“To the extent necessary to provide the Services to you and others, to protect you and the Services, and to improve Microsoft products and services, you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content, for example, to make copies of, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute via communication tools Your Content on the Services.”
This analysis describes what Microsoft'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
Microsoft acquires broad intellectual property rights over user content at no cost, enabling it to use that content across the Services globally without compensating the user.
Interpretive note: The phrase 'for example' before the list of permitted uses indicates the enumerated activities are illustrative, not exhaustive. The full scope of the license may be broader than the examples suggest, but no further specification appears in the excerpt.
Content you provide to Microsoft's Services is subject to a worldwide, royalty-free license that allows Microsoft to copy, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute it on the Services.
How other platforms handle this
User grants to Stripe...a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use that Feedback for any purpose.
The license granted to you for the App is a limited, non-transferable license to use the App on Mac product that you own or control and as permitted by the Usage Rules that are part of the terms of service in the Mac App Store.
Teladoc Health grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Platforms in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
"To the extent necessary to provide the Services to you and others, to protect you and the Services, and to improve Microsoft products and services, you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content, for example, to make copies of, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute via communication tools Your Content on the Services.Excerpt from Microsoft's Services Agreement (Legacy)
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Microsoft acquires broad intellectual property rights over user content at no cost, enabling it to use that content across the Services globally without compensating the user.
Content you provide to Microsoft's Services is subject to a worldwide, royalty-free license that allows Microsoft to copy, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute it on the Services.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 249 platforms. See the full comparison.
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