An influencer manager guides and runs a creator's career, while a talent agent's core job is procuring work: finding, offering and negotiating paid engagements. The distinction matters because several places regulate procurement itself rather than job titles. California requires anyone who procures entertainment engagements to hold a Labor Commissioner licence, New York licenses theatrical employment agencies but exempts managers who seek work only incidentally, Great Britain controls what employment agencies may charge the people they find work for, and New South Wales and Queensland cap fees and set deadlines for passing on a performer's money. Judge an offer by what the person will actually do for you, not by the word on their business card.
Why the job matters more than the title
In the creator economy the labels blur. One person calls themselves a manager, another a talent partner, a third runs an “agency” that pitches brands, negotiates fees and chases invoices. The rules summarised below mostly ignore the label and look at conduct instead: is someone seeking or negotiating paid work on your behalf, and are they charging you for it?
There is a catch for social creators. The two American statutes discussed here were written with stage, film, radio, television and modelling work in mind, and neither text names social platforms or influencers. Whether a sponsored video booked through a brand counts as an engagement for an artist is not answered by the wording alone. Treat the rules as the frame a regulator or court would start from, not as a settled answer for your exact deal.
This page sticks to the legal line: who may procure work and what that changes for you when you sign. If you arrived here because an OnlyFans “modeling agency” contacted you, that naming question has its own explainer on OnlyFans modeling agencies versus management agencies.
California: procuring work needs a talent agency licence
California's Talent Agencies Act defines a talent agency by activity. Labor Code section 1700.4 covers anyone engaged in procuring, offering, promising or attempting to procure employment or engagements for an artist, with a carve-out for recording contracts. The same section lists who counts as an artist, ending with models and other people rendering professional services in motion picture, theatrical, radio, television and other entertainment enterprises. Section 1700.5 then says nobody may carry on that occupation without first obtaining a licence from the Labor Commissioner.
The Labor Commissioner's own talent agency licensing page puts it plainly: any person or entity involved in arranging employment for an artist in the entertainment field must be licensed. Licensed agencies carry extra duties. Their contract forms need the Commissioner's approval, they file a fee schedule, money they receive for you goes into a trust account and must normally reach you within 30 days, and they may not charge a registration fee.
For managers, the Act leaves one route open. Section 1700.44 allows an unlicensed person to work alongside a licensed agency, at its request, when an employment contract is negotiated. The same section sends disputes under the Act to the Labor Commissioner and bars proceedings over violations that happened more than a year before they began. One wrinkle is worth knowing: the Act's definition of an artist does not mention the internet, while the neighbouring chapter on fee-related talent services, starting at section 1701, does. How the Commissioner treats a social brand booking is a question for a California entertainment lawyer.
New York: licensed agencies and the incidental-booking exception
New York reaches a similar place by a different route. Its employment agency law in General Business Law section 171 defines a theatrical employment agency as anyone who procures or attempts to procure engagements for an artist, using an artist definition that mirrors California's list. The definition then excludes the business of managing artists where that business only incidentally involves seeking work for them. Section 172 requires a licence before anyone runs an employment agency, issued by the state's commissioner of labor, or by the city's consumer agency for agencies inside New York City.
New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection states the practical test in its inspection checklist for theatrical employment agencies: if your primary business is finding engagements for artists for a fee, you need the licence; if your primary business is managing artists, you do not. The statute does not define “incidentally”, so a manager whose week is mostly pitching brands has a harder argument than one who mainly handles strategy and lets bookings arrive.
Licensed agencies face fee rules under section 185. For a single theatrical engagement the gross fee may not exceed ten per cent of the artist's compensation, with a higher ceiling for orchestras, opera and concert work. Deposits and advance fees are banned, and no fee may be charged for services from an agency that was unlicensed when it provided them.
Great Britain: agency rules cover freelance engagements too
In Great Britain the question is whether someone is running an employment agency. Section 13 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 defines employment to include a professional engagement or other contract for services, so freelance bookings sit inside the definition. Section 6 then stops agencies charging work-seekers for finding them work, except in cases the regulations allow.
The 2003 Conduct Regulations allow fees for a listed set of occupations, including actors, singers, dancers and other performers, writers, artists, photographers, photographic or fashion models and professional sports people. Under regulation 26, those fees normally come out of earnings from work the agency actually found, and the exception falls away where the agency also charges the hirer for introducing you. GOV.UK's guide to charging fees as an entertainment and modelling agency adds that terms and fees must be agreed in writing first, that photographic and fashion models cannot be charged upfront fees for finding work, and that fees for promoting performers wait until 30 days into the contract, during which the performer can cancel.
Unlike California and New York, Great Britain does not license this kind of agency: GOV.UK lists licence or registration requirements only for agencies supplying workers in areas such as agriculture, food processing and care. The conduct rules are enforced instead by the Fair Work Agency, which says it regulates employment agencies and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales and replaced the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
For a British creator, a manager who goes out and finds sponsored work may be running an employment agency under these rules whatever they call the business. Whether sponsored content work falls into one of the listed occupations is a point to raise with a solicitor before you sign anything that charges you fees.
Australia: New South Wales and Queensland rules for agents and managers
New South Wales treats agents and managers together as performer representatives under the Entertainment Industry Act 2013. The NSW Government page for performers and performer representatives sets the agent-style fee cap: in film, television and electronic media a performer can be charged a maximum of ten per cent, and live performance carries its own stepped cap. Representatives may not charge joining, audition or retention fees, and money they hold for you goes into a NSW trust account and must be paid out within 14 days.
A manager can charge above the cap only through an entertainment industry managerial agreement. The NSW page on entertainment industry and managerial agreements says that agreement must be written and signed by both sides, fix the fees, include an acknowledgement that fees above the caps are being charged for additional managerial services, and carry a cooling-off period ending at 5pm on the third business day.
Queensland uses the label private employment agent. Business Queensland's page on private employment agents includes anyone who, for gain, negotiates the terms of contract work for a model or performer, administers that contract and arranges payments, or gives them career advice. No licence is needed, but agents must follow a code of conduct and hand over an information statement. The federal Creative Workplaces summary of NSW and Queensland rules adds that Queensland agents must pass on a performer's money within 7 days, and describes performers there as people who act, perform, sing or speak in advertising or for entertainment. That wording sits close to sponsored content, but whether your deal is covered is a question for the regulator. Other states were outside what we checked, so ask your own state's fair trading office.
Jurisdiction table: the rule, who it covers, what it means for you
| Place | Rule | Who it covers | What it means when you sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Talent Agencies Act, Labor Code 1700 onward, licensed by the Labor Commissioner | Anyone procuring, offering, promising or attempting to procure engagements for an artist | Ask for the licence number; the Act lets an unlicensed manager join negotiations at a licensed agency's request |
| New York | General Business Law Article 11, theatrical employment agency licence | Procurers of engagements for artists, minus managers who seek work only incidentally | If booking is their main job, expect a licence and no advance fees; compare fees with the statutory ceiling |
| Great Britain | Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the 2003 Conduct Regulations, enforced by the Fair Work Agency | Businesses finding people work, including freelance contracts for services | Written terms before any fee, fees normally taken from earnings, no upfront work-finding fees for fashion or photographic models |
| New South Wales | Entertainment Industry Act 2013, enquiries to NSW Fair Trading | Performer representatives, meaning both agents and managers | Agent fees capped; higher manager fees need a signed managerial agreement with a cooling-off period |
| Queensland | Private Employment Agents Act 2005 and its code of conduct | Agents who negotiate, administer or advise on work for models and performers | Expect an information statement before signing and your money passed on within 7 days |
Each row summarises the official pages linked above as we read them on 1 October 2026. The governing-law clause in your contract, where you live and where the representative operates can each pull a different row into play.
Which one is this offer? A checklist before you sign
- Read the services clause for procurement verbs: seek, solicit, pitch, negotiate, book or accept engagements for you. Those words describe agent work whatever the heading says.
- If they say they are licensed, get the licence number and the issuing body, then check it with that body yourself. The California Labor Commissioner's licensing page links to a searchable list of licensed talent agencies.
- If they are a manager without a licence in California, ask which licensed agency will lead negotiations and whether that agency asked them to take part.
- Ask what share of their working week goes on finding deals. In New York, a manager whose bookings are more than incidental may need an agency licence.
- Find any money due before you earn anything. Advance fees, joining fees, audition fees and registration fees are restricted or banned in several of the places above.
- Trace the money: who invoices the brand, whose account receives it, and how many days pass before it reaches you.
- In NSW or Queensland, ask for the information statement the rules require them to give you before you sign.
- Check whether a cooling-off period applies, and note the date and time it ends.
- See whether the contract lets them sign deals in your name, and whether you can withdraw that authority.
- If they describe themselves as both manager and agent, ask in writing which law they say they comply with.
What the distinction changes once you have signed
The label decides which protections you can reach for later. With a licensed California agency, a trust account and a 30-day payout duty already exist, and fee disputes have a forum. With a NSW representative, the 14-day payment rule, the record-keeping duties and a complaints route to NSW Fair Trading apply to agents and managers alike, and any fee above the caps needs a signed managerial agreement. With an unregulated consultant, you are mostly relying on what the contract says, which is why the drafting deserves the most attention.
If you suspect someone procured work for you without a licence they needed, raise it promptly. In California the one-year limit in section 1700.44 makes timing part of the question, and contract claims elsewhere have time limits of their own. Write down which deals they found, which arrived without them and what they charged on each.
Next steps depend on where you are in the process. Our guide to how much influencer managers take breaks down commission bases and post-term fees, the influencer management contract checklist goes clause by clause, and how to get an influencer manager covers readiness, outreach and scam signs.
Limitations of this comparison
This is general information, not legal advice, and it has real limits. It covers five jurisdictions only, it reflects official pages as published when we checked them, and none of the statutes was drafted with social platforms in mind, so a regulator or court may treat a brand booking differently from a stage or film engagement. Licensing and fee rules can change, and your contract's governing-law clause can matter as much as where you live. Before signing a representation agreement with meaningful money or exclusivity attached, have an entertainment or employment lawyer in the relevant place read it.