Users grant Substack a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license to translate, modify, and reproduce their posted content for the purpose of operating and improving the platform. The agreement states this license does not transfer ownership of content to Substack.
This analysis describes what Substack'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
This provision establishes that the content license granted to Substack persists indefinitely regardless of account deletion or cessation of service use, and applies to all posts including publications, subscriber lists, text, and photos uploaded to the platform. Under this clause, Substack retains the right to continue using licensed content in modified or adapted forms even after a user's account is closed.
This provision establishes that content posted to Substack is licensed to the platform on terms that survive account deletion, meaning Substack may retain the ability to use, modify, and reproduce that content after a user leaves the service. The agreement separately acknowledges that publicly posted content may remain viewable after account closure to the extent it was copied or stored by other users.
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"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 Posts to the technical requirements of networks, devices, services, or media, and this license includes the rights to do so. You agree that the licenses you grant are royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide. This is a license only – your ownership in Posts is not affected.Excerpt from Substack's Terms of Use
1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: The perpetual, irrevocable nature of this content license may interact with GDPR Article 17 right-to-erasure obligations for EU and EEA users, as users exercising deletion rights may nonetheless find their content retained …
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This provision establishes that the content license granted to Substack persists indefinitely regardless of account deletion or cessation of service use, and applies to all posts including publications, subscriber lists, text, and photos uploaded to the platform. Under this clause, Substack retains the right to continue using licensed content in modified or adapted forms even after a user's account is …
This provision establishes that content posted to Substack is licensed to the platform on terms that survive account deletion, meaning Substack may retain the ability to use, modify, and reproduce that content after a user leaves the service. The agreement separately acknowledges that publicly posted content may remain viewable after account closure to the extent it was copied or stored …
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 263 platforms. See the full comparison.
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