Every marketing campaign and product launch involves creative work. But not all of that work is created in-house. Fonts, images, code, videos, icons, design templates, and plugins—teams borrow, buy, or reuse content constantly.
That’s where things get risky.
Because if you’re using third-party intellectual property without clear rights, you might be exposed. And if you’re not auditing that use regularly, you may not even know it.
This guide walks you through how to audit third-party IP use—specifically inside marketing and product teams—so you can protect your company without slowing anyone down.
Why Third-Party IP Use Is Hard to Track
Creative Teams Move Fast
In most startups and growth-stage companies, marketing and product teams are under pressure to ship, publish, and iterate.
They’re working on tight timelines, across multiple tools, often pulling resources from wherever they can get them—stock image platforms, open-source libraries, marketplace templates, design communities.
Speed is rewarded. Quick wins matter. But legal clarity? That’s often an afterthought.
So a campaign goes out with music from a sample pack. A UI update uses an icon set from a community file. A landing page features an image marked “free for commercial use,” with no proof attached.
And just like that, risk spreads across multiple deliverables—with no one really tracking what was used, where it came from, or if you’re actually allowed to use it that way.
Most Teams Assume Someone Else Has Checked
Here’s where things get more dangerous: people assume someone else already did the review.
Designers trust marketers. Marketers trust freelancers. Product managers trust vendors. Everyone assumes the asset was cleared—until a letter arrives saying it wasn’t.
That’s how small, unintentional mistakes lead to legal headaches, takedown notices, or brand embarrassment.
And that’s why audits matter—not because anyone is doing something wrong, but because no one is clearly responsible for tracking the rights behind each asset.
IP Use Isn’t Always Obvious
The other challenge is that third-party IP use isn’t always easy to spot.
It’s not just about downloaded fonts or images. It’s about how those things are used. Were they edited? Were they combined with original work? Were they licensed for internal use only, but later published externally?
These gray zones matter. And without an audit framework, they often go unreviewed.
You can’t fix what you don’t see. And most teams aren’t trained to see IP issues when they happen—especially when the original source looks “safe” or when a license was accepted without reading the terms.
What Third-Party IP Really Includes
Marketing Uses More IP Than You Think
Marketing teams are especially prone to hidden third-party IP.
They rely on contractors, agencies, automation platforms, and design tools. They use image libraries, icon packs, videos, music beds, and templates. Many of these assets are reused, repurposed, or adjusted over time.
Sometimes those resources are free. Sometimes they’re purchased. But that doesn’t mean the rights were correct—or that they still are.
Many licenses are non-transferable. Some are for limited-time use. Others require attribution that gets stripped during edits.
The issue isn’t bad intent. It’s lack of visibility.
Your audit process should help marketing teams retrace what’s been used and match each asset to a valid, active license.
Product Teams Often Overlook Dependencies
Product teams often rely on open-source tools, frameworks, or UI kits to build features quickly. That’s common. But it comes with IP obligations.
Not all open-source software can be used commercially. Some must be disclosed. Some can’t be modified. Others require a copy of the license to be bundled with the release.
Fonts, libraries, and plug-ins in the design-to-dev handoff are also areas where compliance can slip.
And when third-party components are deeply embedded, it becomes harder to swap them out if a license conflict is discovered later.
That’s why the audit should look both at final product outputs and at the tools and components used to build them.
Because sometimes the risk is hiding under the hood.
How to Begin an Internal IP Use Audit
Start With a Focused Scope
Before you dive into a company-wide audit, narrow your focus. Trying to check every asset, across every team, for every year of work is a recipe for overwhelm.
Start small. Pick a logical scope. For most companies, that means looking at work created in the past 6 to 12 months. Choose one team to begin—marketing or product—based on where the most third-party content is used.
Within that team, focus on work that’s public-facing. This includes things like social ads, website designs, landing pages, app interfaces, product demos, and promotional videos.
Why start here? Because public assets are the most exposed to legal risk. If you used something without the right license, this is where someone will notice. And when the work is already out in the world, fixing issues becomes harder and more expensive.
So treat this like triage. Focus first on areas where your exposure is greatest. That’s where your audit will bring the most immediate value.
Map Out What Was Created—And By Whom
Once you’ve defined your scope, the next step is mapping the assets.
This is about understanding the work your team has produced—not just what exists, but where it came from.
Make a list of major deliverables. What campaigns were launched? What products or features were released? What visuals, videos, or code changes were published?
For each asset, identify the creator. Was it a full-time employee? A freelancer? A third-party agency? Was it pulled from a shared design library, or built entirely from scratch?
This is one of the most important parts of the audit. Because the chain of ownership starts with the creator. And unless the rights were properly assigned to your company—through a contract, terms of use, or license—you may not legally own what you’re using.
It’s especially common for teams to assume ownership when they’ve paid for something. But under IP law, paying for creative work doesn’t automatically give you rights to use it however you want. The rights must be transferred in writing.
That’s why this mapping process is more than recordkeeping. It’s how you uncover hidden gaps in your protection.
Ask the Right Questions About Each Asset
Once you know what was created and by whom, it’s time to look closely at how third-party content may have been used.
For each asset in your list, ask:
Did this work include anything pulled from an external source?
That might be a font, a stock photo, a code snippet, or an animation template. Even if it was just used as a placeholder or inspiration, it needs to be reviewed.
Do we know where that content came from?
Not just “we think it was free,” but the actual source—platform name, creator, and license type. If the source can’t be verified, that’s a red flag.
Was a license obtained, and are we using it within those terms?
Some licenses are broad. Others are strict. For example, some stock photos are cleared for digital use but not for resale. Others can’t be edited or used in logos. Your use must match the terms you accepted.
Was attribution required—and was it included?
Many “free” licenses require a credit line or source citation. If your team removed that credit or never added it, you may be in violation.
Have we continued to use that asset beyond the original terms?
Some licenses are time-limited. If a file was cleared for a one-time use, it can’t be reused in later campaigns. If it was cleared for internal testing, it shouldn’t appear in public marketing.
You don’t need to ask these questions about every minor file. But for core assets—the kind your brand relies on—these checks matter.
They help you move from assumption to certainty. And in IP, certainty is protection.
Document What You Can—and Flag What You Can’t
As you go through your audit, keep a record of everything you find.
This can be a simple tracker—maybe a spreadsheet or shared database—with a few key fields: asset name, team, creator, third-party content included, source, license type, date used, and status (cleared, needs review, or unknown).
What’s important is not just having the answers—but knowing what you don’t know.
If you discover an image but can’t trace the license, flag it. If you used open-source code but aren’t sure if the license permits modification, flag it. If a video track came from an old freelancer who’s no longer with you and you don’t have a written agreement—flag it.
This flagging doesn’t mean you’re in trouble. It means you’re aware.
And once you’re aware, you can act.
Some issues may be minor and easy to fix. Others might require legal review or a change in how you’re using the asset.
But the point of the audit is not to punish the team—it’s to see what’s there. You can’t manage what’s invisible. And this documentation makes the invisible visible.
That’s what separates companies that fix problems before they spread from those that get caught off guard.
What to Do With Gaps and Unclear IP Use
Don’t Panic—Prioritize
During the audit, you’ll likely find assets that were used without clear permission. Maybe there’s no license on file. Maybe a source can’t be verified. Maybe the use has exceeded the original rights.
The first step is not to panic. Almost every company—especially early-stage or fast-moving ones—has made IP use mistakes.
Your goal isn’t perfection. It’s prioritization.
Focus first on what’s public and high-risk: anything customer-facing, promoted widely, or tied to revenue. These are the pieces that, if challenged, could lead to takedowns, legal claims, or brand damage.
If you used unlicensed imagery on a landing page that’s still running ads, fix that immediately. If your product includes third-party code with unclear licensing, flag it for review with engineering.
Work your way down from there, based on visibility and risk. Some items may simply require attribution updates. Others might need replacement or rework.
Not everything needs a lawyer. But everything needs a decision.
For Creative Assets—Get Proof or Get Replacements
For marketing teams, the most common issue is missing or incomplete licenses for creative assets—stock photos, videos, music, icons, fonts, or templates.
If the source is known but the license wasn’t stored, try retrieving it. Many platforms have order histories or download logs. Ask the team who used the asset where it came from and what was selected at the time.
If the license can’t be confirmed, or if it’s not broad enough for your current use, consider replacing the asset entirely.
This might feel like a setback. But it’s far easier to swap an image or graphic now than to face a claim later—especially if the asset has been published across multiple campaigns.
Make the decision based on exposure: if it’s visible, recurring, or core to the campaign, it’s worth cleaning up.
Use this moment as a learning opportunity. Show teams how to log licenses going forward. Use folders, checklists, or automated tools to capture the license at the point of download.
Small habits here prevent recurring problems later.
For Product Code—Review Open-Source and Embedded Components
In product teams, the biggest risk tends to come from open-source components. Not all developers are trained to read license terms, and many assume that “open-source” equals “free to use.”
But there are many license types—some permissive, some restrictive. Some allow modification, some don’t. Some require disclosure or redistribution, others require no attribution at all.
If your audit uncovers third-party code embedded in your stack, review the licenses carefully.
If the code is covered by a license that doesn’t allow your current use—especially if you’ve modified or commercialized it—you may need to replace or isolate it.
Legal counsel can help here, especially for more complex licenses like GPL or AGPL. They can also help draft fallback positions—such as creating a clean-room version of the same feature or negotiating a commercial license with the original creator.
If everything checks out, store the license terms and source in your documentation, just as you would for creative assets. That way, future reviews are easier—and you’re not relying on developer memory years later.
Fix the System, Not Just the Asset
Once you’ve resolved the biggest risks, take a step back.
If your audit surfaced more issues than expected, it’s not just a people problem. It’s a process problem.
Assets were used without proper review because there was no easy system for checking them. Code was reused without oversight because there were no clear rules in the handoff.
Now is the time to fix that.
Don’t just patch the gaps. Create a system that makes it harder for new ones to appear.
This could be a shared folder where licenses are saved at the point of use. It could be a Slack channel where creative teams can flag third-party assets for review. It could be a form that product managers use to document external code libraries before features go live.
None of this has to be complex.
In fact, the best systems are lightweight and simple—but visible. When teams know the expectation and have a tool to meet it, they follow through.
That’s how compliance becomes part of execution, not a blocker after the fact.
Turning Audits Into Ongoing Protection
Build Habits, Not One-Off Reviews
Once you’ve completed your first internal audit, the temptation is to treat it as a one-time fix. But third-party IP use isn’t static—it changes with every campaign, every code release, every download.
That’s why the goal isn’t just to catch issues. It’s to build a repeatable habit.
This doesn’t mean running full audits every month. It means setting a cadence and giving teams simple tools to self-check along the way.
You might run a quarterly spot review of new campaigns. Or add a five-minute IP check into your product sprint retro. Or schedule a light-touch license review during content planning for each marketing quarter.
What matters is consistency.
The more natural it feels to confirm rights before publishing, the fewer problems you’ll need to fix later.
And that culture of proactive checking protects your brand without dragging on speed.
Give Teams Clear, Flexible Rules
Marketing and product teams don’t want to be policed. But they do want clarity.
They want to know what’s allowed, what’s risky, and what to do when they’re unsure.
Give them guidance—not as a PDF buried on the drive, but as something that lives where they work. That could be:
- A short “IP checklist” pinned to the creative request form
- A shared folder with pre-approved license types and sources
- A simple intake form that routes questions to legal
Don’t overcomplicate it. The goal isn’t legal detail—it’s daily practicality.
When teams know the boundaries, they work faster, not slower. And when they know help is a click away, they’ll raise flags early.
That’s how you shift the mindset from “I hope this is okay” to “I know this is covered.”
Make IP Use Part of Launch Reviews
Every time you publish something—a campaign, a product update, a landing page—you’re putting IP out into the world.
So it makes sense to include a simple IP check as part of the pre-launch routine.
Before a campaign goes live, someone should confirm that:
- All third-party assets are sourced and licensed properly
- Attribution requirements, if any, are visible or included
- Any embedded code, fonts, or visuals used by agencies or contractors were cleared
- Rights cover the full use intended (e.g. commercial, public distribution, global access)
This isn’t about adding friction. It’s about protecting the launch before anything hits the market.
A two-minute check at this stage can prevent hours—or weeks—of legal fire drills after the fact.
Assign Light Ownership Roles in Each Team
Compliance doesn’t have to come only from legal. In fact, the most effective systems assign one person inside each team to help track and flag IP use.
This might be a creative lead in marketing, a content strategist, or a product ops manager. Someone who knows what’s being published and can raise a hand when something looks off.
They don’t need to review every license. They just need to make sure the process is being followed—and that help is pulled in when needed.
This “IP captain” role creates light accountability. It also creates trust—because teams feel the support is coming from someone who understands their pace and goals.
When something does go wrong, the fix is faster. The review is smoother. And the feedback loop is tighter.
That’s what makes IP compliance part of culture—not just an outside check.
Final Thoughts: Use IP Audits to Support Speed, Not Block It
Third-party IP use is a reality of modern work. Your teams aren’t trying to cut corners. They’re trying to ship quickly, creatively, and effectively.
But without structure, that speed can expose you to risk you didn’t see coming—until it’s too late.
Auditing IP use isn’t about slowing teams down. It’s about giving them tools to move with confidence.
It’s about building a system where creators don’t have to guess. Where product teams don’t have to backtrack. Where legal isn’t called after a launch—but looped in just enough to prevent problems before they start.
Start with one team. Review one set of campaigns. Fix what’s missing. Then build forward.
Because when your company’s creative work is protected, your brand becomes stronger, your product more defensible, and your growth safer.
And that’s not just good legal policy.
That’s smart business.
