Explaining CapCut’s new terms that have caused outrage online

You’ll likely have seen concern over the weekend with CapCut’s new terms of service, which seemingly suggests that creators have lost the rights to their content. 

Fear not, as this hysteria isn’t all as it seems. To help you understand what’s really happening, we explain everything you need to know about CapCut’s new terms of service, what they mean for you and whether your content is secure.

What are the new terms?

As reported by TikTokker @bymilaholmes in a video which has since picked up nearly 18 million views, CapCut has supposedly made some changes to its terms of service. 

Essentially, the video suggests that CapCut automatically gets worldwide usage rights to all the content you upload to the platform, even if you’re just using the app to edit your video and not export it. 

Not only that, but the TikTokker claims the copyright and IP rights remain yours. While this might sound positive, Holmes elaborates that if CapCut uses your content incorrectly, then you’ll get in trouble for it.

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For example, if you upload a song that you don’t have rights to and CapCut uses your video for an advert and it gets flagged, then the onus is on you and not CapCut.

What do CapCut’s terms mean?

So Holmes’ video makes the situation sound pretty scary right? Well the reality is that firstly, when you compare the terms from 12th June 2025 to the most recent terms of service, which was last updated on April 30th 2024, hardly any amendments were made in the licensing section. Not only that, but these terms have already been the case for both TikTok and Instagram for the past five years. 

Essentially, and as explained by @seanvv, a content creator who reads the fine print of many platforms (aka a Godsend for situations like this), social platforms need these permissions as they allow users to share content on the app. Permission to seemingly “modify” content simply allows the platform in question to press or condense the video, in order to create templates. 

While the terms do technically allow CapCut and the likes to use your content, Sean explains that this is for instances where either your content will be used publicly and you’ll be credited, or for internal use. Supposedly, this means CapCut is still unable to use your work without crediting you.

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However, Sean explains that Holmes isn’t wrong with the latter point about copyright infringement. Sean advises in a comment “basically, don’t use media that’s not yours (plagiarism and copyright infringement). Use the music library if you want music – and if a celeb sues you for infringing on their copyright – that’s on you. So run a copyright check and understand fair use”.  

With this in mind, it’s advisable to ensure you’re not infringing on any copyright rules when editing videos. 

Should you use CapCut?

It’s understandable why you’d feel anxious using CapCut, however these terms aren’t necessarily much different from other social media platforms, as you have to trade off some rights in order to use the service.

There are, however, plenty of other services that don’t require agreeing to such terms when signing up. While we haven’t reviewed the likes, DaVinci is a popular free alternative while Adobe Premier Pro may require a subscription but offers pro-level video editing.

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