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Creator legal obligations

What the law expects when you publish content for a brand, and where to check the rules that apply to you.

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General information, not legal advice

This page summarises rules that commonly apply to creators who publish sponsored content, with a focus on France and the European Union. It is not complete, the rules change, and other countries have rules of their own.

It does not replace the official texts, or advice from a lawyer or an accountant on your own situation. You remain responsible for the content you publish and for your own declarations.

1. Why this concerns you

When you join a collab on Yousie and publish content with your Yousie link, you are paid for the downloads or actions that content drives. In the eyes of the law, that makes it advertising.

French law, for instance, calls it commercial influence: using your reputation with your audience, in return for payment, to publish content online that promotes goods, services or a cause (Article 1 of Loi n° 2023-451 du 9 juin 2023). The definition sets no minimum audience size.

Which rules apply depends on where you are established and on where your audience is. If you speak to people in several countries, the rules of each of them may matter.

2. The French law on commercial influence

The main text is the Loi n° 2023-451 du 9 juin 2023, on regulating commercial influence and preventing abuses by influencers on social networks. It was amended by the Ordonnance n° 2024-978 du 6 novembre 2024, which brought it into line with European Union law. The sections below refer to the amended text.

Who it applies to

  • Creators established in France are covered by the whole law.
  • Creators established in another country of the European Economic Area follow the rules of their own country first. Under Article 5-1, the prohibitions and image labels of Articles 4 and 5 do not apply to them by default; the French authorities can make them apply in a given case, through the procedure set out in the e-Commerce Directive (Directive 2000/31/EC).
  • Creators established outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland who address an audience in France are, under Article 9, expected to appoint a representative in the European Union and to hold civil liability insurance with an insurer established there. Check the current conditions of that article before relying on this summary.

Who enforces it

In France, consumer protection rules are enforced by the DGCCRF (Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes). The French Ministry of the Economy publishes a good-conduct guide for influencers and content creators (in French), which is the most practical official summary.

3. Say clearly that it is advertising

Your audience must be able to tell that content is commercial. Under Article 5-2 of the law, failing to show the commercial intent with a clear, legible and understandable mention, on whatever medium is used, is a misleading commercial practice within the meaning of Article L. 121-3 of the Code de la consommation, unless that intent is already obvious from the context.

The law names two wordings that do the job, “Publicité” and “Collaboration commerciale”, and accepts an equivalent mention suited to the activity and to the format.

Misleading commercial practices are punishable, under Article L. 132-2 of the same code, by up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of €300,000, with heavier penalties in some cases, including when the practice is carried out online.

In practice

The law sets the standard, not a layout. To stay on the safe side:

  • put the mention at the start, where it is seen without opening a caption or tapping “more”;
  • show it in the image or video itself as well as in the text;
  • write it in the language of your audience;
  • use the paid partnership label of the platform as well, where there is one;
  • avoid vague tags such as #sp, #collab or #partner, and do not bury the mention among other hashtags.

4. Label retouched and AI-generated images

Article 5 of the law requires two labels on content published by creators:

  • “Images retouchées” when an image has been processed to slim or thicken a silhouette or to change the appearance of a face;
  • “Images virtuelles” when a face or a silhouette has been produced by artificial intelligence.

An equivalent mention suited to the activity and to the format is accepted. Either way it must be clear, legible and understandable on whatever medium is used. Breaching this article is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of €4,500.

At European level, Article 50 of the Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) adds a duty to disclose deepfakes, meaning realistic image, audio or video content generated or altered with AI. It has applied since 2 August 2026. Check how it applies to the tools you use.

5. What you may not promote, and what is restricted

Article 4 of the law forbids creators to promote, directly or indirectly:

  • aesthetic procedures that may present a risk to health, such as cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine;
  • products or methods presented as comparable to, better than or a substitute for medical treatment;
  • nicotine products;
  • anything involving animals that may not be kept as pets, except for establishments authorised to keep them;
  • certain financial products and services, including some high-risk financial contracts and crypto-asset services or offers whose provider does not hold the registration or authorisation the law requires;
  • subscriptions to sports tips or sports predictions.

Gambling may be promoted only on platforms that can exclude under-18s from the audience, with that exclusion switched on, and the content must state that it is forbidden to under-18s.

Beyond that list, Article 3 confirms that the advertising rules of regulated sectors apply to creators as they do to any advertiser: health and nutrition claims, financial services and sport, among others.

Breaching most of these prohibitions carries the penalties of Article L. 132-2 of the Code de la consommation described above, and a court can also ban the person from carrying on the activity.

On Yousie this matters most for apps in finance, crypto, betting and health. A collab being available on Yousie is not a guarantee that you may promote it in your country or to your audience: check before you join.

6. Put the agreement in writing

Article 8 of the law requires the contract between a creator and an advertiser, or the creator’s agent, to be in writing. Without a written contract, the agreement is void. It must include, among other things:

  • the identity, postal and email addresses and country of tax residence of each party;
  • the nature of the work entrusted to the creator;
  • the payment in money or how it is worked out, and the value and conditions of any benefit in kind;
  • the rights and obligations of each party, including on intellectual property;
  • that French law applies, when the activity addresses an audience in France.

The requirement applies once a threshold is reached. Décret n° 2025-1137 du 28 novembre 2025, in force since 1 January 2026, sets it at €1,000 excluding tax, counting the payments and benefits in kind received from one advertiser for the same promotional aim over a year.

The same article makes the advertiser, the creator and any agent acting for either of them jointly liable for harm caused to third parties in carrying out the contract.

Keep a copy of the conditions of every collab you join, and of the terms that applied at the time.

7. Children and teenagers

Yousie accounts are for adults: the Terms of Use require you to be at least 18.

If a child under 16 is the main subject of your content, the Loi n° 2020-1266 du 19 octobre 2020 on the commercial use of children’s images on online platforms may apply. Depending on the situation, it requires prior authorisation from the authorities or a declaration to them. Above certain thresholds, income must be paid into the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, where it is held until the child comes of age or is emancipated. Article 3 of the 2023 law confirms that this text applies when the creator is under 16.

Advertising rules are stricter when the audience is young, and platforms add rules of their own. Take particular care with content that children are likely to watch.

8. Tax and social declarations

What you earn through Yousie is income. You must declare it to the tax authorities of the country where you are resident, and it may be subject to social contributions. Yousie does not make these declarations or payments for you.

In France, as an individual

  • Income from a regular paid activity is professional income, to be reported on your tax return.
  • Carrying on such an activity generally means registering it. Many creators use the micro-entrepreneur scheme. Social contributions are then declared to, and collected by, URSSAF.
  • The tax category of your income and your position on VAT depend on what exactly you do and on how much you earn. Confirm both with your tax office or an accountant.
  • Benefits in kind received in exchange for content generally count as income too.

In France, through a company

If you work through a company, the company is the one that invoices, declares and pays, under the tax and social rules that apply to its legal form.

What platforms must do

Article 242 bis of the Code général des impôts requires platform operators to tell their users, at each transaction, about their tax and social obligations, and to point them to the official sites where they can meet them:

European rules (Council Directive (EU) 2021/514, known as DAC7) also require certain online platforms to report to the tax authorities what their users earn through them. Whether or not a platform reports, the duty to declare is yours.

If you do not declare

Not declaring income exposes you to back payments, surcharges and interest and, in the most serious cases, to criminal penalties. If you are resident outside France, ask your own tax authority what applies to you.

9. European rules that apply more widely

The duty to be open about advertising is not specific to France. Across the European Union it comes from several texts. National authorities enforce them, and each country adds rules of its own.

  • Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). Under Article 7(2), not identifying the commercial intent of a practice, when it is not apparent from the context, is a misleading omission. Annex I lists practices that are unfair in all circumstances, among them paid promotion presented as editorial content without saying so (point 11) and falsely presenting oneself as a consumer (point 22).
  • e-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC). Under Article 6, a commercial communication must be clearly identifiable as such, and so must the person on whose behalf it is made.
  • Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). Under Article 26(2), online platforms must give their users a way to declare that what they post is or contains a commercial communication. Use it.

The European Commission gathers its guidance for creators in the Influencer Legal Hub. Outside the European Union, look for the guidance of the consumer or advertising authority of the country concerned.

10. The rules of the platforms you publish on

Every social platform has its own policy on branded content, and usually a tool for labelling it. Those rules apply on top of the law. Breaking them can get content removed or an account restricted, and Yousie has no say in those decisions.

11. What Yousie asks of you

The Terms of Use turn the essentials into commitments: say clearly that your content is a commercial collaboration, present apps honestly, label what the law requires you to label, and do not join a collab for something you are not allowed to promote.

If content published for a collab does not meet them, its results may not count, and the account may be suspended or closed.

12. Official sources

Read the texts themselves before relying on a summary, this one included.