Character.AI · Character.ai Terms of Service · View original document ↗

Perpetual Irrevocable Content License

High severity High confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Uncommon · 14 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity Character.AI recorded 21 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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Document Record

What it is

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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This license never expires and cannot be revoked, meaning content you submit today can be used by Character.AI commercially indefinitely, even after you delete your account.

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
Apr 3, 2026
First Seen
May 22, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 646 other provisions on other platforms.

Change history

modified Jun 16, 2026

Previous version had empty excerpt; current version now explicitly details the perpetual license grant for user-submitted content.

View full change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

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.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Delete Your Data
    Submit a data deletion request through the Character.AI Help Center support ticket form. Select the appropriate request type and specify that you are requesting deletion of your content and account data.

How other platforms handle this

Substack Medium

You hereby grant Substack a license to translate, modify, reproduce, and otherwise act with respect to your Posts to enable us to provide, improve, and notify you about new features within Substack. You understand and agree that we may need to make changes to your Posts to conform and adapt those Po...

FanDuel Medium

With respect to User Content you submit or otherwise make available on or to the Service, you grant FanDuel an irrevocable, fully sub-licensable, perpetual, world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly...

Rumble Medium

By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Rumble 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 Content in any and all media or dis...

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

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.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over unfair or deceptive practices related to how platforms disclose and use consumer content, including commercial exploitation of user-generated data.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Character.ai Terms of Service
Entity
Character.AI
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 7, 2026
Last verified
May 10, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-000795
Document ID
CA-D-00121
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
46f6e1a8e8b7e96332c5e7584411513fca3c44e2ecf77571159e9be67a01a2a4
Analysis generated
May 7, 2026 23:51 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Character.AI
Document: Character.ai Terms of Service
Record ID: CA-P-000795
Captured: 2026-05-07 23:51:07 UTC
SHA-256: 46f6e1a8e8b7e963…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/characterai/characterai-terms-of-service/perpetual-irrevocable-content-license/
Accessed: July 4, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Character.AI's Perpetual Irrevocable Content License clause do?

This license never expires and cannot be revoked, meaning content you submit today can be used by Character.AI commercially indefinitely, even after you delete your account.

How does this clause affect you?

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 many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 14 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Character.AI?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Character.AI.