Using AI-Generated Video in Your Projects: A Guide for Creators

A world of artificial intelligence-generated video has emerged, making it easier to create high-quality content quickly. However, creators face a critical question: can they use this technology commercially? The answer isn’t simple and requires understanding the terms and conditions of each tool.

Some AI tools allow commercial use on specific paid tiers, but the exact rules vary between platforms. This is where many beginners make mistakes – assuming one tool’s rules apply to all others. In reality, some grant ownership while others provide a license for its use or restrict it entirely below a certain plan.

The distinction between owning and licensing content can be complex. Ownership means that the platform doesn’t claim what you’ve generated as their own. A license allows you to use the output under specific conditions but retains rights to the underlying content or limits its use. Both types of agreements allow commercial use, but they’re not interchangeable.

To understand this better, let’s take a closer look at six tools I regularly use: Runway, Kling AI from Kuaishou, Google Veo accessed through the Gemini API or Vertex AI, ElevenLabs, Higgsfield, and Pika. Each tool has its own set of terms regarding commercial use.

Runway’s terms state that they don’t claim ownership of inputs or outputs and allow commercial use across all plans – Free, Standard, Pro, Max, and Unlimited. However, output on the free tier carries a watermark that can be removed starting with the Standard plan.

A key thing to note is that Google Veo’s terms tie indemnification to whether the model is in General Availability or if you’re using it on a paid tier. This means Preview features like Veo 3.1 may leave your project at risk of losing coverage. ElevenLabs includes a commercial license on all paid plans but requires documented consent for voice cloning and bans impersonating political figures regardless of authorization.

Higgsfield states that they don’t claim ownership or restrict commercial use across its primary terms, though this isn’t tiered by plan in the main terms. Pika licenses its service for personal, non-commercial use except where your subscription Plan expressly permits commercial use – only on Pro and Fancy tiers.

Each tool has its own rules regarding commercial use. It’s essential to check these before using any AI-generated content in a paid project. This includes checking the specific plan you generated on, not just your current subscription tier, as well as indemnification status for Preview or Beta features.

When working with cloned voices that aren’t your own, written consent is crucial and should be kept somewhere retrievable – don’t rely solely on memory. When using multiple tools in a single project, it’s essential to check each one’s terms independently because the rules can differ significantly between platforms.

In my experience, re-checking before every paid delivery is vital due to how often terms of service change in this space. I’ve built ScreenWeaver as a workspace between writing and production for exactly this reason – it keeps track of tool, plan tier, and rights status attached to each shot next to the script line.

The free plan does not grant commercial use even if you remove the watermark yourself. Removing a watermark is just a visual signal; the underlying license remains unchanged. If the free tier excludes commercial use, editing out the watermark doesn’t give rights that weren’t given in the first place.

Combining outputs from different tools can add complexity. Each output is still governed by its respective tool’s terms and conditions – there isn’t a single ‘AI video license’ covering mixed pipelines.

When working with AI-generated video commercially, creators need to carefully consider each tool’s terms and conditions. By following this checklist before shipping content, creators can avoid costly mistakes and ensure they meet the necessary requirements for commercial use.

Commercial use of AI-generated video is allowed in most platforms but requires a careful examination of each tool’s specific rules and conditions. Understanding these nuances will save creators from costly mistakes and ensure they meet the necessary requirements.

The process of using multiple tools to generate content can be tricky, as you need to satisfy both sets of terms individually. This means checking each platform’s rules independently will help avoid potential issues down the line.