Deposit paid, content not delivered: what are your options?
The deposit is gone, the publication date has passed, and the video does not exist — or looks nothing like the brief. Here is what you can demand, and what it all hinges on.
Updated 2 August 2026
In short
A deposit paid for a service never performed can be recovered: this is non-performance of contract, and you can seek termination and repayment. Everything depends on what the contract defines as “delivered”. A publication date, a minimum integration length and verifiable elements — link in description, pinned comment — turn a subjective judgement into an observable fact.
What can you demand?
Performance, or termination of the contract with repayment of the deposit.
The creator committed to a service. If it is not provided, you face non-performance: you can formally require performance within a reasonable time and, failing that, seek termination of the contract and repayment of what you paid.
- Nothing was delivered: the situation is clear-cut, the deposit has lost its purpose.
- Delivered late: the harm depends on what the date stood for. A release timed to a product launch is not worth the same three weeks later — provided the contract said so.
- Delivered off-brief: the most disputed case, because “off-brief” can be argued endlessly if the brief was never quantified.
Why these disputes drag on
Because “meets the brief” was almost never defined in writing.
A brief sent by message, a date mentioned on a call, an amount confirmed by email: the collaboration legally exists, but it is hard to establish. The creator believes they delivered, the brand believes otherwise, and neither position can be verified.
The fix is one sentence: never write a criterion you cannot observe. “A quality video” cannot be proven. “Published before 15 August, at least 60 seconds of integration, link in the description” can be checked in thirty seconds.
Should you pay a deposit at all?
The creator is right to want commitment — but a deposit is not the only way to give it.
The deposit exists for a good reason: without it, the creator fronts everything, produces at their own cost and hopes to be paid. Removing it would simply shift the risk onto them.
The real way out is not to choose who bears the risk, but to remove it on both sides: the money is deposited — so the creator knows it exists — but stays locked until delivery — so the brand has not lost it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I recover a deposit if nothing was published?
In principle yes: the deposit paid for a service that was not performed. First send a written formal notice requiring performance within a reasonable time, then seek termination of the contract and repayment. A written contract and a publication date make this far simpler.
The video went live but ignores the brief. What now?
It depends on how precise the brief was. If it set observable elements — integration length, mentions, link, date — the gap can be demonstrated. If it only contained intentions, the discussion becomes a matter of opinion, and a judge will rarely rule in your favour on that basis alone.
What deposit percentage is usual?
There is no legal rule: 30–50% on signature with the balance on publication is common. But the percentage protects no one — what protects both sides is how the contract defines “delivered”.
Commit the budget without losing control
With Fylakia the budget is deposited before filming and released only if the agreed criteria are met. The creator knows the money exists; you know it will not vanish for nothing.
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