The Legal Implications of Being a ‘Content Creator’

*Maizie Lawrence

As of December 2025, there are more than 207 million content creators across the world.¹ In the United States alone, 162 million people identify themselves as content creators.² The ever-so-popular social media app TikTok has more than 1.59 billion users globally as of 2025.³ That’s a lot of statistics and numbers, but the main point is that the career of “content creation” is becoming increasingly popular, normalized, and financially attractive. The question is: When does posting a TikTok daily become a full-time job?  

I think many people could agree that it would be nice to bring home millions of dollars a year from posting on their social media accounts. Seeing the success that some creators have gained since they started posting in the COVID-19 era is astonishing. In only five years,⁴ creators have become stars: faces we see on our television screens, names we hear everywhere, and people we follow to know everything about their lives. In 2024, 54.9 percent of creators considered themselves “full-time.”⁵ How are these full-time creators making a living? The key is brand deals.⁶

Brand deals are the primary source of income for many creators.⁷ When creating these partnerships, creators are entering into legal agreements and binding contracts.⁸ In a very basic sense, content creation becomes a job under the law when the creator starts earning consistent income of $400 or more annually.⁹ Passing this threshold makes their income reportable to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).¹⁰ When a content creator is just starting out, it is likely they aren’t making much or any income. It isn’t until the creator gets enough traction on their posts and pages that brands will begin to consider making a deal with that creator. The traction jump-starts the creator’s potential to make income. Once the creator has the quantity or quality of brand deals that makes them over $400 a year, they have a job under the law.¹¹ What some may not realize is once a creator is taking in significant revenue and managing their operations and partnerships, they are officially a legal business/entity and are thus self-employed.¹² Treating their social media presence like a business means keeping adequate records of income and expenses, paying self-employment taxes to the IRS, and working with a lawyer for the various legal responsibilities involved.¹³ 

Legal Considerations for Content Creation 

Firstly, as mentioned above, becoming a content creator the “traditional” way typically means that the individual creator will become self-employed under the IRS. Content creators should consider forming a Limited liability company (LLC) for liability protection purposes.¹⁴ An LLC is a business entity made up of members that is regulated by state statute.¹⁵ In Minnesota, that statute is Chapter 322C.¹⁶ The number of members making up the LLC determines its tax obligations under the IRS.¹⁷ “[A]n LLC with only one member is treated as an entity disregarded as separate from its owner . . . .”¹⁸ For employment and tax purposes, the LLC with one individual is seen as a separate legal entity.¹⁹ Best practice for a content creator wanting to pursue a full-time career through media is to contact a lawyer to set up a business entity, whether that is an LLC, corporation, etc. so that they are protected legally and financially.²⁰ 

Content creators must also comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).²¹ The FTC regulations require creators to disclose business and brand partnerships when endorsing products for pay.²² For example, when you scroll through TikTok and see someone drinking a new energy drink, talking about how amazing it is, and saying that they drink it every day, it’s likely embedded somewhere in the post’s caption that the video is a paid sponsorship. If the creator doesn’t abide by these regulations, they will be subject to great fines.²³ 

Because of the large reliance on brand deals and business partnerships for content creators, it is essential for creators to understand contracts, both how to read and interpret them and how to negotiate them. It’s crucial to pay attention to all brand deal contracts as some will give the creator a broad scope of rights and others will have limitations, obligations, and exclusivity clauses that could restrict the creator from their own branding and personality.²⁴ It’s no wonder why creators may become “picky” about their brand deals and partnerships.²⁵ They are valuing their audience’s trust more than the paycheck.²⁶ This makes the role of the lawyer that much more important to guide the creators through these contracts and decisions. 

A key aspect of ensuring brand protection is intellectual property rights. Content creators are building a brand, one that they want as their own and one that can’t be subject to alterations from a specific brand deal. Trademarking and registering copyrights for original work is advised for creators to protect their up-and-coming brand.²⁷ All photos, designs, logos, videos, and even ideas can be protected.²⁸ Intellectual property protection will protect these assets from others capitalizing off of them, particularly in brand deals and business partnerships.²⁹

Conclusion 

Content creation may look informal because we consume the product daily without thinking about it. However, the legal reality is anything but informal. As creators increasingly rely on their brand deals to generate income and obtain a “full-time” job through content creation, they cross the line from a daily hobby to a profession/career. Once a creator earns consistent income, enters contracts, and curates a brand, they are no longer just posting daily content, but rather they are operating a business under the law. This comes with lots of responsibility, but also opportunity. 

Content creation opens many doors to entrepreneurial and creative opportunities, but it also exposes the creators to state and federal regulations, tax obligations, contract risks, and intellectual property concerns––all aspects that they probably hadn’t considered when posting content as a hobby. Lawyers play an essential role in ensuring the success of content creators. Behind every creator isn’t just good content and new ideas, but sound legal advice and guidance that turns their hobby into a business.

*Maizie Lawrence, J.D. Candidate, University of St. Thomas School of Law Class of 2026 (Senior Editor). 

1. 30 Creator Economy Platform Growth Statistics Every Marketer Should Know in 2026, Archive (Jan. 2, 2026) [hereinafter Archive Growth Statistics], https://archive.com/blog/creator-economy-platform-growth-statistics [https://perma.cc/UU2Y-2VCL]. ↩︎
2. Id. ↩︎
3. Dayna Winter, 15 Essential TikTok Statistics for Marketers in 2026, shopify (Dec. 12, 2025), https://www.shopify.com/blog/tiktok-statistics [https://perma.cc/N7MT-QG98]. ↩︎
4. The Journal, How TikTok Became The World’s Favorite App, Wall Street Journal, at 02:25 (Nov. 4, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/how-tiktok-became-the-worlds-favorite-app/. ↩︎
5. Archive Growth Statistics, supra note 1. ↩︎
6. Peter Lamont, Content Creation and Social Media: A Legal Perspective, PJLESQ: Blog (Feb. 17, 2025), https://www.pjlesq.com/post/content-creation-and-social-media-a-legal-perspective [https://perma.cc/HX97-3WY2]. ↩︎
7. Id.  ↩︎
8. Id.  ↩︎
9. CoCountant Team, Taxes For Content Creators: What You Need to Know to Stay IRS-Compliant, CoCountant (Mar. 27, 2025), https://cocountant.com/blog/tax-planning/content-creator-taxes-irs-compliance-guide/ [https://perma.cc/5Z7D-WNUX].   ↩︎
10. Id. ↩︎
11. Id. ↩︎
12. Alexandra L. Arko, Why Every Content Creator Needs a Lawyer: How to Protect Your Brand and Build a Successful Internet Business, KJK (Aug. 19, 2024), https://kjk.com/2024/08/19/why-every-content-creator-needs-a-lawyer-how-to-protect-your-brand-and-build-a-successful-internet-business/ [https://perma.cc/EGT7-JJJC].  ↩︎
13. Id. ↩︎
14. Lamont, supra note 6. ↩︎
15. Limited liability company (LLC), IRS (Oct. 9, 2025) [hereinafter IRS], https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/limited-liability-company-llc [https://perma.cc/GSJ7-SGNE]. ↩︎
16. See Minn. Stat. § 322C (2024).  ↩︎
17. IRS, supra note 15. ↩︎
18. IRS, supra note 15. ↩︎
19. IRS, supra note 15. ↩︎
20. Lamont, supra note 6. ↩︎
21. Arko, supra note 12. ↩︎
22. Arko, supra note 12. ↩︎
23. Arko, supra note 12. ↩︎
24. Legal Essentials for Influencers and Content Creators: Turning Your Brand Into a Business, Boesch L. Grp. [hereinafter Boesch], https://www.boeschlawgroup.com/legal-essentials-for-influencers-and-content-creators-turning-your-brand-into-a-business/ %5Bhttps://perma.cc/L3EB-CF5P%5D (last visited Jan. 4, 2026).  ↩︎
25. Sydney Ember, Cool Influencers With Big Followings Get Picky About Their Endorsements, N.Y. Times (Aug. 2, 2015), https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/business/media/cool-influencers-with-big-followings-get-picky-about-their-endorsements.html [https://perma.cc/3SAD-HAYZ].   ↩︎
26. Id. ↩︎
27.  Boesch, supra note 24. ↩︎
28. Arko, supra note 12. ↩︎
29. Arko, supra note 12. ↩︎