This has been the craze of AI content generators these days – but most of these popular AI tools have a huge buzzkiller about copyright ownership. My AI copyright rabbit hole was a bit of an artificial intelligence (in which I worked on’several passion projects, my favorite hobby project) and what I found deep inside wasn’t pretty to say the least.
The “We Own Everything” Clause
I am working on a video related project of mine. I wanted to use CapCut for video editing, it’s easy and has great assets and templates for social media videos. And when I saw YouTube videos of content creators discussing a particular clause CapCut had added to its Terms of Service (ToS), that is basically royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable license for Capcut to use your content.
But I confirmed the clause myself, and Lo or Behold it was right there. The Chinese-born CapCut was a source of much hate for adding such terms to the now, but in anger many users switched to using alternatives on Capcut. I was very insecure for me, as I wanted to make a digital character that I would like to file copyright ownership of. I was naturally interested in the ToS of each and every AI tool out there, so things got uglier with each revelation.
I’m going to be honest here, if you have a . I did not just look at the ToS of five AI content generators – I read the fine print of all the tools I saw. Nevertheless, to keep things short, here’s the so-called clause in the terms of five popular AI tools (hang on tight!)
- CapCut
For example, as you can see, you essentially hand over your content to CapCut where they may use, reproduce and sublicense the content with their affiliates. It’s terrifying, and there’s almost nothing they can’t do with your content.
This is the About CapCut’s Terms of Service page that they have added in Capcut, as part of their defense for this case, explains why they add such clauses (yes, it appears four times in the ToS!) I’ve accepted the explanation they gave me, but I don’t know if you do so. Please take your time before making a decision.
- Adobe Express and Firefly
In addition to the explanations, they have added explanation for why Adobe’s ToS has such terms as CapCut and their own clauses are similar. The only way they do so is that they need all those permissions and rights for operational reasons to manage and process your content, which matches with what most of the AI tools say in order justify such clauses.
Aside from its operations rights, Adobe employs similar words for services improvement. While they may also sublicense the same rights to their affiliates, Adobe’s ToS is one of the less scary ones out there.
- ElevenLabs
One of the best AI voice generators right now is probably ElevenLabs. But I did not surprise enough to find that wording in ElevenLabs’ ToS. Nevertheless, as you can see, they don’t really try to help cushion the blow with explanations. Their Safety page is a bit assured, yes, but you won’t see many in the ToS itself.
- Suno
The trend of Suno’s ToS is to go all guns blazing on the rights front, as does ElevenLabs do in its footsteps. In fact Suno goes further by irrevocably announcing any and all so-called “moral rights” or “droit moral” that may be present. To be honest, the wording is pretty harsh no creativity would guarantee true ownership of what you produce in Suno.
5. Canva
Is Canva’s ToS much softer and in the “operational use” range, more similar to Canvas. Yet, as you know they are given the usual perpetual royalty-free, sublicensable license to . Is Canva more like Adobe you can argue that AI is not its main product or only product? Nevertheless, the point is these clauses do appear wherever AI gets involved.
Why the Copyright Office Rejects AI
Aside from giving all those rights to these AI tools, if you create any content that is created by the artificial intelligence (AI) and which you want to own copyrights to, the US and many other countries’ copy-right offices will probably not accept your request. That’s because the content generated by AI isn’t a product of – or person’. In addition, if you learn about the ToS of the AI tools, having copyrights to your content would not really make any difference (unless you’re part of a big company with mighty legal team).
The Workaround to Protect Your Content
To protect your content generated by AI, you best bet is to trust the copyright detection systems of social media. In one of the most comprehensive systems on YouTube is Content ID verification (which is a form of video-based system) which has been described as “the best solution for this problem”. Yet such systems only serve partially to fight the copyright wars against other content creators if they post your material on their own channels. An artificial intelligence tool you used to one day post your content on its social network will not be able to fight it because of the ToS clauses we just discussed.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in the AI Basket
Today, there are a number of content creators who use AI to create viral social media videos and probably earn tons of money with it. The bandwagon is also on that, as I’ve embraced these terms and have since moved on to focus on producing content rather than worrying about the copyrights and ownership. That doesn’t mean you should be repelled to use such artificial intelligence generators – it’s meant to make sure that what you’re dealing with is in your mind.
In addition, it isn’t the goal to savor all of the five tools I mentioned. Nearly all AI tools have similar wordings in their ToS. Most of these companies are more interested in putting your content on the table than you can, but what you cannot ignore is that they could ever want to do so. That’s why I think that my AI projects are viewed as disposable assets, which will be my only source of income until and unless the terms and conditions in future change. And I can tell you this is a phrase that has been completely confident.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does paying for a premium subscription give me full copyright ownership of my images?
Most premium subscriptions give you commercial rights, but the ToS almost always remains same for free and premium users.
Do these terms of service apply if I run an AI model locally?
Unlike running local AI models, you get much privacy and a more healthy ownership of content.” However, local AI models require expertise and a super expensive computer or ‘high-budget rented server’.
What happens to my content if the AI platform changes its terms of service later?
But that’s not a clear word and depends on the terms of service each tool provides. However, if you are in use of the tool at the time of usage it’s worth copying that ToS. It also helps strengthen your argument that just those terms are used to support your content.
Thanks for reading I Read the Terms of 5 Popular AI Generators: You Probably Don’t Own Your Content
