Five Words to Watch for in Any Creator Terms of Service

Quick answer: Five words should make any creator stop and read a contract or terms of service more carefully before agreeing: exclusive, perpetual, forever, any, and all (as in "any and all means or media"). Each one signals that the other side is asking for broader, longer, or more irreversible rights than a typical deal requires — and none of them are inherently deal-breakers, but all of them should be negotiated consciously rather than accepted by default.

Contracts are written to be skimmed past, not read

Terms of service and licensing agreements share a structural problem: they're long, dense, and written in language most people gloss over rather than parse. Matt Savare, an intellectual property attorney at Lowenstein Sandler who has spent over two decades drafting these documents from every side of the table — for platforms, agencies, ad networks, and creators themselves — puts it bluntly:

"I've drafted all of those lengthy terms of service and privacy policies that no one reads until there's a problem."

The fix he recommends isn't hiring a lawyer for every social media sign-up — that's not realistic for most working creators. It's knowing which specific words function as red flags, so a document is worth a closer read (or a few minutes in an AI chatbot) before clicking "I agree."

The five words

Savare names them directly:

"If you see the words exclusive, right, that should trigger something. If you see perpetual, that should trigger something. For any and all means or media, those are — whenever you see all, any, exclusive, forever, perpetual, your antenna should go up."

Here's what each one actually means in practice:

Exclusive. You're agreeing that only this one party can use the rights being granted — which often means you can no longer license the same content, name, image, or likeness to anyone else, and in some cases can't even use it yourself in the same way. Exclusivity isn't automatically bad, but it should come with meaningfully higher compensation, because you're giving up the ability to do the same deal twice.

Perpetual. The rights being granted never expire. There's no renewal date, no point where the agreement lapses and you get the rights back. A perpetual grant made today can bind you decades from now, long after the relationship or the platform that requested it may no longer exist.

Forever. Functionally identical to perpetual — a duration with no end point. When this word shows up next to "worldwide" or "irrevocable," it's worth pausing.

Any (as in "any media"). This is a scope word, not a duration word. "Any media" means the rights aren't limited to the platform or format you originally posted to — the other party could theoretically repurpose your content or likeness into a TV ad, a billboard, a video game, or a format that doesn't exist yet.

All (as in "all means"). Paired with "any," this closes the remaining loopholes. "Any and all means or media, now known or hereafter devised" is a common formulation that grants rights to future technology that doesn't exist yet at the time of signing — which is exactly the clause that becomes relevant when a new AI capability appears years later.

The Shark Tank example

Savare points to a specific, well-known illustration of what happens when these words go unchecked. Early participant agreements for the reality show Shark Tank, in his description, granted rights so broad that they applied "even if they weren't even on the show and it didn't air":

"Participants on Shark Tank years ago just signed away literally everything... it was egregious. And over the years, it has gotten more favorable for the participants."

The example matters less as a specific criticism of one show and more as a pattern: broad-rights contracts tend to start out extremely one-sided, then get renegotiated toward fairness over time — as competition increases, and as enough people push back. Creators who understand the red-flag language don't have to wait for that market correction to happen on their behalf.

What to actually do when you spot one

Spotting "exclusive" or "perpetual" in a document doesn't mean walk away automatically — plenty of legitimate, fairly compensated deals include exclusivity or long terms. It means treat that clause as a negotiating lever rather than a formality. Ask what you're getting in exchange for the breadth being requested. If the answer is "exposure" or a flat one-time fee that doesn't scale with how the rights might later be used, that's the moment to push back, narrow the scope, or walk.

Key takeaways

• "Exclusive," "perpetual," "forever," "any," and "all" are the specific words that should trigger a closer read of any contract or terms of service.

• These words aren't automatically bad — but they signal you're being asked for broader or more permanent rights than average, and should come with proportional compensation.

• "Any and all means or media, now known or hereafter devised" is a real clause pattern that extends rights to future technology, including AI uses that don't exist yet.

• Running a contract's language through an AI chatbot for a plain-language summary is a reasonable, low-cost first step before signing.

FAQ

What does a "perpetual license" mean in a creator contract?

It means the rights granted never expire — there's no renewal date or point at which the license ends and reverts back to you. This is different from a term license, which runs for a fixed period.

Is it always bad to sign an exclusive deal?

No. Exclusivity can be a fair trade in exchange for stronger compensation, since you're giving up the ability to license the same rights to a competitor. The problem is signing exclusive terms without recognizing the trade-off, or without pricing the exclusivity into what you're being paid.

Why does "any and all media" matter for AI specifically?

Broad media clauses, especially phrases like "now known or hereafter devised," can be interpreted to cover new technology — including AI-generated content — that didn't exist when the contract was signed, potentially without additional compensation or consent for that new use.

Source: Adapted from commentary by Matt Savare, partner at Lowenstein Sandler, in the Royall.ai "Who Owns You" webinar series, Episode 3: "AI Identity and the Future of Creator Endorsements."