Working with Influencers - What You Need to Know

Introduction

The influencer marketing industry is booming, and according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport report on influencer culture (2022), the global sector is expected to grow from $6.0 billion in 2020 to $24.1 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of 32%.

Yet, there is still no established basis for what an ‘influencer’ means in law, and several regulatory gaps remain; with more inevitably on the horizon as the industry continually evolves in tandem with emerging trends such as kidfluencers and virtual influencers.

For the regulators of this space, the Competition and Markets Authority and Advertising Standards Authority, their roles and regulations continue to evolve - with the CMA’s powers have very recently been bolstered by way of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 in force as of 6 April 2025.

It is crucial to, at the very least, have a foundational understanding of the current regulatory and legal status quo to help upskill, signpost and protect clients in the wake of this rapidly evolving and maturing area.

Find out:

• What do the regulators say?
• Who is responsible for compliance?
• What agreements should be in place?
• What about the rights content itself?

This new virtual classroom seminar will look at where the industry is and where it is likely to go next from a legal and regulatory perspective with additional consideration given to the intellectual property rights implications of using influencers.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Influencers - who and what?
• Still no established basis in law - what definitions do we have?
• ASA/CMA - what are the key rules and who is responsible for compliance?
• Labelling - an exploration of the current position
• Who is responsible for compliance?
• ASA - CAP code insight
• Present requirements for AD content - ASA vs CMA
• Regulated products
• Scratching the surface of regulated products
• Ruling examples
• CMA - enforcement powers
• Where are we now in 2025?
• What about IP rights?
• Starting point
• Third party photographers/videographers
• Influencer duos
• AI and virtual influencers
• The conundrum of exclusive licensing in the wake of social media
• Contractual relationships
• The various relationships in the influencer industry and the key contractual considerations depending on the parties
• Emerging trends:
• Kidfluencers
• Duo influencers
• Virtual influencers
• What’s next?

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.