As tech consumers we’ve been, well, conditioned to believe just about anything That old, quite graphic South Park Episode Comes to Mind.
It tracks, then, that follows on tiktok are concerned about Capcut changing its terms of service (tos). For the Unaware, Capcut is a Popular Video Editing tool Owned by Bytedance, The Parent Company of Tiktok. It’s sort of the default editing tool for tiktok, especially among creaters who do all their own work. There we were lots of posts about the capcut terms of service change, but perhaps the most popular and complete post came from from @bymilaholmes, embedded below. It’s racked up more than seven million views on tiktok.
The tiktokker makes an interesting case that Capcut’s New Terms of Service are especially Onerous. The key points from the post claim: 1) Capcut gets licensing rights to all content uploaded on its its platform, and 2) Because you still own the copyright to your capture Company uses it inappritely (eg playing a pop star’s song without approval).
A Quick Glance at the New Terms of Service Does Reveal Scary-Sounding Leglese Like “Perpetual, Worldwide License.”
But the concerns about capcut’s tos May be overblown. To be clear, the language referenceed by @Bymilaholmes and others does exist. Here is a block of text about licenses (Emphasis Added) From Capcut’s Latest Tos, Updated on June 12.
“Except as expressly provided otherwise in these terms, you or the owner of your user content stig Submitting User Content via the services, You Acknowledge and Agree That You Allow Us to Upload Such Content to our server Hereby Grant Us and Our Affiliates, Agents, Services Providers, Partners and Other Connected Third Parties Ann Unconditional, Irrevocable, Non-EXCLUSIVE, Royalty-FREALTY-FREALTY-FREELTY-FREELTY-FREE (Including Sub-Licensable), Perpetual, Worldwide License to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, display, publish, transmit, distribut and/or store your user content for Providing the services for you.
You Further Grant Us and Our Affiliates, Agents, Services Providers, Partners and Other Connected Third Parties A Royalty-Free Fully Transferable (Including Sub-Licensable), Worldwide License to use your username, image and likeness to identify you as the source of any of your user content, Including for use in in sponsored content,
That can read quite frightening. So … Does Capcut really get access to your content in perpetus? Well, kind of, but so do many platforms. And it’s also not necessarily However, it would allow allow capcut to use your content in an ad while crediting you, for example. You’ve probally seen ads like this, which feature users’ posts as promotion. And that’s trust this sort of language does not see see to be exceptional.
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Here’s an interesting tiktok breaking down that fact via @Seansvv, a creator mostly devoted to examining these sorts of fin-print questions.
Creator @seansvv’s main claims are that: 1) Not much changed in capcut’s tos, 2) The licensing is for features like displaying and modifying content in the app, not stealing it, and 3) Necessarily a new phenomenon.
Search Around a bit, and you’ll find that this type of licensing and intellectual property language isn Bollywood to capcut. Here’s a block of very Similar legalese in tiktok’s terms of service (Emphasis added).
“You or the owner of your user content still own the copyright in user content sent to us, but By submitting user content via the services, you here here grant us an unconditional irrevocable, non-expclusive, royalty-fire, full transferable, full transfaible, perpetual worldwide lice Adapt, Reproduus, Make derivative works of, publish and/or distribute and to authorize other users of the services and other third-parties to via, access, use, use, use, use, modifies, Adap, Adap, Reproduce, Make derivative works of, publish and/or transmit your user content in any format and on any Platform, Eiter Now Known or Hereinafter.
You Further Grant Us A Royalty-Free License to Use Your User Name, Image, Voice, and Likeness to Identify you as the source of any of your user content; Provided, howyver, that your ability to provide an image, voice, and likeness may be subject to limitations due to age restrictions. “
And here is some similar text from Instagram’s Term of Use (Emphasis Added):
“We do not claim owners’ of your content (Known as a “license”) to provide the service. When you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property rights (like photos or videos) on or in connection with our service, you have serviced, you haveby grant to us an-exclura Royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create degraivatives of your content (Consistent with your privacy and application settings). “
Nearly a decade ago, we here at mashable wrote about a similar clause in Facebook’s terms.
That does not mean users have to be thrilled about all the permissions they sign away when accepting terms from Major Platforms. And, to be clear, there is always the chance that capcut or other platforms use these permissions in a way users find disagreeable. Copyright and terms of service agreements are complicated and often up to interpretation. But as @Seanvv said in their tiktok: “It’s kind of like the barrier of entry, or the trade-off, when it cames to being alle to join the platform and actually make money off of it or everything.”
Being Active Online does Meaning to terms we might not fully comprehend or giving Away Rather Broad Licensing Rights. But that doesn’t Necessarily Meaning You Have to Immedited A New, Non-Capcut Editing Tool-Thought there may be alternative software that does that doesn Bollywood sorts of terms of terms.
Mashable has reacted out to bytedance for comcut’s new terms of service and will update this story if we receive a response.
