Start hereYou upload a drawing and keep the copyright. So can the site still show it, share it, or feed it to an AI model? The answer sits in a few lines of the licence and in pages most of us never open.
When you upload a picture, a video or a 3D model, every terms page we read says the platform does not take ownership of it. What you give the platform is a licence: permission to use your work. The wording of that licence, and what each platform says about AI training, is where they differ. Below: what 11 platforms’ own pages said when we read them on 12 November 2026, quoted word for word.
We quote the terms; we do not say what they mean in law where you live. For that, a lawyer who knows your country can help.
1. Three questions to ask of any upload
Who owns it, what licence you give, and what the platform says about AI training.
Who owns it? Every terms page we read says, in its own words, that the platform does not take ownership of what you upload. The exact sentences are quoted below.
What licence do you give? A licence is permission to use your work. It is not a transfer of ownership. Royalty-free means the licence itself does not require the platform to pay you a royalty for that use. Nine of the 11 licences we quote use the word royalty-free; LinkedIn’s and Shutterstock’s do not. Some sites pay contributors separately: Adobe Stock pays for sales of licences to your work, and Shutterstock pays a royalty for each download it is paid for.
Four words in these grants are worth noticing: perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable and transferable. Their effect in law depends on where you are, so we quote them rather than explain them.
What does it say about AI training? Generative AI is AI that learns patterns from examples and uses them to make new pictures, video, sound or text. Platforms answer the training question in different places: the terms, the privacy policy or a help page. So read all three, not just the terms.
For example, a photographer posting the same picture to three sites agrees to three different licences.
The 11 at a glance. Each cell sums up the platform’s own page; the sections below quote it.
| Platform | Who owns it | Words in the licence | What its pages say about AI training |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArtStation | You keep it | perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable | Promises not to use your work for generative AI |
| Sketchfab | You remain the owner | perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable | Same promise; its NoAI tag is off by default |
| YouTube | You keep it | sublicensable, transferable | A setting for other AI companies, off by default |
| Instagram does not claim it | transferable, sub-licensable | Meta’s AI page lists posts among training sources | |
| You keep it | transferable, sub-licensable | Same Meta AI page; you can object | |
| TikTok (US terms) | You own it | irrevocable, assignable, sub-licensable | Licence names training machine learning models, subject to your settings |
| X | You keep your rights | sublicense, “for any purpose” | Licence names training AI models |
| You own it | transferable, sublicensable | May train on posts where law and your settings allow | |
| You keep all rights | transferable, sublicensable, monetize | Describes training models on Pins of any age | |
| Adobe Stock | Ownership is not transferred | perpetual, royalty-free | Stock content is used to train Firefly; no opt-out offered for now |
| Shutterstock | You keep it | sublicensable, any reasonable business purpose | Licensed its content to train AI; a fund pays contributors |
2. Design and 3D showcases
The two showcase sites we read promise not to use your work for generative AI.
ArtStation
ArtStation’s licence is perpetual and irrevocable, and its terms also promise not to use your work for generative AI.
ArtStation’s terms are an agreement with KitBash AS Operations LLC. They say “you will retain ownership” of the original content you provide. The licence you give is “worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers)”. It covers use “as necessary to provide, improve and promote the Services”.
Section 46 says ArtStation agrees, “whether or not Your Content is NoAI Content”, not to use it or license it for generative AI. The NoAI tag is applied to your projects by default, and you must remove it yourself to turn it off.
In September 2026 ArtStation said it was working with Cloudflare to block known AI crawlers, and adding the NoAI tag to existing uploads too. In November 2026 it began asking creators to declare whether generative AI was used in a project.
The plain-language column beside the terms says it is not legally binding. So the quotes above come from the binding text.
Watch for: the promise is about what ArtStation itself does. Its own post says: “No system can make publicly shared work impossible to scrape.”
Sketchfab
Sketchfab makes the same AI promise, but its NoAI tag starts switched off.
ArtStation and Sketchfab both became part of KitBash in August 2026. Sketchfab’s terms are effective October 27, 2026, and are an agreement with KitBash SF Operations LLC. They say Sketchfab “does not claim any ownership rights in your User Content”. Its licence is also perpetual, irrevocable and sub-licensable, “as necessary to provide, improve and promote the Services”.
Sketchfab agrees, “whether or not your User Content is NoAI Content”, not to use it or license it for generative AI. But the NoAI tag “will not be applied to your uploads or your User Content by default”.
Try this: if you want the tag, the terms say you must mark your projects yourself.
For Dribbble and Behance, our Dribbble vs Behance page quotes both licences and Adobe’s line on AI training.
3. Video and social platforms
These platforms do not take ownership either, but most of their pages describe some use of posts for AI, and the opt-outs differ.
YouTube
YouTube’s licence runs for a while after you delete a video, and its AI setting is about other companies.
YouTube’s terms, in the version effective as of January 5, 2022, say: “You retain ownership rights in your Content.” The licence is “worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable”. It covers use in connection with the service and YouTube’s “business, including for the purpose of promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service”. It continues “for a commercially reasonable period of time” after you remove your content.
YouTube’s help page says creators can let third-party companies train AI on their videos, and that this setting is turned off by default. It also says: “ultimately we can’t control what a third-party company does.”
Google’s privacy policy, which says it covers YouTube, says Google may collect information that is publicly available online to help train its AI models. That passage does not mention YouTube videos, and none of the pages we read settles it either way.
Watch for: the setting is about third-party companies, which the help page calls separate from YouTube and Google.
Instagram’s licence ends when your content is deleted from Meta’s systems.
Instagram’s terms say the service is provided by Meta Platforms, Inc. They say: “We do not claim ownership of your content that you post on or through the Service.” The licence is “non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide”, and “consistent with your privacy and application settings”. It says: “This license will end when your content is deleted from our systems.” Its terms add that deleting content can take up to 90 days, with up to another 90 days to remove it from backups, and that where others have used your content under the licence and not deleted it, the licence continues until that content is deleted.
New terms take effect on January 20, 2027, and keep the same licence wording.
Meta’s page on generative AI lists “posts or photos and their captions” shared on its products among its training sources. It says it does not use your private messages with friends and family to train its AIs, unless someone in the chat shares them with its AIs.
Facebook uses the same Meta licence wording, and Meta lets you object to its use of your public posts for AI.
Meta’s terms, effective January 1, 2025, say you “retain ownership of the intellectual property rights” in what you create and share on Facebook. The licence is “non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide”, “consistent with your privacy and application settings”. It also ends “when your content is deleted from our systems.” Facebook’s terms say the same: deletion can take up to 90 days, with up to another 90 days to remove it from backups, and the licence continues for content others have used under it until that content is deleted. The terms page says Meta is updating these terms on January 20, 2027.
Meta’s page, in the version we read, says you can object to the public information you have shared on its products being used to develop and improve AI at Meta. It adds that if you object after a training run has started, it may still use your information for that run. You may need to be logged in to see the forms for your region.
Try this: Meta says you can send an objection through your Facebook, Instagram or Meta account.
TikTok
TikTok has different terms by region; the US version names training machine learning models in its licence.
TikTok’s US terms, last updated July 15, 2026, say: “Except with respect to TikTok Content and unless expressly stated otherwise, as between you and TikTok USDS Joint Venture, you own Your Content.” The licence is “non-exclusive, irrevocable, and royalty-free” and “assignable and sub-licensable”. Its purposes include “training, testing, and improving our machine learning models and algorithms”, “consistent with these Terms and subject to your Platform settings”.
TikTok’s terms for other regions, last updated 1 December 2025, apply if you are not in the US, EEA, United Kingdom, Switzerland or India. They say you still own the copyright, and grant “an unconditional irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully transferable, perpetual worldwide licence”. We did not read the EEA, UK, Swiss or Indian versions.
X
X’s licence covers any purpose and names training AI models.
X’s terms, effective October 9, 2026, say: “You retain your rights to any Content”. The licence is “worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free” with “the right to sublicense”, “for any purpose”. It says the licence covers improving the services, “for example, for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models”.
LinkedIn may train generative AI on members’ posts where law and settings allow, and it has an opt-out setting.
LinkedIn’s user agreement, effective November 3, 2025, says “you own your original content”. The licence is “worldwide, transferable and sublicensable”, with no “further consent, notice and/or compensation”. You can end it for a post by deleting it, with exceptions, such as where others have copied, re-shared or stored it.
LinkedIn’s help page lists member posts, articles and comments among the data it uses to train its generative AI models. It says it uses member content only where applicable law and a member’s settings allow. You can opt out with the Data for Generative AI Improvement setting, which does not affect training that has already taken place.
Watch for: feedback you send LinkedIn is not covered by that setting.
Pinterest’s licence includes the right to monetize your Pins, and its privacy policy describes training on Pins of any age.
Pinterest’s terms, in the version that took effect on November 12, 2026, say: “You retain all rights in, and are solely responsible for, the User Content you post to Pinterest.” The licence is “non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide” and includes the right to “monetize”. It covers “our users” as well as Pinterest and its affiliates and service providers.
Its privacy policy, effective the same day, gives as an example using information “(such as Pins, regardless of when they were posted)” to train “our machine learning models and our generative artificial intelligence models”. The earlier versions, effective April 30, 2025 and still on Pinterest’s main pages when we read them, use the same licence wording. The earlier privacy policy’s example names machine learning models only, “regardless of when Pins were posted”.
4. Stock sites
Stock sites license your work to buyers, and the two we read describe contributor work being used for AI.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock uses contributor content to train its Firefly AI, and says it does not currently offer an opt-out.
Adobe Stock’s contributor agreement, effective as of June 18, 2024, says no “title nor any ownership interest” in your work is transferred to Adobe. The licence is “non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid, and royalty-free”. Its purposes include “developing new features and services”.
Adobe’s contributor FAQ says the first commercial Firefly model was trained on Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content and public-domain content. It says Adobe Stock video is now used in training too. It says: “We currently do not offer an opt-out option for Adobe Stock content.” Eligible contributors whose content was considered for training were paid a Firefly Contributor bonus on September 17, 2026.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock’s licence covers “any reasonable business purpose”, and its FAQ describes licensing contributor content for AI training.
Shutterstock’s contributor terms, effective as of September 5, 2023, say: “You always retain ownership in and to your content.” The licence is “worldwide, sublicensable, non-exclusive”, for “any reasonable business purpose”, including “to develop new features and products”.
Its contributor FAQ, whose text says “Last updated April 18, 2024” (the page itself shows an update on July 17, 2025), says its AI image tool runs on partners’ technology “trained using datasets licensed from Shutterstock”. It says a Contributor Fund will pay contributors if their work was used in developing AI models. Its text is still dated April 2024, so check it before you rely on it.
Getty Images’ pages returned an error to our reader, so Getty is not on this page.
5. Easy to mix up
Five pairs of ideas that sound alike but are not the same.
Keeping ownership, and giving a licence. None of these platforms takes ownership. A licence still lets the platform use the work in the ways its wording lists.
How sure: Strong each terms page we read says so, in its own words.
“We won’t train on it”, and “we won’t let others”. ArtStation and Sketchfab promise not to use your work for generative AI or license it for that. YouTube’s setting is about letting other companies train on your videos. X’s licence says it “authorizes us to make your Content available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same.”
A default, and a setting. ArtStation’s NoAI tag starts on; Sketchfab’s starts off. YouTube’s third-party setting starts off; LinkedIn’s training opt-out is a setting you change.
Deleting a post, and ending the licence. On Instagram and Facebook the licence ends when content is deleted from Meta’s systems; both sets of terms add that deletion can take up to 90 days, and that the licence continues for content others have used under it until that content is deleted. On YouTube it runs for a commercially reasonable period after removal, and ArtStation’s is perpetual.
Opting out, and undoing past training. Meta says it may still use your information in a training run already under way. LinkedIn says opting out does not affect training that has already taken place.
How sure: Strong for what each page says; less certain for what happens in practice, which these pages do not show.
6. How to check a platform yourself
Read three pages, search them for a few words, and write down the date.
- Open the terms, the privacy policy and any help page about AI.
- Search each one for “own”, “license” or “licence”, “train”, “machine learning” and “artificial intelligence”.
- Copy the exact sentences, with the date you read them. Terms change, as Pinterest’s, Instagram’s and Facebook’s updates show.
- Look in your settings for an AI or training switch, and note whether it starts on or off.
- Check which regional version applies to you; TikTok and X keep more than one.
Our page on AI tools for short videos and who owns what you make looks at the other side: who owns what an AI tool makes for you.
Quick answers
Does a platform own my work when I upload it?
Every terms page we read says the platform does not take ownership. You give it a licence, which is permission to use your work.
Does deleting a post end the licence?
It depends on the platform. On Instagram and Facebook the licence ends when content is deleted from Meta's systems; both sets of terms add that deletion can take up to 90 days, and that the licence continues for content others have used under it until that content is deleted. On YouTube it runs for a commercially reasonable period after removal, and ArtStation's is perpetual.
Can I stop a platform training AI on my posts?
Some offer a way. Meta says you can object, and LinkedIn has an opt-out setting. Adobe Stock says it does not currently offer an opt-out for Stock content. Opting out does not undo training that has already happened, LinkedIn says.
Where do platforms say whether they train AI on uploads?
In different places. Some say it in the terms, some in the privacy policy and some in a help page, so read all three.
Use this
Our suggestion: three steps before you upload work you care about to a new platform.
Where does this platform answer the AI question, and what does it say today?
Quick quiz
Nothing is scored or saved. Recalling it once now is what makes it last.
1. Which of these platforms starts with its NoAI tag switched off?
Answer: Sketchfab.Read it again ↑
2. According to Meta, what happens if you object after a training run has started?
Answer: It may still use your information for that run.Read it again ↑
3. What does YouTube's third-party training setting cover?
Answer: Whether other companies may train AI on your videos.Read it again ↑
How we checked this · Last checked November 2026
- We read each platform's terms, and any privacy policy or help page about AI training, on 12 November 2026. Every quote is copied from those pages, with the date each page gives.
- Instagram's terms, Meta's page on generative AI and Shutterstock's contributor terms would not load in a plain reader, so we read them in a web browser.
- We quote the terms and do not say what they mean in law. We did not read TikTok's European, UK, Swiss or Indian terms or Shutterstock's regional versions, and Getty Images' pages returned an error.