How to check if a brand is still using your UGC in ads

Before you start: list your deals

You can only spot an overrun if you know where the line is. For each brand, write down which videos it licensed, the start and end dates, the countries, the platforms, whether paid ads were allowed, and whether ads could run from your account. Our guide to UGC usage rights explains each of these terms.

Step 1: Find the brand in the Meta Ad Library

The Meta Ad Library is a public, searchable record of ads running on Facebook, Instagram and Meta's other apps. You don't need an ad account to use it.

1. Go to facebook.com/ads/library.
2. Choose a country. Pick one of the countries in your deal, or a country you think is outside it. For ads shown in the EU, the library shows more detail and keeps ads after they stop.
3. Set the ad category to All ads.
4. Type the brand's name and pick its page from the suggestions, rather than running a keyword search, so you only see ads from that advertiser.

Brands sometimes advertise from more than one page: a page per country, a separate page for a product line, or an agency's page. If you can't find your video, check the brand's other pages too.

Step 2: Narrow it down to video ads

A big brand can have hundreds of ads. Use the library's filters to show only video ads, and if you like, only active ads or only ads shown in a date range. Then scroll for your video. Watch the first seconds: brands often re-cut UGC, swap the hook, add captions or crop it into a different format, so your video may not look exactly like the file you delivered.

Step 3: Read what each ad tells you

Each ad card in the Meta Ad Library shows:

• Active or inactive, and the date it started running.
• The platforms it ran on, such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or Audience Network.
• A library ID, the ad's unique number. Note it down.
• Sometimes a note that the ad has several versions. Open them: your video may be in one version and not another.

For ads shown in the EU, opening the ad details also shows when it was last shown, how many people it reached in each EU country, and who the advertiser says benefits from and pays for the ad. That's usually enough to tell whether an ad ran after your deal ended or outside your countries.

Step 4: Check ads run from your own account

If you've ever let a brand run ads through your account (whitelisting or partnership ads), search the library for your own page or name too. Partnership ads show both your name and the brand's. This is how you catch ads that still run from your account after the permission should have ended, or that you never agreed to.

Step 5: Search TikTok's ad library

The TikTok Ad Library (library.tiktok.com) lists ads shown to people in Europe. Search by advertiser name or keyword, choose a country and a date range, then open an ad to see when it was first and last shown, roughly how many people saw it, and in which countries. Spark Ads, which run from a creator's post, appear with the creator's account name.

TikTok's Creative Center is a different tool. Its Top Ads section is a curated showcase of well-performing ads for marketers to browse. It can help you spot your video, but it doesn't list every ad a brand runs, so don't use it to rule anything out.

Step 6: Compare what you found with your deal

What the library shows	Deal term to check	What it suggests
The ad is still active, or was last shown after your end date	End date	It ran after your deal ended
The ad started before your start date	Start date	It ran before your deal began
It reached a country your deal doesn't list	Territory	It ran out of territory
It ran on Instagram, your deal is TikTok only	Platforms	It ran on the wrong platform
Any ad at all, your deal is organic only	Type of use	Paid use you didn't license
It shows your name, no whitelisting agreed	Ads from your account	Your identity used without permission
It uses your video, you have no deal with this brand	None	No license at all

Step 7: Keep a record

Ad libraries change. On Meta, an ad that wasn't shown in the EU disappears from the library once it stops running, and EU ads are kept for a year after they were last shown. Before you contact the brand, save:

• The library ID and the link to the ad.
• A screenshot with the date visible.
• The dates, countries and platforms the library shows.
• The deal term the ad goes past, with the line from your contract.

What the ad libraries don't show

• Spend. Meta publishes spend ranges only for ads about social issues, elections or politics. TikTok doesn't publish spend for commercial ads. You can see that an ad ran, where and for how long, but not what the brand paid to run it.
• Everything outside Europe. On Meta you can see a brand's active ads in any country, but once an ad stops, it stays in the library only if it was shown in the EU (or is a political or issue ad). TikTok's library only covers ads shown in Europe.
• Search by video. Neither library lets you upload a video and find where it's used. You have to know which brand to look up.
• Other channels. A brand's website, newsletters, TV or in-store screens aren't in these libraries. For Google and YouTube ads, Google's Ads Transparency Center is a separate public library you can search by advertiser.

What to do if you find your video past your deal

Start with facts, not accusations. Email your contact at the brand with the ad's library ID, the dates and countries the library shows, and the deal term it goes past. Many overruns are oversights, and a renewal offer at your renewal price, starting from the day the deal ended, is often the fastest way to resolve one. If the brand doesn't answer or disputes it, talk to your agency or a lawyer.

Checking every brand by hand, every week, gets tedious fast. Klebz does it for you: it watches the brands you add in both libraries, finds your videos inside their ads by picture and sound, and flags every day an ad runs outside your deal, with the library record attached.