Does CapCut Own Your Videos? The Exact Wording in Its US Terms
Table of Contents
No. CapCut’s US Terms of Service, last updated 15 April 2026 (read 10 October 2026), say it doesn’t own your User Content. They do give TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC and its partners two licenses to it: a perpetual, sub-licensable one for operating, developing and providing the Services, and a hosting one in the closing terms. The word “irrevocable” is in neither.
🧾 Not Tested: This page reads CapCut’s published documents. We have not used the app, its settings or its account-deletion flow, so nothing here describes what the product does on screen. Where a document is silent, we say so. See our editorial policy.
Which CapCut terms apply to you
The US Terms and who they bind
CapCut’s US Terms of Service, last updated 15 April 2026, “apply to United States users” under Section 1. They form an agreement with TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, and Section 3 says CapCut notifies material changes by updating the “Last Updated” date. We did not capture other regions’ versions on 10 October 2026, so this page cannot say how they read.
What CapCut said in June 2025
CapCut’s own June 2025 note, dated 24 June 2025, said there were “no changes to your rights” in its “User-generated Content” section. It called a 12 June 2025 update minor.
What CapCut’s content license lets it do
CapCut’s US Terms (15 April 2026) separate owning from licensing.
What you still own
Section 9 says “We don’t own your User Content” and leaves your intellectual property in it unchanged.
The main license, clause by clause
Section 9 grants TikTok USDS Joint Venture and its partners a perpetual, worldwide license to use your content for “operating, developing and providing the Services”. The wording names no plan; what CapCut Pro pricing buys you covers what plans change.
🔍 Why It Works This Way: “Perpetual” states no end date; “sub-licensable” lets CapCut pass the rights on.
The second license and your likeness
Section 15 adds a license to “host, cache, reproduce, transmit, and display” Your Content. Section 9 also licenses your username, image and likeness for “sponsored content”.
| Clause words | Section | What it lets CapCut do | What the Terms don’t say |
|---|---|---|---|
| “We don’t own your User Content.” | 9 | States CapCut does not own it | That the licenses below are temporary |
| “fully transferable, sub-licensable” and “perpetual and worldwide license” | 9 | Use your content; pass the rights on | Any plan; whether deleting your account ends it |
| “operating, developing and providing the Services, subject to your Platform settings” | 9 | Modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, display, publish, transmit, distribute and/or store | What “Platform settings” are |
| “including for use in sponsored content” | 9 | Use your username, image and likeness | Which sponsored content, or where |
| “prior inspection or approval of any marketing” | 9 | Use your content in marketing without your sign-off | Any approval step |
| “nonexclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable” | 15 | Host and display Your Content in connection with your use of the Services | Whether deleting your account ends it |
| “irrevocable” | 9, 15 | Not used in either content license | Whether either license can be revoked |
Does CapCut train AI on your videos?
CapCut’s US Privacy Policy (15 April 2026) does not say whether your videos are used for AI training, but it lists training among its uses of information.
Content collected before you save
CapCut’s US Privacy Policy, Section 1, says it “may collect User Content through pre-uploading at the time of creation, import, or upload,” “regardless of whether you choose to save or publish”.
AI training and face data
Section 2 lists uses including “train, test, and improve technology, such as machine learning models and algorithms”. Section 4 names no opt-out from training. Section 1 says CapCut does “not use any face or body information to identify you”, and that this information is “deleted and not retained” once an effect is applied.
| Topic | What the policy says (15 April 2026) | What it does not say |
|---|---|---|
| Training | Lists “machine learning models and algorithms” among uses (Section 2) | Whether your videos are used to train them |
| Opt-out | Opt-outs cover sale or sharing and marketing emails (Section 4) | Any opt-out from training |
| Collection | “may collect” User Content before you save or publish (Section 1) | That every project is collected |
Who runs CapCut and what changed since June 2025
The operator named in the US Terms
Section 1 of the US Terms (15 April 2026) names TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. TikTok’s announcement of the joint venture, dated 23 January 2026, says ByteDance retains 19.9% and Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX each hold 15%. It says the venture’s safeguards “will also cover CapCut, and Lemon8”.
What changed in the wording since June 2025
CapCut’s 24 June 2025 note said terms like “irrevocable” and “perpetual” exist because shared content, such as a template, cannot be fully undone once others reuse it. The 15 April 2026 US Terms call the main grant “perpetual” and use “irrevocable” in neither content license. We hold no archived copy of the June 2025 Terms, so we do not quote them.
| Word | CapCut’s note, 24 June 2025 | US Terms, 15 April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| “irrevocable” | Named as a term that exists | Absent from the Section 9 and Section 15 content licenses |
Does deleting your CapCut account end the license?
The US Terms (15 April 2026) do not say that deleting your account ends either license.
🛟 Back This Up First: Download finished videos and drafts, and confirm they open. Section 4 says afterwards “you will not be able to reactivate your account, retrieve any of your account data”.
What deletion removes
Section 4 lets you delete from the “Manage account” page or by webform, and says CapCut does “not guarantee the permanent availability of your content”.
What the Terms say survives
Section 15’s Survival sentence lists “the rights granted to us in Section 9” among terms continuing after “termination of these Terms”. Section 9’s main grant is “perpetual”. Uninstalling the app cancels nothing, and cancelling a Pro subscription is a separate step.
Who should still be careful with CapCut
Three groups should read the US Terms (15 April 2026).
What would change this answer
- The “Last Updated” date moves.
- A “Platform setting” is named.
- A training opt-out is added.
- Non-US Terms differ (not captured).
Who should still be careful
- Client footage: Section 9 bars content “confidential or proprietary to any other person”; check the contract.
- Musicians: composers with a PRO or CMO “must notify” it; recording artists, check label terms.
- Other people’s faces or voices: you need “all necessary rights, licenses, and clearances”.
For which CapCut materials are cleared for commercial work, see the Materials License Agreement (22 January 2026).
✅ Do This: Decide what not to upload. Not legal advice; ask the client or a lawyer.
FAQ
1. Can CapCut use my videos in ads?
The US Terms (15 April 2026) name the license’s purpose as operating, developing and providing the Services, but license your likeness in sponsored content.
2. Does CapCut train AI on my videos?
The Privacy Policy (15 April 2026) lists training machine learning models among its uses, but doesn’t say whether your videos are used.
3. Does CapCut keep videos I never export?
The Privacy Policy (15 April 2026) says CapCut may collect User Content whether or not you save or publish it.
4. Does deleting my CapCut account end the license?
The Terms (15 April 2026) list the Section 9 rights as surviving termination; they don’t say deleting an account ends either license.
5. Is the CapCut license different on Free, Standard and Pro?
The license wording in the Terms (15 April 2026) names no plan, so it reads the same whichever plan you hold.
6. Does CapCut use my face data?
The Privacy Policy (15 April 2026) says CapCut doesn’t use face or body information to identify you and deletes it after an effect is applied.
7. Are CapCut’s terms different outside the US?
This page read only the US Terms on 10 October 2026, so we can’t say how other regions’ versions read.
8. Is CapCut safe for client footage?
The Terms (15 April 2026) call uploads non-confidential and bar content confidential to someone else, so check your client contract first.
9. Did CapCut change its terms in June 2025?
CapCut’s note dated 24 June 2025 said there were no changes to your rights in its User-generated Content section.
10.Who is CapCut’s contracting company in the US?
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is named in Section 1 of CapCut’s US Terms, last updated 15 April 2026.
CapCut doesn’t own your videos, but its US Terms (last updated 15 April 2026) hold two licenses to them, and the main one is perpetual and sub-licensable. Before you upload client, music-rights or other people’s footage, read sections 9 and 15 yourself. Check the “Last updated” line again whenever you return. This is not legal advice.
