Claudia Sandino, a seasoned social media and digital marketing strategist based in Miami and Director at Omnivore | A Food & Beverage Advertising Agency, has raised urgent concerns after spotting a stealth update to CapCut‘s Terms of Service. In a widely shared LinkedIn post, she warned that the new contract provisions could strip creators and marketers of their ownership rights, without notice or compensation.
CapCut’s new terms quietly give them all the rights to your content, including the ability to use, alter, and profit from it indefinitely. That’s your voice, your likeness, your edits, in someone else’s ad, without your consent or compensation.
wrote Claudia Sandino, Director at Omnivore | A Food & Beverage Advertising Agency
What’s Changed?
CapCut, owned by ByteDance, quietly rolled out its updated TOS on June 12, 2025. Key revisions include:
Waiver of Moral Rights
NEW in June 2025: You waive your moral rights to your content (to the extent legally allowed), including:
- Right to prior approval before use in marketing
- Right to object to modifications
- Right of attribution
From June 2025 TOS:
“You hereby waive (to the extent permitted by applicable law) and agree never to assert any and all moral rights…”
This is a material change : it means CapCut can alter, adapt, and use your content freely without needing to credit or get final approval from you.
Explicit Upload Waiver
You waive the right to approve how your content is used in CapCut’s advertising or marketing:
“You waive any rights to prior inspection or approval of any marketing, advertising or promotional materials related to such User Content.”
Stronger Language Around Content Control
CapCut in 2025 TOS states:
- They or third parties may edit, crop, or reject your content
- They may remove it for any reason, including third-party complaints
- You are advised to keep personal backups of anything you upload
Language Around Use on Third-Party Platforms
- In both versions, if you share content to 3rd-party platforms, you bear full responsibility.
- But 2025 version clarifies this with additional legal detail (e.g., indemnity clauses, platform responsibility boundaries).
You may checkout the previous version of TOS on April 30, 2024 here.
Why It Matters
A flurry of red flags arose across forums and social chatter. On Reddit, one user summarized the shift brutally:
You grant CapCut a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty‑free, sublicensable license… even if it includes your voice, face, likeness…
Another marketing leader called it a “shiesty move” and urged agencies to “consider alternatives“
Claudia Sandino emphasized the risk:
If you use CapCut for client work, personal projects, or anything valuable, you need to read the fine print.
Implications
This is more than a policy tweak; it could legally expose creators:
- Content appropriation risk: Even draft videos or client-confidential edits stored in CapCut’s systems may be transformed into ads or training materials without consent.
- Moral rights erosion: Once waived, creators lose legal standing to object to misrepresentation of their work or likeness.
- Opaque sublicensing: Content could be licensed to third parties, even beyond ByteDance’s ecosystem.
What Creators Can Do
Experts recommend immediate action:
- Audit CapCut use: Pause using CapCut for sensitive footage, brand work, or client projects.
- Retain control: Stick to local editing tools like Premiere, Final Cut Pro, or DaVinci Resolve.
- Save originals: Always back up untouched master files on local devices.
- Monitor contract revisions: Review terms carefully and engage legal counsel if needed.
- Spread awareness: Share alerts with team members, clients, and fellow creators.