Can You Use AI Videos Commercially? Commercial-Use Rights by Tool (October 2026)

Short answer: usually yes on a paid plan, and sometimes on free plans too. It depends on the tool. Runway says it “does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs”. Google (Veo, Flow, Gemini) says it “won’t claim ownership” of what you generate. Kling, Luma and Pika tie commercial use to paid plans. Two cautions apply everywhere. Copyright protection isn’t automatic for AI output, and you’re responsible for not infringing others’ rights in your prompts and uploads. Quotes below are from each vendor’s terms, read on October 18, 2026. This is a summary, not legal advice.

What do the main AI video tools allow?

Tool	Who owns the output	Commercial use	Free-plan catch	Source
Google (Veo 3.1, Gemini Omni in Flow and the Gemini app)	“Google won’t claim ownership over that content”	Governed by Google’s Terms of Service and Prohibited Use Policy	Invisible SynthID watermark on all outputs; visible watermark in some countries	Google Terms, Flow Help
Gemini API	Same ownership statement	Service is for “professional or business purposes”	Veo and Omni Flash aren’t on the free tier	Gemini API terms
Runway	“does not claim ownership of any of your Inputs or Outputs”	“does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs”	Free plan has a one-time credit grant; “No watermarks” is listed from Standard up	Runway Terms, pricing
Kling (app)	“We do not claim ownership of the Content”	Members: “not restricted” (except competing products)	Non-members need Kling’s written permission for any commercial use and must keep Kling branding on output (Paid Terms 7.2)	Kling Terms, Paid terms
Kling API	IP in output “still belong[s] to you” where you hold rights in your input	“not restricted”	n/a (API is paid)	Kling API terms
Luma	Luma “assigns to Customer” its rights in Output	Only for outputs made during a paid subscription that allows commercial use	Outputs made outside a paid subscription can be used broadly by Luma	Luma Terms
Pika	“Pika does not claim ownership of any Inputs you submit or Outputs”	Only where “your subscription Plan expressly permits commercial use”	Pricing lists no commercial license on Free or Starter	Pika Terms, pricing

What does Google say about Veo and Flow videos?

Google’s Flow help answers “Can I use outputs of these tools for commercial purposes?” by pointing to the Terms of Service. It quotes: “Some of our services allow you to generate original content. Google won’t claim ownership over that content” (Flow Help, Google Terms).

Conditions that come with it:

• You need rights to what you upload. The Gemini app’s video help says “You must have rights to any images that you upload” and warns against violating “copyright or privacy rights”. Violations “could result in the termination of your account” (Gemini Apps Help).
• Watermarks stay. Flow outputs from Veo, Omni and Nano Banana “include invisible SynthID watermarks” (Flow Help).
• API output may not be unique. The Gemini API terms add that “Google may generate the same or similar content for others”, and that “you’re responsible for your use of generated content” (Gemini API terms).

What does Runway allow?

Runway’s Terms of Use (section 4.4) say: “The Company does not claim ownership of any of your Inputs or Outputs. Subject to your compliance with the Agreement, the Company does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs” (Runway Terms). The terms don’t split this by plan.

The trade-off is in the same section. You grant Runway a “perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free” license to use inputs and outputs, including to “train and improve its AI models”. Runway’s warranty disclaimer (section 10.1) adds that “outputs may not be unique and similar outputs may be generated for other users” (Runway Terms, section 10).

What does Kling allow on free and paid plans?

Kling separates members from everyone else:

• Without membership: “without our written permission, you may not use, reproduce, distribute, and create derivative works of, and make modifications to, the Output for any commercial purposes” (Terms of Service 4.6, Kling).
• With a paid membership: “KLING AI members’ use of the Output for commercial purposes is not restricted”, except “for the purposes of developing or offering competitive products or services of KLING AI”. Watermark removal is listed among the same membership benefits (Terms of Paid Service 3.1.2, Kling).
• Through the API: “You [sic] use of the AI-generated content for commercial purposes is not restricted” (API terms 6.4, Kling API).

Branding depends on membership too. Kling’s Terms of Paid Service 7.2 says “each member holds exclusive rights and interests of removing brand watermarks from their generated images, videos and other content”. Non-members, “unless you obtain our written permission to do otherwise”, must “label all content generated on the Website/APP with the brand and logo involved”, such as “Kling AI”. If the brand mark is missing for objective reasons, non-members must prominently state that the content was generated by “Kling AI” (Kling Terms of Paid Service 7.2; see also Terms of Service 4.5, Kling).

What do Luma and Pika allow?

Luma assigns you its rights in the output. It then adds that you “can only use the Outputs for commercial purposes if the Outputs were produced during an active Subscription Term under Customer’s paid subscription allowing for the commercial use of those Outputs”. Luma may also embed watermarks or provenance metadata, which you must not remove. For output made outside a paid subscription, you grant Luma a broad license to display and distribute it (Luma Terms). Luma’s pricing page lists “Commercial use” on its Plus plan (Luma pricing).

Pika says the service “is for your personal, noncommercial use only” unless “your Plan expressly permits otherwise” (Pika Terms). Its pricing page marks the commercial license as “No” on Free and Starter and “Yes” on Creator and above (Pika pricing).

Do you own the copyright in an AI video?

Not automatically. Vendor terms can only give you whatever rights exist. In the U.S., the Copyright Office concluded on January 29, 2025 that “the outputs of generative AI can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements”. That can include human-authored work visible in the output, or creative arrangement or modification of the output, “but not the mere provision of prompts” (U.S. Copyright Office; full Part 2 report).

What this means for you: a clip made from a prompt alone may be usable commercially under the tool’s terms and still be hard to protect against copying. Editing, combining it with your own footage, or arranging it into a larger work can change that. Other countries have their own rules.

What should you check before publishing an AI video commercially?

1. Your plan on the day you generated the clip. Kling, Luma and Pika tie rights to an active paid plan.
2. Your inputs. You need rights to every image, video, voice or logo you upload.
3. Real people. Pika’s terms, for example, forbid “creating deepfake videos or other manipulated media depicting any person without their prior consent”. Platforms where you publish may have their own disclosure rules.
4. Watermarks and labels. Don’t remove SynthID or provenance data, and keep Kling branding on everything you publish if you’re not a Kling member (Kling Terms of Paid Service 7.2).
5. Training licenses. Runway, Kling and Luma terms let the vendor use your content to improve their models. Check the enterprise terms if that matters.

The same questions apply to AI music and images; see is there an official Suno API? and Midjourney’s API status. For which free plans add watermarks or block commercial use, see free AI video generators. For avatar tools, see HeyGen vs Synthesia vs D-ID. More guides are in the AI video tools hub.

This page summarizes public terms for general information. It is not legal advice. Terms change, so re-read the linked pages before you rely on them.