TikTok Shop Creator Terms of Use
(For residents of and entities based in the United States of America)
Last updated: December 29, 2022
These TikTok Shop Creator Terms of Use are effective and binding on you on December 29, 2022, if you created your creator account or accepted or otherwise agreed to these terms on or after December 29, 2022.
These TikTok Shop Creator Terms of Use are effective and binding on you on January 29, 2023, if you created your creator account or accepted or otherwise agreed to a previous version of these terms before December 29, 2022.
Please read our update notice for more details about the changes to these TikTok Shop Creator Terms of Use.
1. Introduction
These TikTok Shop Creator Terms of Use (these “Creator Terms”) form an agreement between TikTok Inc. (“TikTok,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) and you (“you” or “your”) and represent the terms and conditions of your access to and use of all websites, products, features, apps, services, technologies, software and properties created and/or operated by TikTok Inc. or any of its affiliated companies, including ByteDance (the “TikTok Platform”) and affiliate tools, including the Creator Center (defined below), to provide certain services to merchants and their partners (“Merchants”), including promotion of Merchants’ products and services on TikTok Shop and other TikTok properties (“Creator Services”). By using the TikTok Shop for Creator Services, you agree to be bound by these Creator Terms.
2. Your Use of TikTok to provide Creator Services
TikTok Shop allows Merchants to offer products and services to TikTok users. If you are eligible or invited, and subsequently approved, to be a Creator on TikTok Shop, you can access and use the TikTok e-Commerce Creator Center (“Creator Center”) to find opportunities and offers to provide Creator Services to TikTok Shop Merchants, including creating any content, text, photographs, user videos, sound recordings, and the musical works embodied therein, including videos (live streamed and recorded) that incorporate locally stored sound recordings from your personal music library and ambient noise to promote Merchants’ products and services (“Creator Content”), and to earn a commission directly from Merchants when your Creator Content generates sales of their products. In addition, the Creator Center allows you to manage and view your Creator Content offerings, track commissions from Merchants, and get connected with third parties, including creator agency partners (“Creator Agency Partners”) who can help manage your services and collect commissions on your behalf.
3. Eligibility and Requirements
3.1 To provide Creator Services, you must meet all current eligibility requirements, including: 1) be 18 years of age or older; 2) complete and satisfy all onboarding and screening requirements; and 3) meet additional eligibility requirements as applicable, which TikTok may revise or update in its sole discretion.
3.2 In addition, you acknowledge and agree to abide by the following requirements in connection with your use of the Creator Center and/or when providing Creator Services:
a) You shall abide by TikTok’s Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and all other applicable TikTok terms or policies governing your use of the TikTok Platform.
b) All Creator Content you create must comply with the TikTok Shop Content Guidelines, TikTok Branded Content Policy, TikTok Shop Intellectual Property Policy, TikTok Shop Prohibited Products Guidelines, and TikTok Shop Creator Performance Evaluation Guidelines.
c) Comply with the local, state, and federal laws of the United States and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations when creating Creator Content and/or in connection with your use of the Creator Center, TikTok Shop, and provision of Creator Services.
d) All Creator Content you create or post when providing Creator Services:
A. Must be accurate and may not include falsehoods, misrepresentations, or unsubstantiated claims about you, us or our affiliates, the Merchants to which you provide Creator Services, a third party, or another person.
B. Must be appropriate for audiences 13 years of age and older.
e) You agree that any benefits or revenue that you receive as a result of Creator Content you create or post in order to be eligible for payments, benefits or rewards from a Merchant shall be determined by the Merchant or third-party partner you contract with, and not by TikTok.
f) Your Creator Content must clearly disclose that your post is sponsored, and that you have a commercial relationship with the Merchant, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, requirements and guidelines, including the United States Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising and TikTok’s Branded Content Policy, and also should include any specific disclosures required by the Merchant. In addition to your independent legal obligation to include applicable disclosures, we also require that you use the Branded Content Toggle when posting Branded Content to help you communicate when a commercial relationship exists. You specifically agree that TikTok may add disclosures that help identify the commercial nature of your relationship with Merchants to your Creator Content and related posts.
g) You represent and agree that you own and/or have validly acquired all rights and permissions necessary to create and publish your Creator Content and that it shall not infringe upon the copyright, trademark, intellectual property or rights of any third party. You acknowledge that TikTok has no role in creating or developing your Creator Content.
h) You agree not to generate, encourage, or induce non-authentic clicks, conversions, or impressions of your Creator Content, including through fraud, automation, deception, collusion, or any other means.
3.3 You acknowledge and agree that as a global company, we adhere to applicable laws and regulations which may prohibit us from doing business with restricted individuals, entities, and countries.
4. Rights and Permissions
4.1 You acknowledge that the Creator Center, TikTok Shop, related affiliate tools and technology, and all related components, copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property (“TikTok Shop Intellectual Property”) are owned and operated by us. Subject to your compliance with all requirements in Section 3, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the TikTok Shop Intellectual Property solely for the purpose of providing Creator Services.
4.2 If you agree to provide Creator Services on behalf of a Merchant that provides you with trademarks, materials, or other Merchant materials (“Merchant Materials”), you agree to limit your use of the Merchant Materials to the provision of services to the Merchant and in accordance with any other restrictions or conditions imposed by the Merchant.
4.3 When you post or the Merchant posts your Creator Content on TikTok (or we post Creator Content you have approved for distribution in TikTok Shop), you grant TikTok and its affiliated companies (including ByteDance), third parties who operate portions of the TikTok Platform at our discretion, as well as other TikTok Platform users, a non-exclusive, unconditional, fully sublicensable and transferable, fully paid and royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right license to use (such as to share, modify, comment on, or download), copy, modify, adapt, reproduce, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, share, and create derivative works that include all or any portion of your Creator Content (subject to your account and video settings), anywhere in the world in any form or medium, whether now known or later developed.
4.4 You give TikTok permission to use and display your name, persona, TikTok handle, image, voice, likeness, performance and ranking (based on factors such as product sales and number of followers), and any other information you may share and agree to be made publicly available or is publicly available, without any compensation: 1) to help connect you with Merchants and Creator Agency Partners in the Seller Center, Creator Center, TikTok Shop and related Platforms; 2) in connection with your Creator Content on TikTok; and 3) in marketing and promotional materials for TikTok and its products and services, including TikTok Shop.
4.5 To the extent that you have any moral rights in any such Creator Content, you hereby waive such moral rights for the benefit of TikTok and its affiliates. To the extent any moral rights are not waivable by you, you hereby grant TikTok and its affiliates a worldwide, unconditional, non-exclusive, irrevocable, fully sublicensable and transferable, fully paid, and royalty-free license to use, copy, modify, adapt, reproduce, make derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display, publish, transmit, transfer, import, exploit, and/or exercise any and all such moral rights that you may have in or with respect to any Creator Content.
5. Your Commercial Relationship with Merchants and Creator Agency Partners
5.1 You are solely responsible for the contract, terms and conditions you make with Merchants, including any Merchants you find or contract with in the Creator Center and in connection with TikTok Shop, and TikTok shall not be a party to any such agreement. You acknowledge and agree that any Creator Services you provide will be supplied by you directly to the Merchant as an independent contractor, pursuant to an agreement to which we are not a party. We do not act as your representative, and we are not responsible for and do not determine the amount or terms of any commissions or other payments you receive in exchange for providing Creator Services to Merchants. You also acknowledge and agree that we have not provided you with any advice, including legal advice, related to Creator Terms. You agree that you may not indicate that you are an employee of TikTok in any applicable terms.
5.2 We have no liability for any claims in relation to your contracts with Merchants or your provision of Creator Services, including regarding a Merchant’s products or services, any promotional messages that a Merchant requires you to include in the Content. We will not be responsible for enforcing any contract between you and Merchants, including Merchants you connect with through the Creator Center.
5.3 In addition, if you choose to work with Creator Agency Partners, you acknowledge and agree that: (i) we will not be responsible or liable, or named as a party in any agreements you may enter into with them; (ii) we do not act as your representative nor shall we be deemed to endorse you; and (iii) You authorize us to disclose your data to Creator Agency Partners in relation to your TikTok Shop activity.
6. Your Use of TikTok Shop API
6.1 License to use TikTok Shop API. Subject to these Creator Terms, TikTok hereby grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, limited, revocable license during the term of these Creator Terms solely to (i) access and use TikTok Shop API to develop, test, maintain, support and operate the Creator Services and associated applications developed by or on behalf of you (“Application”) for interacting with TikTok Shop; and (ii) display all data published or made available through the API (“API Data”) within the Application. “TikTok Shop API” means TikTok Shop’s application programming interfaces, software development kits, specifications, sample code, data, metadata, technology, software and other associated information and materials as well as any updates thereto that TikTok provides to you for the purpose of these Creator Terms.
6.2 TikTok’s Ownership. TikTok or its licensors own and shall maintain ownership of all right, title, and interest (including any intellectual property rights) in and to the TikTok Shop API. TikTok expressly reserves all rights to the foregoing. These Creator Terms grant you no right, title, or interest in any intellectual property rights owned or licensed by TikTok. TikTok shall have an unlimited, irrevocable, and worldwide right to use for any purpose any feedback, whether provided verbally or in written form, by you to TikTok regarding your use of and/or access to TikTok Shop API, without monetary or other compensation to you.
6.3 Restrictions on use of TikTok API. You may not:
● make, or allow through the Application, TikTok Shop API calls in excess of any limits that we may impose from time to time;
● remove any proprietary notices from TikTok Shop API or API Data;
● use the Application, TikTok Shop API or API Data in any manner or for any purpose that infringes, misappropriates, or otherwise infringes any intellectual property rights or other right of any person, or that violates any applicable law;
● design or permit the Applications to disable, override, or otherwise interfere with any TikTok-implemented communications to end users, consent screens, user settings, alerts, warning, or the like;
● attempt to cloak or conceal your identity or the identity of the Applications when requesting authorization to use TikTok Shop API or making a TikTok Shop API call;
● except to the extent expressly permitted hereunder, you shall not pass or allow access to the Application, TikTok Shop API or API Data to any third party;
● use the Application, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data in connection with or for any illegal, unauthorized or otherwise improper purposes, or in any manner which would violate any right of any person, including intellectual property rights, or breach any laws or regulations, or in any manner that is misleading, defamatory, infringing, libelous, disparaging, obscene or otherwise objectionable to TikTok;
● use or combine the Application, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data with software offered under an open source license in such a way that would cause TikTok to be subject to any obligations under any such open source license;
● collect or attempt to collect any personal data from TikTok Shop users for any unauthorized or unlawful purpose or build, help build, or supplement any profiles, databases, or similar records on any individual, device, content, or browser or associate the behavior of any individual, device, content, or browser with any profile, databases, or similar record;
● use the Application, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data for fraudulent or otherwise unlawful or unauthorized purposes, including but not limited to the development or promotion of spyware, adware or other malicious codes or programs or to defame or harass any person;
● introduce viruses, malware, malicious code or other content of a harmful or destructive nature through the Application or your access or use of the TikTok Shop, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data, including, but not limited to, failure to ensure adequate protection is installed on your devices and servers in accordance with industry practices;
● use any robot, spider, site search or retrieval application, or other device to collect information about users of the TikTok Shop for any unauthorized purposes;
● act in any way which could reasonably be expected to adversely impact the stability of TikTok’s servers or the behavior of other applications using the TikTok Shop;
● interfere with or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the TikTok Shop or our websites or apps, disrupt our websites, apps or any networks connected to the TikTok Shop or to us, or bypass, circumvent or attempt to bypass or circumvent any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the TikTok Shop or our websites or apps;
● remove, obscure, or alter any legal, copyright, trademark or other proprietary notices in relation to TikTok Shop, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data, our websites or our apps, and abide by TikTok’s requirements in relation to the use of any proprietary materials, or falsify or delete any author attributions, legal notices, or other labels of origins or source of material;
● use the Application, TikTok Shop, the API and/or the API Data, or allow third parties to use the same, to compete with or replicate any services provided by TikTok;
● use the TikTok Shop in a manner that (as determined by TikTok), exceeds reasonable request volume, constitutes excessive or abusive usage, or otherwise fails to comply with or is contradictory with any documentation, policies or these Creator Terms; or
● use the Application, TikTok Shop, TikTok Shop API and/or the API Data in any manner that is not expressly authorized under these Creator Terms, or to recreate a core functionality of, or replace, any functionality of the TikTok Shop, or in any manner that causes any reputational damage to TikTok.
6.4 Except as expressly stated in these Creator Terms or as required by law, you have no right (and shall not permit any third party) to copy, adapt, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, modify, adapt or make error corrections to TikTok Shop API, or the TikTok Shop, in whole or in part (except to the extent that applicable law overrides this provision or any part hereof).
6.5 Without prejudice to our rights and remedies under these Creator Terms, should you use TikTok Shop API or API Data other than as specified hereunder without our prior written consent, we may, in our sole discretion, terminate these Creator Terms, or suspend your access to and use of TikTok Shop API and API Data, on written notice with immediate effect.
7. Commissions
You may be eligible to receive commissions or fees from Merchants when TikTok users purchase products and services from Merchants in return for your provision of Creator Services or in response to your Creator Content, based on payment terms established by the Merchant. The amount of any commissions you earn when providing Creator Services, and related terms, are established by the Merchant, and TikTok is not a party to any such agreement or otherwise responsible for such payments. You acknowledge and agree that the amount of commissions paid to you may be affected by the underlying transaction between the Merchant and buyer, such as if the buyer returns the product, or subject to additional fees, such as service fees charged by Third Party PSPs (as discussed below) or Creator Agency Partners that you choose to work with. You further acknowledge and agree that TikTok is not responsible for collecting, withholding, or reporting any taxes in connection with your provision of Creator Services.
8. Payment Services to You
8.1 TikTok uses third party payment service providers (“Third Party PSPs”) to provide payment services, including payment collection, processing, and settlement services, in connection with TikTok Shop (“Payment Services”). In order to become a Creator and receive payments for Creator Services, you must review and agree to the below Third Party PSP’s terms and conditions that are applicable to you for those Payment Services, which may be updated by the Third Party PSP from time to time in its sole discretion: the Hyperwallet Terms of Service and the Hyperwallet Privacy Policy.
8.2 In order to become a Creator and receive commissions, you may also need to complete an onboarding process with a Third Party PSP, which may include providing information about you and your business. You acknowledge and agree to provide TikTok accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you authorize TikTok to share that information, including information about your agreements with Merchants and Partners, and transaction information with Third Party PSPs to enable the Third Party PSPs to provide Payment Services. If information about you, your business, or your agreements with Merchants and Partners change, you must promptly provide the updated information to TikTok, and you will be solely responsible for any losses associated with your failure to provide accurate and updated information to TikTok. We will not be liable to you for any losses suffered as a result of any breach, default, or other conduct by Third Party PSPs.
8.3 You acknowledge and agree to be solely responsible for and agree to pay any and all amounts, including but not limited to processing fees, owed to Third Party PSPs, whether charged by them to you or TikTok, in connection with Payments Services they provide to enable payments to you for Creator Services. You further agree that if TikTok pays any charges by a Third Party PSP in connection with your Creator Services that you will be fully liable to and will reimburse TikTok for those amounts.
8.4 TikTok provides transaction management, technology, and communication services to enable Third Party PSPs to provide you with Payment Services. Those services may include any of the following: (i) connecting you to Third Party PSPs’ platforms to submit onboarding and transactional information; (ii) providing Third Party PSPs with information about you and your business and payments associated with your Creator Services; (iii) providing you with an interface to view transactional and/or account data associated with Payment Services provided by Third Party PSP; and (iv) any other activity necessary to enable Third Party PSPs to provide Payment Services. You grant TikTok all needed authorizations to perform these services. For these services and consistent with Section 9 below, you agree that we may charge you and that you will pay a fee to TikTok. TikTok does not provide Payment Services and does not provide any guarantee that you will receive payment of commissions. You will be provided with details about Third Party PSP fees and TikTok fees that you may be charged in connection with your Creator Services.
8.5 You acknowledge and agree that payments to you may be frozen, delayed, or withheld, in accordance with applicable law, if you are in violation of this Agreement or any other applicable TikTok terms, if associated with fraudulent or other illegal activity, or as otherwise consistent with applicable Third Party PSP terms or agreements, and that TikTok shall have no liability or responsibility to you in connection with such actions. You further acknowledge and agree that payments otherwise due to you in connection with your Creator Services may be offset by amounts that you owe TikTok or an applicable Third Party PSP, including for fees, taxes, chargebacks, refunds, overpayments, payment errors, payment network fines, undelivered goods or services, and other losses, associated with your Creator Services, Payment Services, or other TikTok products. If you owe TikTok an amount that exceeds payments owed to you, you authorize TikTok to charge or debit the Payment Account to cover the amount owed.
8.6 If a Third Party PSP refuses at any point to provide Payments Services to you, we may terminate your Creator Center account, and you will not be able to receive commissions in connection with your Creator Services.
9. Fees for Your Use of TikTok Creator Center and TikTok Shop
TikTok reserves the right to charge a fee or commission in connection with your use of the Creator Center and TikTok Shop, including for commissions payable to you from Merchants, and to withhold or deduct any such fee or commission from any payments or commissions that are payable to you. TikTok will notify you by email or through a general notification in the Creator Center before implementing any new category of fees or commissions, and any new type of fees or commissions will only apply to use or services provided after the date of such notice.
10. Taxes
10.1 You acknowledge and agree that TikTok will not determine your federal, state, or local tax obligations and that TikTok will not be responsible for the calculation, collection, reporting, payment, or remittance of any taxes arising out of your provision of Creator Services to Merchants. You and/or the Merchant, rather than TikTok, shall be solely responsible for collecting, withholding, and reporting any taxes arising from the payment to you in connection with the provision of Creator Services to Merchants. You, the Merchant, and/or the Third Party PSP shall be solely responsible for ensuring compliance with any information reporting and withholding obligations arising in connection with any commissions or other payments you receive in exchange for providing Creator Services to Merchants.
10.2 Please note that because TikTok is deemed to be a marketplace facilitator, sales taxes may be applicable to sales made through TikTok Shop. Generally, whether sales taxes apply to your purchases will vary depending on a variety of considerations including, but not limited to, the nature of the item and the ultimate shipping address of your order.
10.3 Due to marketplace facilitator legislation, TikTok is legally required to calculate, charge, and collect sales taxes on sales made through TikTok Shop. Prices advertised on the Platform are exclusive of applicable sales taxes, which will be calculated and charged at checkout. As of September 1, 2022, there are 47 different US jurisdictions that have enacted marketplace facilitator laws.
11. Confidential Information
Any information about us or our respective affiliates or products, TikTok Shop, Creators, or Merchants that is made available to you in the Creator Center and that is not publicly available is our confidential information (“Confidential Information”). You agree not to disclose Confidential Information to any third party under any circumstance, except for disclosure to employees, sub-contractors or agents who need access to such Confidential Information to enable you to perform your obligations under these Creator Terms, or as required by law.
12. Data Protection
In offering you access to the Creator Center and TikTok Shop, we agree to use and share your data in accordance with our TikTok Shop Privacy Policy. You agree to and authorize TikTok to receive and process your data so that we can offer and provide services, benefits and revenue opportunities relating to your presence on the TikTok Platform. To the extent you choose to share additional data with Merchants and their partners or enter into agreements with third parties, neither we nor our affiliates shall have control over how these parties may process your data and we encourage you to review their applicable privacy practices.
13. Restriction, Suspension, and Termination
13.1 We may remove your Creator Content at any time and for any reason, in our sole discretion, without any notice to you.
13.2 We may suspend or permanently disable access to your Creator Center account, ability to provide Creator Services and your TikTok account if we reasonably believe that you have violated our terms or policies, including these Creator Terms, or any of the requirements identified in Section 3 (Eligibility and Requirements) of these Creator Terms, or to protect the integrity of the TikTok Platform, or the experience or enjoyment of TikTok users or Merchants or if you engage in any conduct on or off the TikTok Platform that jeopardizes the safety of our community or integrity of our platform or interferes with the experience of our community or the TikTok Platform.
13.3 We will make reasonable efforts to notify you if we permanently suspend or terminate your account unless doing so may expose us or others to legal liability; harm others in the TikTok community; compromise or interfere with our brand or the integrity or operation of our services; where we are restricted due to technical limitations; or where we are prohibited from doing so for legal reasons.
13.4 If you close or we permanently suspend, disable, or terminate your Creator Center account, these Creator Terms shall terminate as an agreement between you and us, except for the following provisions which will remain in place: Sections 4 (Rights and Permissions), 10 (Confidential Information), 11 (Data Protection), 14 (Indemnification), 15 (Limitation of Liability), 16 (Dispute Resolution), 17 (Miscellaneous).
14. Changes to these Creator Terms
14.1 We may update these Creator Terms from time to time to accurately reflect our services and practices. Unless otherwise required by law, we will notify you of any significant changes to these Creator Terms via the Creator Center or to the email address provided by you in your Creator Center account.
14.2 We also recommend that you regularly review the Creator Terms to stay informed of the latest changes. The “Last Updated” date will reflect the effective date of such Terms. If you continue to use the Creator Center after any updated Terms are in effect, you agree to be bound by the updated Terms. These Creator Terms supersede all prior versions of the Creator Terms.
15. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TikTok, its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents and advisors from any and all claims, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of a breach by you or any user of your account of your obligations, representations and warranties under these Creator Terms, or any claim or demand made by a third party, including any claim that your content infringes third-party intellectual property rights or other rights, or any claim or demand made by any third party including Merchants due to or arising out of your offer of or provision of Creator Services, Creator Content or use of the Creator Center, TikTok Shop, TikTok Platform or related tools and services.
16. Limitation of Liability
16.1 Our services, Creator Center and the TikTok Shop are provided “as is” and we make no guarantees that our services and the Creator Center or TikTok Shop will be safe, secure, and free from error or that they will function without interruption, delay, or defect. To the extent permitted by law, we DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, VALIDITY, REGISTRABILITY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE.
16.2 You, Merchants, and others are solely responsible for your content and use of the Creator Center and TikTok Shop. We are not responsible for yours, Merchants’, and others’ actions or conduct (whether on or off the Creator Center and TikTok Shop) and we do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, appropriateness, or quality of any content that you, Merchants, and others share or otherwise make available on the TikTok Shop (including offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful, and other objectionable content and defamatory content). You and Merchants are independent individuals or organizations and not employees, agents, or contractors of us or our affiliates. We and our affiliates are in no way responsible for the performance or non-performance of any Merchant with whom you engage or work or wish to engage or work, nor are we or our affiliates liable for you having acquired or not acquired any relationship with Merchants through the Creator Center and TikTok Shop.
16.3 We and our respective affiliates are not liable for the acts, omissions, errors, representations, warranties, negligence, or breaches of any Merchant, or any injuries, personal or otherwise, death, property damage, or other damages or expenses resulting therefrom, and take no responsibility whatsoever regarding any services rendered by Merchants generally or to you specifically. In no event will we or our affiliates be liable to you for any of your content being taken down from the TikTok Shop, Creator Center, or the TikTok Platform.
16.4 Our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and under no circumstance will TikTok, its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents and advisors, be liable hereunder, whether in an action in tort or contract or otherwise, for any punitive, consequential, incidental, exemplary, or special damages, or any damages that were not reasonably foreseeable at the time these Creator Terms were entered into, or any damages based on lost profits, loss of reputation, or diminution in value, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Under all circumstances, the maximum aggregate liability of TikTok, its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and advisors arising out of or relating to these Creator Terms or your use of the Creator Center and TikTok Shop will not exceed the greater of $100 or the amount you have paid us in the past 12 months.
17. Dispute Resolution
In the event of a dispute between you and TikTok arising out of or relating to these Creator Terms, the dispute will be resolved pursuant to Section 11 of the Terms of Service (Other Terms - ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER).
18. Miscellaneous
18.1 No Agency. You expressly acknowledge and agree that you are an independent natural person or organization and not our contractor, agent, or employee. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer, contractor, agent, or franchiser-franchisee relationship between you and us is intended or created by these Creator Terms. You are not our representative or agent and may not enter into any agreement on our behalf.
18.2 No Fiduciary Duty or Endorsement. We have no special relationship with or fiduciary duty to you. We do not make any representations or warranties of any kind with respect to you, nor shall we be deemed to endorse you. You should do your own due diligence on Merchants and consider seeking legal advice before entering into any contract with a Merchant.
18.3 No Third-Party Rights. Nothing in these Terms will be deemed to confer any third-party rights or benefits.
18.4 Notice. We may provide notices to you under these Creator Terms via the Creator Center or to the email address provided by you in your Creator Center account. You may provide notices to TikTok under these Creator Terms to e-commerce@tiktok.com.
18.5 Release. In the event that you have a dispute with a Merchant, or any other third party, you agree to release us and our affiliates and each of our and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, advisors, successors, representatives, shareholders, and suppliers, from claims, demands and damages of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, foreseeable or unforeseeable, arising out of or in any way connected to such disputes with such other parties or to your use of the Creator Center or TikTok Shop or in your offer or provision of or request for Creator Services. Additionally, you expressly waive any rights you may have under California Civil Code Section 1542 (or analogous laws of other states), which says: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and Merchants.
18.6 Intellectual Property Infringement. If you believe in good faith that your copyright has been violated, you may send us a notice of infringement pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) per our Intellectual Property Policy. See 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) for the requirements of a proper notification.
18.7 Review of Content. You agree that we can use automated tools and human reviewers to review your content to identify, detect, and enforce potential violations of these Creator Terms and the TikTok Community Guidelines and prevent harmful or illegal conduct on the Creator Center, TikTok Shop and TikTok Platform.
18.8 Entire Agreement. These Creator Terms together with all policies referenced therein constitute the entire agreement between you and TikTok with respect to the Creator Services.
18.9 Conflicts. In the event of a conflict between these Creator Terms and any other agreement (including the TikTok User Terms of Service you entered into with TikTok), to the extent such conflict relates to your provision of Creator Services or your use of the Creator Center and TikTok Shop, these Creator Terms shall prevail.
18.10 Severability. In the event that any provision of these Creator Terms shall be determined to be illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, so that these Creator Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable.
18.11 No Waiver. A failure or delay by us in exercising any right or remedy provided under these Creator Terms or under applicable law shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict any further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of any right or remedy provided under these Creator Terms or under applicable law shall prevent or restrict the further exercise by us of that or any other right or remedy.
18.12 No Assignment. You may not assign, transfer, or delegate any rights or obligations contained in these Creator Terms. TikTok may assign these Creator Terms at its option without prior notice to you.
18.13 Survival. All rights and licenses you granted in Section [4] (Rights and Permissions), the indemnification agreement in Section [15], and dispute resolution provisions in Section [17], will survive any termination of your relationship with us or of these Terms, by either party.