Higgsfield's Terms of Service caused an uproar. I investigated: 'Is it actually safe to use?'

Hello, I am AI FREAK.

Recently, the video generation AI Higgsfield updated its terms of service, and the content caused quite an uproar.

Many of you might have felt anxious, right?

I use Higgsfield quite often myself, so I was concerned too.

However, terms of service often contain many legal terms in English, making it difficult to understand what will actually happen even if you read them.

So, this time, I have summarized the reasons for the uproar, the subsequent revisions, and the points that still require caution as clearly as possible.

To give you the conclusion first,

That is my impression.

Let's take a detailed look at each point!

There are four main reasons for the uproar

First, the uproar was caused by the old terms published on July 23.

There are various points, but the following four points were particularly problematic.

In other words, from the user's perspective,

That is the kind of content it was.

In particular, those who handle materials entrusted by clients, such as model photos or images of unreleased products, reacted strongly.

It seemed like there was a lot of excitement on X, with people feeling like, 'This makes it unusable for anything!'

Photos and product images do not become the property of Higgsfield

Since it's confusing, I'll explain with examples.

On Higgsfield, you might upload selfies, create dance videos from friends' photos, or use product images entrusted by companies for advertisements, right?

The concern this time was,

This was the point.

To answer first, the old terms also stated that 'Higgsfield does not claim ownership of user content.'

In other words, it seems the copyright of your selfies or product images did not transfer to Higgsfield the moment you input them, but that part was hard to understand.

The problem was not ownership, but the breadth of the usage rights granted to Higgsfield.

The old terms included words like,

These terms were included.

To put it very simply,

was how it could be read.

For example, even if a friend asked you to 'please delete it' after you used their photo, the old terms could be read as not even being able to revoke the permission once granted.

Moreover, this applies not only to the finished video but also to the photos, reference videos, prompts, and voices input to create it.

In the case of materials entrusted by friends or companies, there was also the issue of whether you could grant such broad permission on your own judgment.

Well, they said some complicated things, but in short

That was the kind of atmosphere that was drifting around.

How did the terms change after the uproar?

So, it blew up on X.

On social media and elsewhere, reactions spread like "Higgsfield can't be used for work!" and "Shouldn't we delete our past data?"

A post from that time on Reddit also shows professional users strongly questioning the perpetual, irrevocable, and sub-licensable nature of the terms.

However, Higgsfield received the criticism and posted on July 25th that they would revise the terms again.

They're quick to respond.

Higgsfield tends to cause an uproar for one reason or another, but their subsequent responses are always quite fast.

So, when an uproar happens, I take the style of "watching from the sidelines without saying anything." lol

I also have a feeling that "I wonder if it's right to bash them while they're being bashed, and then flip-flop and use them normally after they've improved."

The main changes are as follows.

1. If you delete it, future use will generally stop.

The phrases "perpetual" and "irrevocable" that were in the old terms have been deleted.

Currently, the usage permission continues only while the material is saved on Higgsfield, and it ends when you delete the material or your account.

In other words,

That is the difference.

However, backups that remain for a certain period, works published before deletion, and data that must be saved by law are exceptions.

2. External companies that can handle materials have been limited

Currently, the only entities other than Higgsfield that can handle materials are limited to companies necessary for service provision.

For example, cloud companies responsible for video generation calculations and server companies that store images.

This is the difference.

The ability to transfer usage permission to other companies has also been limited to cases such as when Higgsfield is acquired.

3. Private works will not be used for advertisements without permission

Currently, Higgsfield can only use works for advertisements if they are:

in these cases.

Videos saved only within your account cannot be used in Higgsfield advertisements without the owner's permission.

However, posts to the Community are considered 'works published by yourself'.

Since they may be introduced in advertisements, etc., please check the publication scope before posting.

4. Generated content can be used for work even after cancellation

Under the current terms, Higgsfield does not claim ownership of inputs or generated content, and it is explicitly stated that 'commercial use of generated content is not restricted'.

For example, if you create and deliver an advertising video for a store and then cancel Higgsfield, you can continue to use the exported video.

It is also possible to transfer usage rights to a client.

However,

.

Users themselves must verify whether the content resembles famous characters or if photos of others are being used without permission.

The biggest point of caution that still remains is 'AI training'.

While the parts that caused the controversy have been improved, the current general terms of service still state,

it says.

For example, if you use a selfie privately, it will not be posted in advertisements without your consent.

However, there is a possibility that it will be used as data to improve the generation features.

In other words,

are separate issues.

Under the current general terms of service, I could not confirm a clear mechanism for regular users to opt out of AI training alone.

Also, while deleting your content will stop it from being used for future training, you cannot undo training that has already occurred before the deletion.

Deleted materials may also remain on the server for up to 30 days.

Canceling a subscription and deleting data are also separate, so if you want to erase your data, you must delete the materials or your account.

If I have a higher-tier plan, is my data not used for training?

In addition to the general plans, Higgsfield offers enterprise usage through an Enterprise Agreement.

The current Terms of Serviceand the official Enterprise pageexplain that customer data under an Enterprise agreement is not used for AI training and is treated as confidential.

On the other hand, I could not confirm that paying more for individual plans like Basic, Plus, or Ultra automatically excludes you from training.

is the difference.

Even for private workspaces like Teams, being invisible to the public is different from not being used for AI training.

If you absolutely must avoid training for work, you need to check if the contract itself states that it will not be used for training, rather than just looking at the plan name.

Is Higgsfield special compared to other AI tools?

The mechanism of using input data for AI training is not unique to Higgsfield.

Runway's general terms of service also state that inputs and generated content can be used for training and improvement.

ChatGPT's consumer service also allows conversations to be used for model improvement unless you opt out in the settings. On the other hand, Business, Enterprise, and API plans are excluded from training by default.

Adobe Firefly explains that it does not train on user content.

In other words, policies vary by service: some train on general usage, some allow you to opt out, some exclude only corporate contracts, and some do not train at all.

The fact that Higgsfield trains on general usage is not unusual.

However, since there is no clear opt-out setting for general users, the options available to users are limited.

Client materials are not necessarily safe just because they are 'private'

For example, suppose you are entrusted with photos of a new menu item before its release and photos of staff members from a restaurant to create an advertising video.

If you put them in a private Higgsfield space, they will not be displayed to the general public or in Higgsfield advertisements.

However, the materials themselves are sent to Higgsfield and to external companies responsible for generation and storage.

Under general terms of service, there is a possibility they could be used for AI training.

If your contract with the client states:

then it could become an issue even if it is private.

These two things are different.

If you are using already-published product photos and the client has consented to the use of AI, the issue is minor.

On the other hand, for projects under NDA, unreleased products, faces of models or employees, and customer information, I think it is better to check in advance.

Here is how I would use it.

I personally will continue to use Higgsfield.

To put it very roughly, I will use it for personal projects without worrying too much.

When doing client work, I probably won't use it as much as possible. Or, I will explain it very thoroughly to the company.

Other rough guidelines:

Use even with the general plan

Use after checking

Do not put in the general plan

Well, something like that.

My understanding is that there is no problem as long as you are enjoying your own creative work, basically.

It is not just about "if it's private, it's fine," but I think it is important to consider whether it is okay to send to external AI and whether it is okay to be used for trainingbefore making a decision.

Summary: It has been improved, but checking the terms is necessary.

To summarize the contents of this time,

That is how it is.

By the way, terms of service regarding AI usage and training vary significantly from service to service, not just with Higgsfield.

It used to be difficult to read terms filled with English and legal jargon, but now you can feed the terms into an AI and ask,

which makes it easier to find the parts you are concerned about.

When working with companies, make sure to always check the terms of service for each tool yourself.

I've written a lot here, but personally, I find Higgsfield to be quite easy to use among AI video tools, and it's a service I want to continue using.

In fact, I use it every day.

The fact that it frequently sparks controversy is a bit worrying, but this time they corrected the terms immediately after receiving criticism.

I don't think everything is resolved, but I intend to keep an eye on future improvements while using my own judgment regarding the materials I upload.

If you found this note helpful, it would encourage me if you could 'like' it or similar.

See you in another note!