Influencers and Brand Protection: Navigating the Legal Landscape

Influencer marketing in Ireland is growing fast but also brings legal and reputational risks. Recent CCPC compliance notices show brands need contracts setting out compliance and disclosure obligations. IP ownership should also be addressed. Ongoing content monitoring and strong crisis plans are essential to protect brand reputation.

Influencers have transformed how brands connect with consumers. Ireland has seen exponential growth in influencer marketing. This is particularly true across sectors such as food and drink, fashion, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle. While this provides significant commercial opportunities, it also increases legal and reputational risks, for both influencers and the brands they promote.

A number of high profile Irish influencers have recently been issued with compliance notices by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Celebrity cook Donal Skehan was issued with a notice in July 2025 for failure to use appropriate labels to disclose the commercial nature of his social media content relating to a business selling olive oil, condiments and ceramics. Earlier this year, rugby great Brian O’Driscoll and fitness coach Caroline O’Mahony were also served with compliance notices as their posts breached consumer law.

The notices can have adverse consequences for the brands being promoted as they will usually be named in publicity surrounding these actions.

The CCPC and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in Ireland recently signed a new data-sharing agreement which will enhance regulatory oversight of social media platforms. The ASA will be able to share information regarding suspected breaches with the CCPC. The CCPC may then investigate further. Compliance notices regarding influencer content will therefore likely increase and brand owners need to be vigilant.

So how do businesses protect their brand when engaging with influencers, many of whom are independent and with varying levels of sophistication when it comes to intellectual property and advertising regulation?

IP considerations: ownership and licensing

Influencer marketing campaigns involves content creation such as videos, posts and imagery to promote a brand. Who owns that content?

Under Irish copyright law, the creator of original content, in this case, the influencer, is generally the first owner of the copyright. This applies unless a written agreement states otherwise. This means that without a clear content assignment or licence clause in place, the brand may not have any right to reuse or repurpose influencer-generated content. This is important particularly after the end of an influencer partnership.

To mitigate this risk, brand owners should have written agreements in place to assign copyright or, at a minimum, grant a broad licence to use the content across platforms and territories for a defined period. The terms of the relevant social media platforms should also be reviewed to ensure the agreements appropriate reflect this.

Brand owners also need to be careful regarding the platforms that the influencer can use for posts as this could have further implications.

Trade mark protection and brand integrity

Influencer collaborations can sometimes lead to misuse of a company’s trade marks. This can occur through:

• Poor-quality content
• Incorrect usage of branding, or
• Association with inappropriate material.

This can affect brand value and lead to consumer confusion.

Brand owners should ensure that their trade marks are registered in appropriate jurisdictions. Contracts with influencers should include strict brand guidelines and approval rights over content, including the use of logos, slogans, and other brand assets.

Enforcement mechanisms need to be built into influencer contracts to ensure content can be swiftly removed if it goes against brand standards.

Advertising compliance and transparency

Irish advertising regulation requires that sponsored content be clearly disclosed. Influencers must use clear indicators such as #ad as a primary label when promoting paid content. Secondary labels such as #sponsored can also be used with the primary label. See our previous article: New CCPC Guidelines for Social Media Influencer Advertising, discussing CCPC Guidelines for Social Media Advertising and the terms to be used.

For both the brand and the influencer, failure to comply can result in:

1. Reputational damage
2. Consumer complaints, and
3. Regulatory scrutiny.

The ASA’s Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications in Ireland places the onus on brand owners to ensure their marketing practices are transparent and not misleading. This includes the marketing practices carried out by influencers.

Brand owners should carry out due diligence on influencers. They should provide training or guidance on compliance, and include clauses in contracts that mandate disclosure of sponsorships. Training is particularly important when dealing with less experiences influencers.

Reputation and crisis management

Reputation management is a key concern for brand owners. An influencer embroiled in controversy can lead to negative press for the brand, regardless of contractual safeguards. Many brand owners include morality clauses or termination rights in influencer agreements. This allows them to terminate the agreement if the influencer’s conduct could damage the brand.

Proactive and continuous monitoring of influencer content and timely intervention are critical. Brand owners should maintain internal escalation processes in the event of a reputational crisis. Having appropriate crisis management policies to address this will ensure that a brand owner can quickly escalate these issues.

Conclusion

The influencer-brand relationship is collaborative by nature. Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for brand growth.

It is particularly important that brand owners appropriately protect their IP when working with influencers.

A single post could make or break a brand and its reputation. Therefore, brand owners need to:

• Have clear and comprehensive contracts
• Train and support their influencer partners, and
• Have compliance strategies in place.

This will enhance the relationship, allowing the brand’s and influencer’s reputation to flourish and mitigate risks.

For more information and expert legal advice on how best to protect your intellectual property rights, please contact a member of our award-winning Intellectual Property team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.