Investigation into CapCut’s terms of service changes underway
As tech consumers, we have become accustomed to the idea that almost anything could be hidden in the long and complex terms and conditions that we mindlessly accept. This situation brings to mind that old, rather graphic South Park episode.
TikTok users are currently expressing concerns about the changes in CapCut’s terms of service (TOS). For those unfamiliar, CapCut is a popular video editing tool owned by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. It is widely used as the default editing tool for TikTok, especially among creators who handle all their own work. While there have been numerous posts about the changes in CapCut’s terms of service, one of the most popular and comprehensive posts came from @bymilaholmes, which has garnered over seven million views on TikTok.
The TikTok user makes a compelling argument that CapCut’s new terms of service are particularly burdensome. The main points from the post suggest that CapCut acquires licensing rights to all content uploaded on its platform, and that users could face trouble if the company uses their content inappropriately, such as playing a pop star’s song without permission.
A quick look at the new terms of service does reveal intimidating legal language, such as “perpetual, worldwide license.” However, concerns about CapCut’s TOS may be exaggerated. While the language referenced by @bymilaholmes and others does exist, it is not necessarily new and can be found in previous versions of the TOS. This language does not imply that the company can claim ownership of your content, as you still retain the intellectual property rights. Instead, it allows CapCut to use your content in advertisements while giving you credit. This practice is not uncommon among various platforms.
Several other platforms, including TikTok, have similar licensing and intellectual property clauses in their terms of service. This indicates that the situation with CapCut is not unique.
TikTok and CapCut’s Terms of Use
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 hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings).
Users’ Perspective on Terms of Use
That doesn’t 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 comes to being able to join the platform and actually make money off of it or grow a following.”
Being active online does mean agreeing to terms we might not fully comprehend or giving away rather broad licensing rights. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to immediately find a new, non-CapCut editing tool — though there may be alternative software that doesn’t require those sorts of terms.
