When you post anything to Character.AI, you keep ownership of it, but you give Character.AI permanent, irrevocable permission to use, copy, modify, commercialize, and share your content with third parties in any way, forever, without paying you.
This analysis describes what Character.AI's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The provision establishes Character.AI's operational authority to exploit user-generated content across current and future platforms, technologies, and business applications without ongoing compensation or explicit per-use approval. The transferability and sublicensing components mean these rights extend beyond Character.AI's direct control to contractual partners and downstream recipients.
Any text, images, or other content you submit to Character.AI may be used commercially, shared with third-party partners, and licensed to other users permanently, with no obligation for the company to notify you or compensate you for that use.
How other platforms handle this
By submitting or posting User Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such User Content in any and all media or distribu...
By making any User Content available to Calm, you hereby grant to Calm a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide, royalty-free, license to use, store, publish, translate, reproduce, adapt, copy, modify, create derivative works based upon, publicly display, publicly perform, and distrib...
By submitting User Material you hereby grant Headspace an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty free, worldwide license to use, telecast, copy, perform, display, edit, distribute and otherwise exploit the User Material you post on the Products, or any portion thereof, and any ideas, concept...
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"When you submit such content, you retain whatever ownership rights in that content you had to begin with. You grant Character.AI, to the fullest extent permitted under the law, a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, transmit, make available, store, modify, exploit, commercialize and otherwise use the content for any Character.AI-related purpose in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed, including without limitation to operate, improve and provide the Services. You agree that these rights and licenses include a right for Character.AI to allow other users of the Services to create content that "remixes," or otherwise uses portions of, the content you submitted. You agree that these rights and licenses also include a right for Character.AI to make the content available to, and pass these rights along to, others with whom we have contractual relationships, and to otherwise permit access to or disclose the content to third parties if we determine such access is or may be necessary or appropriate.— Excerpt from Character.AI's Character.ai Terms of Service
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision implicates GDPR Articles 6 and 13 (lawful basis and transparency requirements for data processing), CCPA/CPRA disclosure and data use obligations, and potentially the EU AI Act where submitted content is used to train or improve AI systems. The FTC Act is relevant where content use practices diverge from user expectations created at onboarding. The sublicense right permitting disclosure to third parties with contractual relationships may require data processing agreements under GDPR Article 28. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The combination of perpetual, irrevocable, and sublicensable rights over user content, including the right to commercialize and share with third parties, creates significant GDPR compliance exposure. The assertion that content may be shared with third parties if Character.AI determines access is necessary or appropriate is broad and may not align with GDPR's purpose limitation and data minimization principles. The irrevocable nature of the license creates tension with GDPR data subject deletion rights, which compliance teams should evaluate carefully. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA users have GDPR rights to erasure and data portability that may conflict with the perpetual and irrevocable nature of this license grant; the agreement's language acknowledging the license applies only to the fullest extent permitted under the law provides some acknowledgment of this tension. California residents have CCPA/CPRA rights to deletion and to know how their data is used commercially. The sublicense right to share with third parties creates heightened exposure in jurisdictions with strict data localization or cross-border transfer restrictions. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations allowing employees or contractors to use Character.AI should assess whether submitted content may include confidential or proprietary business information that would fall under this license grant. The sublicense right means Character.AI's third-party partners may also hold rights to submitted content, which creates downstream vendor assessment obligations. The transferability of the license means these rights could survive a sale or restructuring of the company. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should evaluate whether the consent mechanism at account creation adequately discloses the commercialization and third-party sharing rights in this license to satisfy GDPR transparency requirements and CCPA disclosure obligations. Data mapping should document what categories of user content are subject to this license and which third parties receive access. Policy reviews should assess whether employee acceptable use policies address the risk of submitting sensitive information to Character.AI.
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The provision establishes Character.AI's operational authority to exploit user-generated content across current and future platforms, technologies, and business applications without ongoing compensation or explicit per-use approval. The transferability and sublicensing components mean these rights extend beyond Character.AI's direct control to contractual partners and downstream recipients.
Any text, images, or other content you submit to Character.AI may be used commercially, shared with third-party partners, and licensed to other users permanently, with no obligation for the company to notify you or compensate you for that use.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 10 platforms. See the full comparison.
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