Someone very wise and intelligent once said, “Knowledge is power”. Probably the same person who said, “There’s power in numbers”. Hey, who are we to know? But what we do know is that these cliches exist for a reason, because there’s real value joining together to learn and share information. That’s why this pledge exists — so that people just like you can commit to being an advocate for licensing and the health of our industries.

If you’re already convinced that licensing is the way forward and implement it in your own practice, why take the pledge? Well, the pledge is here to help you feel personally accountable. It’s easy to put off a project when there’s no deadline, to overspend when you’ve got no budget, to stay in bed when you’re not paying for a gym membership. Pledging your commitment to Use It Or Lose It means that you have a promise to keep. A promise to your industry, to your peers, and to yourself.

Look, we’re not going to send hired goons to your workplace to check that you’re upholding your oath. That’s not what this is about. Use It Or Lose It is a thing you need to do for you. We want to give you the power to stand up for something you feel is important, and that we feel is integral to the ongoing health and existence of the creative industries. And by forming a community of people who all feel the same, we can accomplish goals that we’d never be able to achieve alone and inspire real and positive change.

Below we’ve outlined the key principles involved in Use It Or Lose It. These principles have been carefully designed with both sides of the equation in mind — client and creative — with the goal of encouraging further discussion around licensing and safeguarding the future of our industry.