Mosaic Is Still in Beta, While the CGA Rider Is Free to Everyone

In March 2026, the Creators Guild of America launched Mosaic as a public system for authenticated creator credits and Creator IDs. The official Mosaic launch page still labels the service as beta and says access is free; it also refers to a CGA registered base exceeding 12,000 creators, which is not the same as 12,000 completed Mosaic profiles.

The companion CGA Rider has also changed the practical picture. The current Rider page identifies version 1.2 as a free, two-page addendum available to creators and brands, rather than a members-only, one-page document. Together, the tools provide a record layer for completed work and a contract layer for future work, but neither has become a universal industry standard.

What Mosaic records—and what it verifies

Mosaic is built around projects rather than follower totals. A credit can identify the client or company, the contributor’s role, the type of engagement, collaborators and the organization involved in authenticating the entry. Each account also receives an alphanumeric Creator ID intended to connect a person with their credits independently of any single social platform.

A Mosaic credit is therefore more structured than a self-written portfolio entry. The contributor submits a description of the work and selects an approver with firsthand knowledge of the project. After approval, the entry becomes authenticated and appears on the public profile with the relevant organization’s domain.

The comparison with IMDb is useful only up to a point. Both systems associate named contributors with projects, but Mosaic is a newer credentialing service with a specific authentication process and a much narrower public record. Its clearest potential benefit is for work that conventional screen credits often overlook, including editing, writing, production, creative direction and campaign strategy.

Company-domain approval raises the evidentiary bar

The central constraint is that an entry cannot ordinarily be authenticated through an informal personal address. The current Mosaic authentication rules require the approver to use an email address connected to the company’s official domain; personal services such as Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud are not accepted. A founder, freelancer or sole proprietor may approve work through their own business only if it has a distinct registered domain.

This company-domain requirement gives an authenticated credit more evidentiary weight than an unverified claim because the approving organization is identifiable on the record. It also limits what Mosaic can capture. Informal collaborations, defunct clients and earlier projects may remain difficult to authenticate when no eligible contact is still available.

Mosaic also distinguishes an authenticated credit from a verified profile. A free Associate account includes a Creator ID, a public profile and the ability to submit credits for authentication. The separate profile-verification badge is tied to active CGA membership, so a creator can hold authenticated project credits without having the guild’s membership credential.

The Rider governs terms, not career history

The CGA Rider operates at a different stage of the working relationship. It is designed to be attached to an underlying agreement and addresses subjects including payment, ownership, credit, campaign-performance information, termination, indemnity, dispute resolution and uses involving a creator’s name, image, likeness or material in connection with AI.

Its availability does not mean it automatically governs a project. The creator and the other contracting party must incorporate the Rider into their agreement. The main contract must still specify transaction-specific matters such as deliverables, compensation, deadlines and the scope of the commissioned work.

The current version is designed for agreements in the United States and is presented as non-negotiable. The guild’s stated compliance process allows up to three warnings for breaches before repeated problems may lead to a recommendation against future business. That is a reputational mechanism administered by the organization, not the equivalent of a court judgment or a collectively bargained labor agreement.

How the two layers connect

The Rider and Mosaic address related problems without duplicating each other. The Rider establishes terms for a deal, while Mosaic creates a public record of who contributed after work has been performed and authenticated.

• Contract layer: the parties define baseline rights and obligations by incorporating the Rider into their agreement.
• Credit layer: a contributor records a specific role on a named project.
• Authentication layer: an eligible organizational contact approves the submitted contribution.

A Mosaic credit does not establish that an invoice was paid, that every contractual obligation was satisfied or that the recorded project succeeded commercially. Likewise, an incorporated Rider does not automatically generate a public career credit. Contracts, invoices, briefs and correspondence therefore remain distinct records rather than being replaced by either tool.

Professional infrastructure, with adoption still unproven

Mosaic’s important contribution is not a new social profile but a proposed common format for attributable creator work. It can give visible talent and behind-the-scenes contributors a shared project record, while the Creator ID supplies a consistent identifier across those credits.

The Rider offers a reusable set of baseline clauses, but its effect depends on acceptance in each individual agreement. Mosaic’s usefulness similarly depends on creators submitting accurate entries and organizations participating in authentication. The beta label matters because the service’s processes, reach and recognition may still evolve.

Calling the pair the creator economy’s finished equivalent of IMDb and a union contract would overstate their current position. A more precise conclusion is that the CGA has built two concrete pieces of professional infrastructure: one for documenting work and another for setting proposed deal protections. Whether they become industry standards will depend on adoption by creators, brands, agencies and other employers.

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