee basis. Our fee is 10% of what we recover — nothing if we do not recover anything. This removes the financial risk of pursuing legitimate claims and means there is no reason not to escalate when a brand goes silent.
Scenario 2: A Brand Used Your Content Without Permission
This scenario — where you were paid for one thing and the brand used your content for something else entirely — is increasingly common as brands become more sophisticated about extracting value from creator content.
Common examples include:
You were paid for three Instagram posts and the brand is running your content as a paid Facebook ad
Your content from a campaign that ended six months ago is still live on the brand's website
The brand used your video in an out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign without your knowledge
Your image appeared in a third-party campaign the brand licensed your content to
What are your rights?
Under US copyright law, you own the creative work you produce. Any use of that work beyond the scope of the licence you granted is copyright infringement — regardless of whether the brand paid for the original campaign.
If your contract specified Instagram organic use only and the brand is running paid ads, they are in breach of the contract and infringing your copyright. If your contract had a 90-day usage period that has expired and the brand is still using your content, same result.
What to do
Document everything first. Screenshot every instance of your content being used. Record the URL, platform, date, and context. If the brand is running paid ads using your handle or content, use Facebook's Ad Library or TikTok's commercial content library to capture the ad details. Do this immediately — brands often remove infringing content the moment they receive a complaint, which makes it harder to prove what happened.
Issue a cease and desist. A cease and desist letter is a formal legal notice demanding that the brand immediately stop using your content outside the agreed scope. It is not a court document, but it carries weight because it puts the brand on formal notice and creates a paper trail.
A professionally drafted cease and desist letter from a legal professional lands significantly differently from an Instagram DM. Brands with legal teams will take it seriously. Most remove the infringing content within days.
Claim compensation. If the brand has been using your content in paid ads without permission, you are entitled to compensation. The standard basis for calculating damages in copyright infringement cases is the licence fee you would have charged for the usage in question. For whitelisting and paid ads, this can be significant — standard whitelisting fees range from $500 to $2,000 per month depending on audience size and reach.
In cases of wilful infringement — where the brand knew they did not have permission and used the content anyway — US copyright law allows for enhanced damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed.
Scenario 3: The "Brand" Was a Scam
This is the hardest situation to recover from legally, but it is not necessarily hopeless, and there are practical steps you can take immediately.
The most common influencer scams in 2026
Fake brand ambassador scams. A scammer poses as a brand and offers you a paid ambassador deal. The catch is that you are asked to pay a small "shipping fee" or "processing fee" to receive the free products. Once you pay, the scammer disappears. This scam is extremely common — a scammer pretends to be a brand and offers a "brand ambassador" opportunity, asking the influencer to pay a shipping or processing fee to receive the "free" products, then disappearing once the money is paid.
Fake cheque overpayment scams. A "brand" sends you a cheque for more than the agreed amount and asks you to wire back the difference. The cheque bounces after you have sent the wire transfer. By the time you realise, the money is gone.
Identity theft collaboration scams. Someone contacts you offering a collaboration but gradually asks for personal information — banking details, ID documents, your social media login credentials. The collaboration never materialises, but your identity or account may have been compromised.
Non-existent brand non-payment. You completed a campaign for what you believed was a legitimate brand, but the company does not exist or has no legal standing. The invoice can never be enforced against a company that does not exist.
Impersonation scams. Fake sponsorship scams target popular creators, especially micro-influencers, by impersonating legitimate brands and offering opportunities to promote products or become brand ambassadors.
Immediate steps if you have been scammed
Stop all contact with the scammer. Do not respond further, do not send any more money, and do not share any additional personal information.
Document everything. Save every message, email, DM, and record of payment made. Even if you cannot recover the money, this documentation is essential for reporting the scam and potentially helping other creators avoid the same trap.
Report to the FTC. File a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC tracks fraud patterns and uses complaints to identify and pursue scammers. Your report may directly contribute to enforcement action.
Report to the platform. If the scam originated via Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or another platform, report the account. Platforms take impersonation and fraud seriously and will typically remove the account.
Contact your bank immediately. If you made a payment via bank transfer, credit card, or PayPal, contact your financial institution immediately. Many banks have fraud recovery processes that can reverse or dispute transactions made within a short window. The faster you act, the higher the chance of recovery.
File a police report. If you lost a significant amount of money, file a report with your local police department and with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov. Wire fraud and internet fraud are federal offences in the US. A police report also creates an official record that may be required by your bank in a fraud dispute.
Check whether the brand is real. Before writing off the money entirely, verify whether the company actually exists. Search the company name on the Secretary of State business registry for the relevant state. Many scammers use real brand names or near-identical names to legitimate companies. If the real brand has been impersonated, contact them directly — they may have a legal interest in pursuing the scammer and may assist with recovery efforts.
How to Protect Yourself from Brand Scams Going Forward
The best outcome is never needing to use this guide in the first place. Here is what to verify before agreeing to any brand collaboration:
Verify the brand exists. Search the company name on Google, check their website's domain registration date (a brand registered six months ago should raise a flag), and search their company number on the relevant state business registry. A legitimate brand has a verifiable legal existence.
Verify the person contacting you. A brand representative should have a company email address that matches the brand's domain. Emails from Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail addresses are a red flag. Ask for their LinkedIn profile and cross-reference their role with the brand's official website.
Never pay anything upfront. A legitimate brand will never ask you to pay a fee, shipping cost, or deposit to participate in a collaboration. If money flows toward you rather than away from you, something is wrong.
Get everything in writing before you start. A formal written agreement does not have to be a complex document, but it should exist. At minimum, it should specify the brand's full legal name, the fee, the payment terms, the deliverables, and the usage rights. A brand that refuses to put anything in writing is a brand you should not work with.
Research the brand's payment history. Creator communities on Reddit, Discord, and dedicated influencer forums are useful resources for identifying brands with a history of non-payment or scam behaviour. If other creators have flagged a brand, that information is often publicly available.
Use a kill fee clause. For any collaboration requiring significant time investment — a full video shoot, a multi-day partnership — insist on a kill fee clause. This ensures you are compensated even if the brand cancels the deal after work has begun. A standard kill fee is 50% of the total campaign fee, triggered from the point production starts.
Ask for a payment upfront. For new brand relationships, requesting 50% of the total fee upfront before starting work is standard professional practice and significantly reduces your exposure if the brand later fails to pay.
What LegalLens Does for US Creators in These Situations
LegalLens works exclusively in entertainment and media law. We help US-based influencers and creators deal with exactly the situations described in this guide.
For non-payment: We handle the entire recovery process — formal demand letters, licence revocation notices, letters before action, and negotiation with the brand. Our fee is 10% of what we recover, and nothing if we do not. There is no upfront cost.
For content used without permission: We draft cease and desist letters, calculate compensation based on the unauthorised usage, and pursue the brand on your behalf. We move fast — most unauthorised usage cases are resolved within 14 days of our first letter.
For contract review before you sign: We review brand agreements before you commit, flagging non-payment risk, perpetual rights clauses, missing kill fees, and other terms that could expose you. Flat fee, 24-hour turnaround.
For FTC compliance: We advise on disclosure requirements across every platform and content format, so you are never at risk of an enforcement action for a campaign you handled correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
A brand has not paid me but I do not have a written contract. Do I still have a claim?
Yes. A written contract is not required for a legally enforceable agreement in the US. An exchange of emails, DMs, or messages that establishes the fee, the deliverables, and the parties involved can constitute a binding contract. The strength of your claim depends on how clearly the agreement was documented, but the absence of a formal contract does not mean you have no rights.
How long do I have to pursue a non-payment claim?
The statute of limitations for contract claims varies by state, but is typically between 3 and 6 years from the date the payment was due. Do not wait — evidence becomes harder to preserve over time and brands become harder to trace. Act as soon as the payment deadline has passed without resolution.
Can I report a brand to the FTC for non-payment?
The FTC's primary jurisdiction covers deceptive trade practices and advertising fraud rather than straightforward non-payment disputes. However, if a brand made false representations to secure your participation in a campaign — promising payment they never intended to make — that could constitute deceptive practice. Report through ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
What if the brand is outside the US?
Cross-border debt recovery is more complex but not impossible. The key factors are whether there is a written contract specifying governing law, whether the brand has any US-based assets or operations, and the amount owed relative to the cost of cross-border pursuit. Contact us and we can assess the specific situation.
Can I keep the products a brand sent me if they never paid?
Generally, yes. If a brand sent you products as part of an agreed collaboration and failed to pay the agreed fee, you are not obligated to return the products. The products were sent as part of the commercial arrangement, not as a separate transaction. However, the specific answer depends on what your contract says — some agreements include a clause requiring product return if the collaboration is cancelled.
I already posted the content and the brand has not paid. Can I take the posts down?
Whether you can remove already-posted content depends on your contract. If the contract requires the content to remain live for a specific period and that period has not expired, removing it without the brand's consent could expose you to a breach of contract claim. However, if the brand has breached the contract by failing to pay, you may have grounds to treat the contract as terminated and remove the content. Get legal advice before taking this step.
The Bottom Line
Being scammed or not paid by a brand is not the end of the road. The creator economy has legal infrastructure that protects you — you just need to know how to use it.
Document everything. Escalate professionally. Understand your rights under copyright law and contract law. And if the amount is significant or the brand is unresponsive, get legal support rather than absorbing the loss.
LegalLens exists for exactly this situation. We know the influencer marketing space, we know how brands behave when they do not want to pay, and we know how to get the money back.
This article does not constitute legal advice and is provided for general information purposes only. Always consult a qualified legal professional for advice tailored to your specific situation.