> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agenticadvertisingorg-fix-release-bump-classification.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](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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/3.0.19/brand/acquire-rights-request.json)
* **Response**: [`acquire-rights-response.json`](https://adcontextprotocol.org/schemas/3.0.19/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",
    "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",
    "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",
    "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",
    "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                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `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/3.0.19/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](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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.

Unlike [`create_media_buy`](/dist/docs/3.0.19/media-buy/task-reference/create_media_buy), which supports an `any_of` past-start auto-adjust pattern (a flight can be time-shifted forward without re-licensing), rights grants are not time-shiftable: 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

When the buyer's request carries an intent-phase `governance_context` token on the [protocol envelope](/dist/docs/3.0.19/building/by-layer/L1/security) (the buyer's plan is governed — see [Buyer-side governance invocation](/dist/docs/3.0.19/governance/campaign/specification#buyer-side-governance-invocation)) 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 a `governance_context` is present, 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.

Requests without a `governance_context` token 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 [Buyer-side governance invocation](/dist/docs/3.0.19/governance/campaign/specification#buyer-side-governance-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/3.0.19/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/3.0.19/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`](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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/3.0.19/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](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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](/dist/docs/3.0.19/building/by-layer/L3/webhooks#signature-verification) — RFC 9421 by default (rights agent signs with its `adcp_use: "webhook-signing"` key published at its brand.json `agents[]` entry), 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`](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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`](/dist/docs/3.0.19/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="/dist/docs/3.0.19/brand-protocol/tasks/update_rights">
    Extend, adjust, or pause an existing rights grant.
  </Card>

  <Card title="report_usage" icon="chart-line" href="/dist/docs/3.0.19/accounts/tasks/report_usage">
    Report impressions against rights grants for billing and cap tracking.
  </Card>

  <Card title="brand.json spec" icon="code" href="/dist/docs/3.0.19/brand-protocol/brand-json">
    Rights constraints on creative manifests.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>