If your school uses CapCut to edit social media videos, promotional content, or student clips, you need to know about the platform's terms of service, updated last year - something that has alarmed lawyers, agencies, and data protection specialists across the industry.
This is not scaremongering. It is a practical heads-up that the tool many schools have adopted because it is free, fast, and easy to use may be costing you something you cannot put a price on: control over your own content, and the privacy of your students.
What changed, and when
CapCut, owned by ByteDance (the same company behind TikTok), updated its Terms of Service on 12 June 2025. The update formalised and in some respects expanded the rights the platform claims over any content uploaded by users. Those rights are broad. By using CapCut, you grant ByteDance a licence to your content that is:
- Worldwide
- Perpetual (it does not expire)
- Royalty-free (they pay you nothing)
- Irrevocable (you cannot take it back)
- Sub-licensable (they can pass it to third parties)
Critically, this licence covers not just content you publish, but anything you upload to the platform - including drafts, works in progress, and files stored in CapCut's cloud that you never made public.
CapCut responded to the backlash by insisting the user-generated content section of its terms was unchanged, and that it only claims the rights needed to run its basic services. Most independent commentators were unconvinced.
What lawyers and industry experts are saying
A number of legal specialists and digital agencies have raised serious concerns since the update.
2B Advice (data protection consultancy): In an analysis published in July 2025, 2B Advice flagged that CapCut's terms grant it the right to use biometric features - specifically facial recognition data and voice patterns - for any commercial purpose. They noted that continued use of content even after a user deletes their account may be in direct conflict with the GDPR right to erasure under Article 17. On educational use specifically, they wrote that "teachers and institutions that recommend or prescribe CapCut expose themselves to a considerable liability risk," and that "educational content created and stored via CapCut could be analysed by ByteDance and used for its own purposes without the educational institution being able to prevent or control this." They also flagged that organisations using CapCut systematically - including for e-learning and video communication - may be required to carry out a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) under Article 35 GDPR. Full analysis: https://2b-advice.com/en/2025/07/04/capcut-trouble-over-new-terms-of-service-legal-risks-lurk-here/
Liscah Isaboke, Esq. (intellectual property and business lawyer, Isaboke Law): Writing in January 2026, Isaboke confirmed that while users technically retain ownership of their content, CapCut's licence means the platform can "modify, publish, monetize, and resell your work" without paying or crediting you. She highlighted that creators who rely on licensing agreements or brand deals face particular risk, and advised that anyone wanting full control should export final edits and publish them outside CapCut's ecosystem entirely. Full analysis: https://www.isabokelaw.com/blog/capcuts-new-terms-of-service-what-every-content-creator-needs-to-know
Our Own Brand (social-first creative agency): One of the more direct industry responses came from this UK-based agency, which announced it was removing CapCut from all professional workflows. "The updated Terms of Service give ByteDance extensive rights to use and modify any content you upload," they wrote, adding that this includes "client work, internal drafts, branded edits, and personal projects." Their advice: do not upload client content, confidential material, or brand assets to CapCut. Full statement: https://ourownbrand.co/capcuts-terms-of-service-just-changed-what-creators-agencies-need-to-know
Torro.io (digital risk and cybersecurity): Their analysis emphasised the implications of the irrevocability clause. "If you delete your content or close your CapCut account, CapCut will still have the rights of ownership over any content you created on the app once the terms and conditions have been agreed upon - including all content created before the terms and conditions were put into place." They also confirmed that CapCut can use your face and voice in advertising and other media without further permission, as agreeing to the terms constitutes consent to that use. Full analysis: https://torro.io/blog/capcut-policy-update
Hillary K. Grigonis, Yahoo Tech / TechRadar: Writing in June 2025, Grigonis noted that the irrevocability of the licence - and its application to cloud-saved drafts - was the crux of public anger. She observed that the controversy highlighted a wider problem: most users agree to terms of service without reading them, and that platforms need to make these documents far more comprehensible. Full article: https://tech.yahoo.com/social-media/articles/capcut-terms-angering-internet-perfect-071234306.html
Digital Information World: Their coverage added an important dimension for professional users: "The platform now treats all content as non-confidential, with no obligation to keep anything private or original to the creator." They noted that for businesses, the footage previously considered internal or draft material could be reused elsewhere, with no guarantee the original uploader has any control over where it appears. Full article: https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2025/06/capcuts-new-terms-spark-privacy-and.html
Why this matters more for language schools than most
General advice about CapCut risks tends to focus on individual content creators and marketing agencies. The situation for a language school is, in several respects, more serious still.
Your students are your content
Much of the video content a language school produces features students: testimonial clips, classroom footage, cultural trips, graduation ceremonies, arrival days... Unlike a brand marketing its products, your content almost always includes real people who have entrusted you with their image and likeness. The consent forms you use - and all schools should have them - will have been written to cover your own promotional use. They will not have been written to cover a perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable global licence granted to a ByteDance entity. If CapCut uses that footage commercially, your consent framework does not protect you.
Junior programmes create heightened risk
If your school operates a junior programme, summer school, or any provision involving students under 18, the stakes are considerably higher. CapCut's own terms state the service is for users aged 13 and older. But the more relevant issue is what happens when footage of minors is uploaded to a platform that then claims the right to use it commercially, including potentially identifying individuals by face and voice, without further notice or consent. Even if CapCut never exercises that right in practice, the legal and reputational exposure of being the institution that put that content there is not a comfortable position.
Drafts and unpublished content are not safe
It is tempting to think the risk only applies to content you publish. It does not. Any footage uploaded to CapCut's servers - including projects you are still editing, videos you decide not to use, and files stored in the app's cloud - falls within the scope of the licence you have granted. A school editing a student interview and then shelving it has still handed CapCut the rights.
The liability sits with you, not CapCut
The Terms are explicit that users declare ownership of all rights to the content they upload, and that in the event of any legal claim, the user must indemnify CapCut for any resulting damages. If your promotional video includes licensed background music - even legitimately licensed for your own use - and CapCut subsequently uses that footage in a commercial context, the legal exposure flows back to you, not to CapCut. That is not a theoretical risk for a school producing polished, music-backed social content.
GDPR obligations are not just a technicality
As 2B Advice has noted, the processing of facial image data and voice recordings constitutes processing of biometric data under GDPR. For schools that routinely capture this in video content, using a platform where that data is then processed by a third party under broad commercial terms - without a compliant data processing agreement in place - is a potential regulatory exposure. If your school is in the UK or EU, your data protection obligations do not pause because a piece of software is convenient.
What you should do now
Stop using CapCut for school content immediately
The simplest and most defensible position is to remove CapCut from your video production workflow for any content involving students, staff, or your school brand. The convenience it offers does not outweigh the rights you surrender in exchange for it.
Audit what you have already uploaded
If you have been using CapCut for school content, make a list of what has been uploaded - particularly anything featuring identifiable students or staff. You cannot retroactively revoke the licence you have already granted, but you can stop adding to it and factor the exposure into your risk register.
Review your student consent forms
Your existing consent forms almost certainly do not cover third-party commercial use by a global platform. It is worth having them reviewed in light of the tools you actually use for content production, and updating them to be explicit about platforms and their terms. Your legal adviser should be involved in this.
Carry out a DPIA if you use video content systematically
If video production featuring students is a regular part of your marketing or communications activity, a Data Protection Impact Assessment is not just advisable - it may be required under GDPR Article 35, particularly where biometric data (faces, voices) is involved. Document the tools you use, the data they process, and the legal basis for that processing.
Switch to tools that do not claim rights over your content
There are excellent free and low-cost alternatives to CapCut that do not claim licences over uploaded content:
- DaVinci Resolve (free version): professional-grade editing software widely used in broadcast and film production. No subscription, no content licence claims.
- Adobe Premiere Pro: the industry standard, available via Creative Cloud subscription. Clear, well-established terms that do not claim rights over user content.
- Final Cut Pro: Apple's professional editor, available as a one-off purchase. Widely used in education and marketing.
Establish an internal policy for third-party editing tools
This situation is unlikely to be unique to CapCut. The broader lesson is that any free tool your school uses for content production should have its terms of service reviewed before it enters your workflow - particularly where student data is involved. A simple internal checklist covering content rights, data processing, and GDPR compliance would mean you are not caught out the next time a platform updates its terms quietly.
Brief your marketing team or agency
If you work with an external agency or freelancers on video content, make sure they are aware of this issue and are not using CapCut as part of their production process for your content. The licence is granted by whoever uploads the content, regardless of who owns it. Your agency's workflow is your exposure too.
A final note
CapCut is a genuinely impressive piece of software, and it is easy to see why it became popular in schools and marketing teams alike. But the terms under which it operates have shifted significantly, and the combination of irrevocable content rights, biometric data processing, and the absence of a compliant data processing agreement makes it unsuitable for any organisation that has GDPR obligations and a duty of care to the people who appear in its content.
The good news is that the alternatives are good, and in some cases free. Making the switch is a straightforward decision once you understand what the current arrangement actually involves.
Richard Bradford is the founder of Disquiet Dog, a marketing consultancy and creative agency working with language schools, English UK members, and education providers. For questions about your school's digital content strategy or to get help with social media content production, please get in touch.
