> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agenticadvertisingorg-feature-feedback.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# acquire_rights

> acquire_rights is the AdCP task for binding rights acquisition. Submit a pricing option and campaign details to receive generation credentials, rights constraints, and disclosure requirements from a brand agent.

<Note>
  **Experimental.** Brand rights lifecycle (`get_rights`, `acquire_rights`, `update_rights`) is part of AdCP 3.0 as an experimental surface — it may change between 3.x releases with at least 6 weeks' notice. Sellers implementing any of these tasks MUST declare `brand.rights_lifecycle` in `experimental_features`. See [experimental status](/docs/reference/experimental-status) for the full contract.
</Note>

Binding contractual request to acquire rights from a brand agent. Parallels `create_media_buy` — select a `pricing_option_id` from `get_rights` and provide campaign details. The agent clears against existing contracts and returns terms, generation credentials, and disclosure requirements.

## Schema

* **Request**: [`acquire-rights-request.json`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/acquire-rights-request.json)
* **Response**: [`acquire-rights-response.json`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/acquire-rights-response.json)

## Response time

Seconds to minutes for `acquired` or `rejected`. The `pending_approval` status means the rights holder needs to review — resolution may take hours to days.

## Quick start

<CodeGroup>
  ```json Request theme={null}
  {
    "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
    "pricing_option_id": "monthly_exclusive",
    "buyer": {
      "domain": "bistro-oranje.nl",
      "brand_id": "bistro_oranje"
    },
    "campaign": {
      "description": "AI-generated video ads for Bistro Oranje steakhouse featuring Daan Janssen",
      "uses": ["likeness", "voice"],
      "countries": ["NL"],
      "format_ids": [
        { "agent_url": "https://creative.adcontextprotocol.org", "id": "video_social_1080x1920" }
      ],
      "estimated_impressions": 50000,
      "start_date": "2026-04-01",
      "end_date": "2026-06-30"
    },
    "revocation_webhook": {
      "url": "https://buyer.bistro-oranje.nl/webhooks/revocation",
      "authentication": {
        "schemes": ["HMAC-SHA256"],
        "credentials": "whsk_bo_abc123...shared_secret_min_32_chars"
      }
    },
    "idempotency_key": "acq_bo_janssen_2026q2_001",
    "push_notification_config": {
      "url": "https://buyer.bistro-oranje.nl/webhooks/adcp/acquire_rights/op_abc123",
      "authentication": {
        "schemes": ["HMAC-SHA256"],
        "credentials": "whsk_bo_xyz789...shared_secret_min_32_chars"
      }
    }
  }
  ```

  ```json Response (acquired) theme={null}
  {
    "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
    "rights_status": "acquired",
    "brand_id": "daan_janssen",
    "terms": {
      "pricing_option_id": "monthly_exclusive",
      "amount": 350,
      "currency": "EUR",
      "period": "monthly",
      "uses": ["likeness", "voice"],
      "impression_cap": 100000,
      "overage_cpm": 4.00,
      "start_date": "2026-04-01",
      "end_date": "2026-06-30",
      "exclusivity": {
        "scope": "Exclusive licensee for Daan Janssen in NL for food/restaurant brands",
        "countries": ["NL"]
      }
    },
    "generation_credentials": [
      {
        "provider": "midjourney",
        "rights_key": "rk_mj_abc123...",
        "uses": ["likeness"],
        "expires_at": "2026-06-30T23:59:59Z"
      },
      {
        "provider": "elevenlabs",
        "rights_key": "rk_el_def456...",
        "uses": ["voice"],
        "expires_at": "2026-06-30T23:59:59Z"
      }
    ],
    "rights_constraint": {
      "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
      "rights_agent": { "url": "https://agent.lotientertainment.com/mcp", "id": "loti_entertainment" },
      "valid_from": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z",
      "valid_until": "2026-06-30T23:59:59Z",
      "uses": ["likeness", "voice"],
      "countries": ["NL"],
      "impression_cap": 100000,
      "approval_status": "approved",
      "verification_url": "https://agent.lotientertainment.com/rights/rts_abc123/verify"
    },
    "restrictions": [
      "All generated creatives must be submitted for approval before distribution",
      "No modification of talent likeness beyond approved AI generation parameters"
    ],
    "disclosure": {
      "required": true,
      "text": "Features AI-generated likeness of Daan Janssen, used under license from Loti Entertainment"
    },
    "approval_webhook": {
      "url": "https://agent.lotientertainment.com/rights/rts_abc123/approve",
      "authentication": {
        "schemes": ["Bearer"],
        "credentials": "rk_approve_abc123...token_min_32_chars"
      }
    },
    "usage_reporting_url": "https://agent.lotientertainment.com/rights/rts_abc123/usage"
  }
  ```

  ```json Response (pending approval) theme={null}
  {
    "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
    "rights_status": "pending_approval",
    "brand_id": "daan_janssen",
    "detail": "Creative concept requires talent approval per contract terms",
    "estimated_response_time": "48h"
  }
  ```

  ```json Response (rejected — actionable) theme={null}
  {
    "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
    "rights_status": "rejected",
    "brand_id": "daan_janssen",
    "reason": "Active exclusivity with another brand for food/restaurant in NL through 2026-09-30",
    "suggestions": [
      "Available in BE and DE markets",
      "Available in NL after 2026-10-01"
    ]
  }
  ```

  ```json Response (rejected — final) theme={null}
  {
    "rights_id": "janssen_likeness_voice",
    "rights_status": "rejected",
    "brand_id": "daan_janssen",
    "reason": "This violates our public figures brand guidelines"
  }
  ```

  ```json Response (error) theme={null}
  {
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "pricing_option_unavailable",
        "message": "Pricing option 'monthly_exclusive' is no longer available for this rights offering"
      }
    ]
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Parameters

### Request

| Field                            | Type                     | Required    | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rights_id`                      | string                   | Yes         | Rights offering identifier from `get_rights`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `pricing_option_id`              | string                   | Yes         | Selected pricing option                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `buyer`                          | brand-ref                | Yes         | Buyer's brand identity                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `account`                        | account-ref              | Conditional | Account context. Pass when the brand agent has a governance agent bound to this brand+operator via `sync_governance` — the brand agent uses it to resolve the bound governance agent and project commitment under the [CPM-priced rights validation](#cpm-priced-rights-under-a-governance-plan). Optional when the request is ungoverned or threads a `governance_context` token on the envelope instead. |
| `campaign.description`           | string                   | Yes         | How the rights will be used                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `campaign.uses`                  | string\[]                | Yes         | Specific rights uses for this campaign                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `campaign.countries`             | string\[]                | No          | Countries where the campaign will run                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `campaign.format_ids`            | format-id\[]             | No          | Creative formats that will be produced                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `campaign.estimated_impressions` | integer                  | No          | Estimated total impressions                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `campaign.start_date`            | date                     | No          | Campaign start date                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `campaign.end_date`              | date                     | No          | Campaign end date                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| `revocation_webhook`             | push-notification-config | Yes         | Webhook for revocation notifications. If the rights holder needs to revoke rights, they POST a [revocation-notification](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/revocation-notification.json) to this URL.                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `idempotency_key`                | string                   | No          | Client-generated key for safe retries. Resubmitting with the same key returns the original response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `push_notification_config`       | push-notification-config | No          | Webhook for async status updates if the acquisition requires approval. See [push notifications](/docs/building/by-layer/L3/webhooks).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |

### Response statuses

The response uses a discriminated union on `status`:

| Status             | Description                        | Key fields                                                           |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `acquired`         | Rights cleared, credentials issued | `terms`, `generation_credentials`, `rights_constraint`, `disclosure` |
| `pending_approval` | Requires rights holder review      | `detail`, `estimated_response_time`                                  |
| `rejected`         | Request denied                     | `reason`, `suggestions` (optional)                                   |

When `suggestions` is present on a rejected response, the rejection is actionable — the buyer can adjust their request and retry. When `suggestions` is absent, the rejection is final and the buyer should not retry for this rights/talent combination. This convention applies consistently across `acquire_rights` rejections, `get_rights` excluded results, and creative approval rejections.

## Request validation

Two campaign-field validations are normative for `acquire_rights`. Both produce `INVALID_REQUEST` with the offending `field` populated and `recovery: "correctable"` (the buyer can fix the request and retry).

### Expired campaign window

Brand agents MUST reject with `INVALID_REQUEST` and `field: "campaign.end_date"` when `campaign.end_date` is in the past at the time of the request. Acquiring rights for a window that has already elapsed produces a zero-duration grant and is almost always a buyer-side bug — surfacing it deterministically is more useful than silently issuing credentials that immediately expire.

Like [`create_media_buy`](/docs/media-buy/task-reference/create_media_buy), rights grants are not time-shiftable for elapsed windows: the contract attaches to the requested period, so reject-only is the correct contract for `acquire_rights`.

Brand agents MAY also reject when `campaign.start_date` is more than the rights agent's configured grace window in the past (typically the rights agent rejects start dates earlier than `now - 24h` since rights cannot be retroactively granted); that decision is contract-specific and SHOULD use `field: "campaign.start_date"`. The `end_date < now` check is the normative floor.

### CPM-priced rights under a governance plan

A request is **governance-aware** when the brand agent will project commitment against a governance plan before issuing credentials. That happens by either of two paths:

1. **Inline path** — the request carries an intent-phase `governance_context` token on the [protocol envelope](/docs/building/by-layer/L1/security). The buyer threads the token explicitly per request.
2. **Bound path** — the request carries `account` (a seller-assigned `account_id`, or `account.brand` + `account.operator` resolving to a bound account), and the brand agent has a governance agent previously bound to that account via [`sync_governance`](/docs/accounts/tasks/sync_governance). The brand agent looks up the bound agent without the buyer threading anything per request.

When **both** paths are present in the same request — an inline `governance_context` token AND an `account` with a bound governance agent — the inline token wins. The token is per-request, JWS-signed against a specific plan, and is the [primary correlation key](/docs/building/by-layer/L1/security) for audit and reporting; the bound agent serves as the resolver fallback when no token is threaded. Brand agents MUST consult the agent identified by the inline token when both are present, even if it differs from the bound agent — the buyer's per-request decision overrides the persisted binding.

Both paths trigger the same projection rule. When the request is governance-aware and the selected pricing option has `model: "cpm"`, `campaign.estimated_impressions` is the input the brand agent uses to project commitment against remaining plan budget. To make that projection deterministic across implementations:

* Brand agents MUST reject with `INVALID_REQUEST` and `field: "campaign.estimated_impressions"` when the request is governance-aware (either path), the selected `pricing_option.model` is `"cpm"`, and `campaign.estimated_impressions` is either omitted or `0`. Implementer-chosen defaults (e.g., assuming 1M impressions) are non-conformant — they hide a policy decision inside each implementation and produce different governance outcomes for identical requests.
* When `estimated_impressions` is provided and non-zero, the projected commitment is `(pricing_option.price / 1000) × campaign.estimated_impressions`, evaluated in `pricing_option.currency`. If `pricing_option.currency` differs from the governance plan's budget currency (as carried on the plan), the brand agent MUST reject with `INVALID_REQUEST` and `field: "pricing_option_id"` — currency conversion is not specified for governance projection, so currency-mismatched offers cannot be cleared against a governed plan.
* If the projected commitment exceeds the buyer's remaining plan budget, the agent MUST reject with `INVALID_REQUEST` and `field: "campaign.estimated_impressions"`, populating `reason` with the projected commitment and remaining budget so the buyer can adjust.
* Non-CPM pricing options (`model: "flat_rate"`, etc.) commit the flat amount regardless of impression volume; brand agents MUST NOT require `estimated_impressions` for governance projection on those options. Buyers MAY still provide `estimated_impressions` for cap-tracking purposes.

Ungoverned requests — neither `governance_context` token nor an account with a bound governance agent — are unaffected by this validation. `estimated_impressions` remains optional in that case (sellers MAY refuse to transact ungoverned plans as a matter of commercial policy, per [Spend-commit invocation](/docs/governance/campaign/specification#spend-commit-invocation), but that refusal is independent of this projection rule).

## Generation credentials

When rights are acquired, the agent coordinates with LLM providers to issue scoped credentials:

1. Agent clears the rights against existing contracts
2. Agent tells the provider (e.g., Midjourney): "Issue a rights key for this talent, licensed to this buyer"
3. Agent returns the credentials to the buyer

**Any creative agent** can use these credentials. The LLM provider enforces usage constraints at generation time — the rights agent sets up the permission, the provider is the gatekeeper.

| Field        | Type      | Description                                                                                 |
| ------------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `provider`   | string    | LLM/generation service (e.g., "midjourney", "elevenlabs")                                   |
| `rights_key` | string    | Scoped API key for generating rights-cleared content                                        |
| `uses`       | string\[] | Rights uses this credential covers                                                          |
| `expires_at` | datetime  | When the credential expires (provider-determined)                                           |
| `endpoint`   | uri       | Provider endpoint for rights-scoped generation (optional, uses provider default if omitted) |

## Rights constraint

When `status` is `acquired`, the response includes a `rights_constraint` object:

| Field               | Type   | Description                                                                                                                                                                         |
| ------------------- | ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rights_constraint` | object | Pre-built constraint for creative manifests. Contains validity period, country restrictions, and impression cap from agreed terms. Embed directly in the manifest's `rights` array. |

## Creative lifecycle

After acquiring rights:

1. **Generate**: Creative agent uses `generation_credentials` to produce content
2. **Manifest**: Embed the `rights_constraint` from the `acquire_rights` response directly into the creative manifest's `rights` array. The rights agent pre-builds this constraint with the correct validity period, country restrictions, and impression cap from the agreed terms.
3. **Approve**: POST a [`creative-approval-request`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/creative-approval-request.json) to the `approval_webhook` URL, authenticating with the provided credentials. The response is a [`creative-approval-response`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/creative-approval-response.json) with status `approved`, `rejected`, or `pending_review`. If `pending_review`, poll the returned `status_url` for updates (suggested: every 5 minutes, back off to every 30 minutes after 1 hour).
4. **Serve**: Place approved creative via `create_media_buy`, respecting country and date restrictions
5. **Report**: Use [`report_usage`](/docs/accounts/tasks/report_usage) with `rights_id` for cap tracking and billing

If `acquire_rights` returns `pending_approval` and you provided `push_notification_config`, you'll receive a webhook notification when the status changes to `acquired` or `rejected`. Otherwise, re-call `acquire_rights` with the same `rights_id` and `idempotency_key` after the `estimated_response_time` interval. Set `approval_status: 'pending'` on any creative manifests built during this period.

## Revocation

If the rights holder needs to revoke rights (talent controversy, contract violation, etc.), they POST a [`revocation-notification`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/v3/brand/revocation-notification.json) to the buyer's `revocation_webhook`, authenticating with the credentials provided at acquisition time. The notification contains an `idempotency_key` (required, used for deduplication across retries), `rights_id`, `brand_id`, `reason`, and `effective_at` timestamp.

The buyer is responsible for:

* Deduplicating by `idempotency_key` — the same revocation may be delivered multiple times; see [Push Notifications — Reliability](/docs/building/by-layer/L3/webhooks#reliability) for the canonical dedup contract
* Stopping creative delivery by `effective_at`
* Removing or replacing affected creatives from active campaigns
* Ceasing use of generation credentials (providers may also invalidate credentials independently)

Partial revocation is supported — if `revoked_uses` is present, only those uses are revoked (e.g., voice revoked but likeness remains).

### Acknowledging revocations

Return HTTP `200` immediately upon receiving and validating a revocation notification. The rights holder retries on non-`2xx` responses using exponential backoff (1s, 5s, 30s, 5m, 30m). After 6 failed attempts, the rights holder may escalate through other channels.

All webhook signing follows the AdCP [push notification signing profile](/docs/building/by-layer/L3/webhooks#signature-verification) — RFC 9421 by default (rights agent signs with its `adcp_use: "request-signing"` key published at its brand.json `agents[]` entry; deprecated `webhook-signing` keys remain accepted during the compatibility window), with the deprecated HMAC-SHA256 fallback available when the rights holder populates `authentication.credentials` on the webhook registration.

## Impression caps and overage

When `terms.impression_cap` is set, it is a **soft cap**. Delivery is not automatically halted at the cap — the buyer is responsible for monitoring usage via `report_usage` and managing delivery accordingly. Impressions beyond the cap are billed at `terms.overage_cpm`. If the rights holder wants a hard cap (no delivery beyond the limit), they specify this in `restrictions`.

## Usage reporting

The `usage_reporting_url` in the acquired response is a convenience endpoint provided by the rights agent for HTTP-based impression reporting. It accepts the same payload as the [`report_usage`](/docs/accounts/tasks/report_usage) MCP task. Use whichever integration is simpler for your pipeline — the MCP tool for agent-to-agent workflows, or the URL for direct HTTP calls from ad servers.

## Renewal and updates

To extend a rights grant, adjust impression caps, change pricing, or pause/resume, use [`update_rights`](/docs/brand-protocol/tasks/update_rights). Extended grants receive re-issued generation credentials and an updated `rights_constraint` for re-embedding in manifests.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="update_rights" icon="rotate" href="/docs/brand-protocol/tasks/update_rights">
    Extend, adjust, or pause an existing rights grant.
  </Card>

  <Card title="report_usage" icon="chart-line" href="/docs/accounts/tasks/report_usage">
    Report impressions against rights grants for billing and cap tracking.
  </Card>

  <Card title="brand.json spec" icon="code" href="/docs/brand-protocol/brand-json">
    Rights constraints on creative manifests.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>