Terms of service documents on social media may be the fastest ticked “I agree” columns in the world, but who knows what they entail? While copyright appears to be obvious for more conventional works, questions emerge over the existence of copyright for other, more recent digital productions, such as the videos posted on TikTok.
TikTok has gotten a bad reputation for collecting and selling users’ information, but how legitimate are those claims? Contrary to popular belief, TikTok users retain their ownership over the content that they post on the platform as well as their user data. However, the app does collect user data and use third party cookies for advertising purposes.
One important factor to consider when it comes to privacy problems with applications is what information one willingly submits to the platform. Tik Tok displays one’s face along with any videos and other information posted via the app, but the profile is simplistic in comparison with other social media platforms. There may be a photo, a brief biography, and a link to the user’s other social media accounts at the most. By contrast, Facebook possesses far more data. When utilising any social media network, but particularly when comparing Tik Tok with other platforms, keep this in mind: Users remain the owner of their data that TikTok collects.
TikTok provides an Intellectual Property Policy that is easy to read before posting content on the network regarding the copyright of user’s content. This way, one can be aware of the content that the platform doesn’t allow and the rights regarding posted content. Although TikTok may utilise any content posted on the social network for commercial purposes, the owner and copyright holder of any content posted there is the video's author. Furthermore, it adds that users would be penalised for using third-party content without permission, or without a good legal reason, as publishing any information on the network that may violate copyright will be prohibited. On the other hand, TikTok gives users the option to grant a free licence so that other people can download their films.
Music rights on TikTok seem to depend on the producer of the music. TikTok stated that, regarding sound recordings and musical compositions that are made accessible from or via the service, no rights are licenced. A recent deal between Warner Bros and TikTok lapsed, resulting in dozen of widely used music to be removed from the app.
Additionally, it states that by uploading any form of sound recording—whether one is singing or speaking—to Tik Tok, one grants other users’ permission to alter, modify, or create a new recording based on the original. The latest videos that used Warner Bros music, like Taylor Swift and Drake songs, have subsequently been muted. Other sounds can be added to these videos, just not any music that falls under Warner Bros.
Now more importantly, who owns the content that one posts on TikTok? One owns it if one made it. Nonetheless, TikTok has some rights over the material under the terms of the End-User Licence Agreement, including the ability to share and distribute it.
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