Meta retains full ownership of its platform, APIs, and SDKs. Developers receive only a limited right to use these tools, and that right can be taken away for any reason.
This analysis describes what Meta'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 complete retention of intellectual property rights by Meta, combined with the revocable license, means that developers have no ownership stake in the platform infrastructure their products depend on and no guaranteed right to continued access.
Because Meta retains all intellectual property rights and grants only a revocable license, any consumer-facing app built on Meta's platform is ultimately dependent on Meta's ongoing permission to operate, with no independent legal right to continued access.
How other platforms handle this
You retain any and all of your rights to any content you submit, post or display on or through the Services ('User Content') and you are responsible for protecting those rights. By submitting User Content through the Services, you hereby grant to Unity a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully...
By submitting Content to Shopify, 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 distribution methods (now known or later deve...
As between Customer and Cohere, Cohere retains all right, title, and interest in and to the Services, including all intellectual property rights therein. Customer retains all right, title, and interest in and to the Customer Data.
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"As between you and us, we own all rights, title, and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to the Platform and all elements, components, and executables of the Platform. Except for the rights expressly granted to you in these Terms, we do not grant you any right, title, or interest in or to the Platform. The license we grant you may be suspended or terminated by us for any reason.— Excerpt from Meta's Llama API Terms of Service
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision primarily engages intellectual property law including copyright and trade secret protections under US law and equivalent protections in other jurisdictions. It does not directly engage consumer protection or data protection regulations, though the revocability of the license interacts with EU P2B Regulation requirements around platform access termination. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Low. The assertion of full IP ownership over the platform is standard in platform licensing agreements and does not create unusual compliance exposure for developers operating in good faith within the license scope. The revocability element creates the primary operational risk, as addressed in the platform access license provision. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA developers should evaluate whether the combination of full IP ownership assertion and revocable license is compatible with P2B Regulation notice requirements. Developers in jurisdictions with software-specific IP protections should assess whether any contributed code or integrations affect the IP ownership landscape. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Developers should not include representations in their own customer contracts asserting perpetual or guaranteed access to Meta platform features. Any product representations to customers or investors that imply a durable right to Meta platform access should be reviewed for accuracy given the fully revocable nature of the license. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should confirm that their organization's IP policies and product development agreements accurately reflect the third-party licensed nature of Meta platform components, including in open source disclosures, patent strategies, and investor materials.
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The complete retention of intellectual property rights by Meta, combined with the revocable license, means that developers have no ownership stake in the platform infrastructure their products depend on and no guaranteed right to continued access.
Because Meta retains all intellectual property rights and grants only a revocable license, any consumer-facing app built on Meta's platform is ultimately dependent on Meta's ongoing permission to operate, with no independent legal right to continued access.
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