What is BrandComply, and how licensees use it.

BrandComply is a licensing management platform that licensors use to run their programs. As a licensee, it's where you apply, submit artwork and product for approval, file royalty reports and keep your compliance documents current. The platform is the tool. The rules inside it belong to whoever runs your license.

Most consumer brands meet BrandComply through college licensing. Fanatics Licensing Management (FLM) runs the college programs it manages, a set that includes Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame, Oregon and Wisconsin, on BrandComply CAMPUS. A smaller group of independent programs use BrandComply College. This guide walks through how each part of the work moves through the platform, and where brands lose time.

The short version

1. BrandComply is the software, not the licensor. The school or agency running the program sets the rules, clocks and reporting calendar.
2. BrandComply CAMPUS is where Fanatics Licensing Management runs its college programs. BrandComply College serves a smaller group of independent programs.
3. Access starts with an application to a specific program, and samples and fees have hard deadlines.
4. Every design gets approved before you produce anything, and only under categories already on your contract.
5. Royalty reports follow the schedule in your agreement, and only cover approved designs, categories and channels.
6. Insurance, factory disclosures and labor documents stay live for the life of the license, not just at signing.
7. Don't assume the CLC process carries over. Brand Manager 360 rules, templates and deadlines don't apply here.

What BrandComply is and who uses it

There's no single college licensing office, and no single portal. Each school decides who gets its marks, and most hire an agency to run the program. Each agency works in its own system:

• CLC runs its schools in Brand Manager 360.
• Fanatics Licensing Management runs its schools in BrandComply CAMPUS.
• Affinity Licensing runs many mid-major programs and most Greek organizations through Affinity Gateway.
• BrandComply College and Exemplar serve smaller groups of independent programs.
• Self-managed schools often run licensing by email with their own forms and templates.

For a licensee, BrandComply holds four kinds of work:

1. Applications to join a program and add properties.
2. Artwork and product submissions, each approved or sent back by the licensor.
3. Royalty reports and the sales data behind them.
4. Compliance records: insurance, factories, codes of conduct and agreement status.

The platform doesn't decide anything. A school's licensing director, or the agency's team, makes each call. BrandComply is where you hand them what they need to say yes.

BrandComply vs BrandComply CAMPUS

You'll see the names used loosely. In practice:

• BrandComply CAMPUS is the environment Fanatics Licensing Management uses for the college programs it manages. If your target school is managed by FLM, this is where your application, approvals and reports live.
• BrandComply College is used by a smaller set of independent college programs.

Either way, the program rules come from the school and its agency, not the software. Two schools on the same platform can have different categories open, different exclusives, different channel rules and different documentation requirements. Some FLM-managed schools, for example, ban apparel and headwear on third-party marketplaces, while others don't.

Confirm the platform before you start

Before you build an application, confirm who manages each school on your list. Our directory of 690+ schools and how to apply to each shows license types and the application route school by school, and every school has its own page, such as the University of Georgia's licensing page. Applying through the wrong channel is a slow way to learn this.

Getting into BrandComply: applications and your login

Your BrandComply account matters once a program is reviewing you. The application is what gets you in the door.

The application

A licensing application is a business case, not a form. The licensor is checking three things: can you make and ship the product, can you sell it without damaging the brand, and are you a financial risk. Expect to provide:

• Company background: ownership, leadership, revenue, and licenses you already hold.
• Manufacturing: your factory list with country of origin, capacity and quality control.
• Distribution plan: only the channels you'll actually use, with named retailers where you have them.
• Marketing plan: specific to the school, its region and its alumni, not a generic draft.
• Insurance and financials: a certificate of insurance naming the licensor as required, plus recent financials.
• Samples: physical product the school can hold.

The questions a licensing director weighs are the same on every platform: is this incremental, is there real retail demand, is the distribution focused, is the product actually different, and will you protect the school's name and supply chain. Our guide to getting a college license walks through how to answer each one. It follows CLC's process, so use it for the strategy rather than the forms.

Watch the clock. Fanatics Licensing Management discontinues applications if samples and the fee don't arrive within 20 days. Ship samples the same week you submit, and confirm they arrived.

Your login

A few habits save real time:

• Use a company-owned email for the account, not a founder's or designer's personal address, so access survives staff changes.
• Keep credentials in a shared password manager. At portfolio scale you'll maintain logins for several separate systems, and they don't talk to each other.
• If you're locked out, contact the program's licensing team rather than creating a new account, so your applications, approvals and reports stay under one company record.

Submitting artwork and product for approval

A signed agreement still doesn't mean you can produce. Three things are approved separately: the license for each school, the product categories and sales channels on your contract, and every individual design. A design can only be submitted under a category you're already approved for.

What a complete submission includes

• Category: chosen from the categories on your contract, matched to what the product actually is.
• Mockups: high resolution, multiple angles, and every colorway the licensor expects to see.
• Marks used: current marks from the school's current style guide.
• Hangtag and packaging: with the required trademark notices and licensee statements.
• Materials, construction and country of origin.
• Pricing and channels: retail price and where the product will sell.

Why designs come back

Most bounces are details, not taste:

1. An outdated style guide. Last season's marks, colors or fonts.
2. A color out of palette. A navy that's close but not the official spec.
3. Logo lockup problems. Marks stacked the wrong way or clear-space rules broken.
4. Missing trademark notices on hangtags or printed materials.
5. Co-brand weight. Your brand mark sitting too prominently next to the school's.
6. Category drift. Submitting a product under a category it doesn't fit.

Revising without starting over

• Answer every comment. Leave one out and you've bought another full cycle.
• Resubmit clean files, not redlines, and reference the original feedback.
• Change only what was flagged. New colorways added mid-revision trigger fresh review.
• Resubmit small corrections too. Even a minor color fix should go back through so the finished product matches what was approved.

Turnaround varies by school, so plan for at least two cycles per design before you promise a retailer a ship date. Our product approval workflow guide covers submissions in more depth.

Filing royalty reports

Royalty reporting in BrandComply follows the schedule in your license agreement. Across the industry, quarterly is the floor and some licensors require monthly. Confirm the cadence and due dates for each program you hold rather than borrowing another agency's calendar.

What keeps reports clean:

• File every period, including periods with no sales, unless your agreement says otherwise. Missed reports put approvals and the license itself at risk.
• Tie every sale to an approved design in an approved category.
• Report only approved channels. Sales in a channel that isn't on your contract are a compliance problem, not a reporting detail. Remember that some FLM schools ban apparel and headwear on third-party marketplaces.
• Use the format the program asks for. CLC's Excel template, UPIs and retailer codes are CLC conventions. Don't assume they carry over.
• Keep books ready for audit. Most license agreements allow audits with short notice and back-charges for underpayment.

Royalty rates, advances and minimums are set by each school. Read your agreement for the exact terms rather than relying on what another school charges.

Compliance: insurance, factories and renewals

Compliance in BrandComply isn't a one-time upload. It's a set of records that has to stay current for as long as you hold the license.

Insurance

Certificates get rejected over details, not coverage. The usual misses:

• A claims-made policy where occurrence-based coverage is required.
• "Included" where a dollar figure belongs.
• The wrong endorsement type, or an endorsement without the policy number.
• An endorsement sent separately from the certificate.
• Additional-insured wording that doesn't match what the licensor asked for.

Track renewal dates on your policies and upload new certificates before the old ones expire.

Factories and labor documents

Schools are accountable for how licensed products are made, and several deny or hold licenses over thin documentation. Keep these current:

• Factory disclosures for every factory that makes licensed product. Add a new factory before it produces anything licensed, not after.
• A company code of conduct and separate supplier standards. Having only the supplier document is a stated denial reason at multiple schools.
• A complete corporate responsibility questionnaire where the program uses one.
• Fair Labor Association affiliation or factory social audits where a school requires them.

Renewals and expansion

License agreements typically run one to three years, and many renew automatically with a notice window. Renewal is the natural moment to add categories, channels or schools, so keep clean records of approvals, reports and retailer conversations. They're your case for asking for more.

Common BrandComply mistakes

• Assuming the CLC process carries over. Different forms, clocks and reporting rules.
• Missing the sample and fee window. FLM discontinues applications after 20 days without them.
• Requesting every sales channel. Schools deny requests for this alone.
• Submitting under a category that isn't on your contract.
• Producing before the design is approved, or producing a version that drifted from the approved file.
• Selling on marketplaces at a school that bans apparel or headwear there.
• Reusing another school's plan with the old school's name still in it.
• Letting insurance or factory records go stale between renewals.
• Skipping a zero-sales report.

If a school does say no, a denial usually can't be reconsidered for six months or more. Our guide on why college license applications get denied covers the common reasons and what turns them around.

FAQ

What is BrandComply?

BrandComply is a licensing management platform licensors use to run their programs. Licensees use it to apply, submit artwork and product for approval, file royalty reports and keep insurance and factory records current.

Is BrandComply the same as Fanatics Licensing Management?

No. Fanatics Licensing Management is the agency that runs licensing for a set of schools. BrandComply CAMPUS is the platform it runs those programs in. The decisions come from the schools and FLM, not the software.

How do I get a BrandComply login?

Your access comes through applying to a program that runs on BrandComply. Set the account up under a company-owned email, and if you lose access, go through the program's licensing team rather than creating a second account.

Do my CLC approvals carry over to BrandComply schools?

No. Each school approves you separately, and each agency has its own application, deadlines and reporting calendar. You can reuse supporting documents like financials and your factory list, but check that your insurance names each licensor the way it requires.

Can I sell BrandComply-licensed products on Amazon?

Only if that channel is approved on your contract. Some schools managed by Fanatics Licensing Management ban apparel and headwear on third-party marketplaces, so confirm each school's rules before you list.

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Platform rules and program requirements change, and each school adds its own. Check the latest guidance from your licensor before relying on a specific detail. If you'd rather hand off the day-to-day, Onbase runs license management inside BrandComply CAMPUS, Brand Manager 360 and Affinity, covering submissions, royalty reports and compliance for one flat monthly fee.