Hugging Face · Hugging Face Terms of Service

Hugging Face Platform Content License

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What it is

By posting any content on Hugging Face, you give the company a worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and create derivative works from your content to run and improve its services.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Every piece of content you upload to Hugging Face — whether a model, dataset, or code — is licensed to the company on a royalty-free basis, including the right to make derivative works, which could include using your data to train Hugging Face's own systems.

Cross-platform context

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

This license allows Hugging Face to use your uploaded models, datasets, and code to operate its platform — the scope of 'provide Services' is broad and not precisely defined, meaning it could encompass use cases beyond what users might expect.

View original clause language
You hereby grant us a worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, display, publish, reproduce, distribute, and make derivative works of such Content to provide Services and as otherwise permitted under these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates GDPR Article 6(1)(b) (processing necessary for contract performance) and Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interests) as a legal basis for content processing. The 'derivative works' right may constitute processing of personal data where training datasets contain personal information, triggering GDPR Article 22 (automated decision-making) and Article 5(1)(b) (purpose limitation) considerations. FTC Act Section 5 applies to representations about how user content is used. (2)

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority to investigate whether the scope of the content license constitutes an unfair or deceptive data practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Hugging Face Terms of Service
Entity
Hugging Face
Document last updated
April 29, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 28, 2026
Last verified
April 28, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-003732
Document ID
CA-D-00331
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
2269155ce319d582d93521863aca9538f6de5d939317f060f12891e3d3fa7d5b
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Hugging Face | Document: Hugging Face Terms of Service | Record: CA-P-003732
Captured: 2026-04-28 05:35:29 UTC | SHA-256: 2269155ce319d582…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/hugging-face/hugging-face-terms-of-service/hugging-face-platform-content-license/
Accessed: May 2, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
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