Terms of Service

PLEASE NOTE: THE SPOTLIGHT REWARDS PROGRAM IS ENDING ON JANUARY 31, 2025 AND THESE SPOTLIGHT SUBMISSION AND REVENUE TERMS WILL TERMINATE ON THAT DATE. AFTER JANUARY 31, 2025, CREATORS WILL NO LONGER HAVE THE ABILITY TO RECEIVE PAYMENTS AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 3 OF THESE SPOTLIGHT SUBMISSION AND REVENUE TERMS. ANY SNAPS SUBMITTED TO SPOTLIGHT AFTER THAT DATE WILL CONTINUE TO BE GOVERNED BY THE SNAP TERMS OF SERVICE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING ON PAYMENT FOR QUALIFYING ACTIVITY THROUGH JANUARY 31, 2025, PLEASE VISIT SNAPCHAT SUPPORT.

Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms

Effective: April 1, 2024

ARBITRATION NOTICE: THESE TERMS CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE A LITTLE LATER ON.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OR IF YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF A BUSINESS WITH ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES: EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES MENTIONED IN THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE OF THE SNAP INC. TERMS OF SERVICE, YOU AND SNAP INC. AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN THE SNAP INC. TERMS OF SERVICE, AND YOU AND SNAP INC. WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OPT OUT ARBITRATION AS EXPLAINED IN THAT CLAUSE.
IF YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF A BUSINESS WITH ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES: YOU AND SNAP (DEFINED BELOW) AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY THE BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN THE SNAP GROUP LIMITED TERMS OF SERVICE.

1. Introduction

Welcome to Spotlight, an entertainment platform for user-generated content on Snapchat where you can enjoy some of the most entertaining Snaps from the Snapchat community. Spotlight is a “Service” as defined in our Terms of Service, which, along with our Community Guidelines, The Spotlight Guidelines & FAQ, Music on Snapchat Guidelines, and any other terms governing the Service, are incorporated by reference into these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms (the “Spotlight Terms”). Please also review our Privacy Policy to learn how we handle information when you use the Services. Please read these Spotlight Terms carefully.

These Spotlight Terms form a legally binding contract between you (or your organization) and Snap (defined below). For purposes of these Spotlight Terms, “Snap” means:

Snap Inc. (if you live in the United States or if you are using the Services on behalf of a business with its principal place of business located in the United States);
Snap Camera India Private Limited (if you live or are using the Services on behalf of a business with its principal place of business located in India); or
Snap Group Limited (if you live or are using the Services on behalf of a business with its principal place of business located anywhere else in the world).

To the extent these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms conflict with other terms governing the Service, these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms will control solely with respect to your use of Spotlight. All capitalized terms used but not defined in these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms have their respective meanings as set forth in the applicable terms governing the Service. Please print a copy of these Spotlight Terms and keep them for your reference.

AS DESCRIBED IN MORE DETAIL BELOW, YOU MAY RECEIVE PAYMENTS FOR YOUR SERVICES IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR SPOTLIGHT ACTIVITY IF YOUR SNAPCHAT ACCOUNT, THE SNAPS YOU SUBMIT TO SPOTLIGHT, AND YOUR PAYMENT ACCOUNT (DEFINED BELOW) SATISFY THE APPLICABLE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF CREATORS SUBMITTING SNAPS TO SPOTLIGHT WILL RECEIVE PAYMENTS.

2. Requirements and Rights for Content You Submit to Spotlight

Any eligible Snapchat user can submit content (which we call “Snaps”) to Spotlight (each user who submits a Snap to Spotlight, a “Service Provider” or “Creator”). Any Snaps submitted to Spotlight are “Public Content,” as that term is defined in Section 3 of the Snap Inc. Terms of Service or Section 3 of the Snap Group Limited Terms of Service (whichever is applicable to you based on where you live or, if you are using the Services on behalf of a business, where that business’s principal place of business is located).

Because Snaps are Public Content, for any Snaps you submit to Spotlight, without limiting any other obligations that you may have, (i) you must have any necessary third-party rights including, without limitation, music copyrights and rights of publicity, for all content in your Snaps, (ii) when you appear in, create, upload, post, or send Public Content, you grant Snap, our affiliates, and our business partners the unrestricted, worldwide, royalty-free right and license for the duration of such rights to use your name, likeness, and voice, including in connection with commercial or sponsored content, (iii) because you grant us a sublicensable right to make derivatives of your content, you grant us and other users of the Services the royalty-free right to copy, edit, and separately synchronize, publicly communicate and perform, and otherwise use and distribute any content (including without limitation, audio and video in your Snap) to create new content, including new Snaps and new Public Content, and (iv) other than the potential to receive money as a Creator as described in these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms, you will not be entitled to any compensation from Snap, our affiliates, our business partners, or, if applicable, other users, if your Snap, your content, sound recordings, compositions, or your name, likeness, or voice is conveyed through the Service, either on the Snapchat application or on one of our business partner’s platforms.

All Creators and Snaps submitted to Spotlight must comply with these Spotlight Terms. Creators and Snaps may be subject to review for compliance with these Spotlight Terms, in accordance with Snap’s moderation algorithms and review procedures. Creators and Snaps that do not comply may not be distributed or may be deemed ineligible to receive Payments.

Snaps in Spotlight will be distributed through Snap’s proprietary content distribution algorithm and procedures. To maintain the quality of Spotlight, we may also limit the number of Snaps that Creators can submit over a certain period of time, based on Snap’s criteria for the performance of content on the Snapchat application, and if you exceed the limit, you will be notified when you submit to Spotlight.

4. Payment Account Eligibility

You must also satisfy all of the following requirements (“Payment Account Eligibility Requirements”) in order to be eligible to receive Payments from Snap:

If you’re an individual, you must be a legal resident of an Eligible Country and have submitted your Qualifying Snaps while you were present in such Eligible Country.
You must have reached the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction or be at least 16 years old and have obtained the required parental or legal guardian consent(s) in accordance with our procedures.
You must provide us with complete and accurate contact information, including your legal first and last name, email, phone number, state and country of residence, and date of birth ("Contact Information").
You (or your parent/legal guardian(s) or business entity, as applicable) must create and complete all necessary requirements for a payment account with Snap’s authorized third-party payment provider (“Payment Account”). Your Payment Account must match your Eligible Country.
We reserve the right, on behalf of ourselves, our affiliates, and our third-party payment provider, to require verification of the Contact Information (defined below) provided by you, as well as parental/legal guardian identity and consent for minors as a condition of payment under these Spotlight Terms.
If you have authorized us to transfer your Payments to your business entity in accordance with our and our authorized third-party payment provider’s procedures, such entity must be incorporated, headquartered, or have an office within your Eligible Country.
You have provided Snap and its authorized third-party payment provider with accurate contact and other information as required, so that Snap or its third-party payment provider may contact you and cause payment to be made to you (or your parent/legal guardian(s) or business entity, if applicable) if you qualify for a Payment.
Your Snapchat account and Payment Account are active, in good standing (as determined by us and our third-party payment provider), and in compliance with these Spotlight Terms.
You will not be eligible to receive, and we will not pay you, any Payment if you (or your parent/legal guardian(s) or business entity, if applicable) do not pass our, or our third-party payment provider’s, compliance review. Such reviews are conducted periodically and may include, but are not limited to, a check to determine if you appear on any restricted party list maintained by any relevant government authority, including the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals List and Foreign Sanctions Evaders List. In addition to any other uses described in these Spotlight Terms, the information you provide to us may be shared with third parties in order to verify your identity, conduct compliance reviews, and complete the payment process.
If you (i) are an employee, officer, or director of Snap or its parent, subsidiaries, or affiliated companies, (ii) are a government entity, subsidiary or affiliate of a government entity, or member of a royal family, or (iii) submitted Snaps to Spotlight from a Business Account, you will not be eligible for Payments.
If you have been engaged by or on behalf of Snap outside of these Spotlight Terms to test or provide content specifically for Spotlight, you will not be eligible for Payments for content you created during the term of that engagement.

5. Payment Notification and Process

If we determine that you have engaged in Qualifying Activity, then we will notify you of your eligibility by sending you a notification via the Snapchat application.

Subject to your compliance with these Spotlight Terms, then, to the extent permitted by law, you (or your parent/legal guardian(s) or business entity, as applicable) will be able to request Payment by selecting the relevant option in your Profile. In order for you to validly request a Payment, we must first have recorded and attributed to you at least enough Crystals to meet a minimum Payment threshold of $100 USD (“Payment Threshold”).

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE A QUALIFYING CREATOR AND (A) WE HAVE NOT RECORDED AND ATTRIBUTED ANY CRYSTALS TO ANY QUALIFYING ACTIVITY FROM YOU FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR, OR (B) YOU HAVE NOT VALIDLY REQUESTED A PAYMENT PURSUANT TO THE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING PARAGRAPH FOR A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS, THEN — AT THE END OF THE APPLICABLE PERIOD — WE WILL DISBURSE PAYMENT TO YOUR PAYMENT ACCOUNT IN AN AMOUNT BASED ON ANY CRYSTALS THAT WE HAVE RECORDED AND ATTRIBUTED TO YOUR QUALIFYING ACTIVITY THROUGH THE END OF SUCH PERIOD, PROVIDED THAT IN EACH CASE: (I) YOU HAVE REACHED THE PAYMENT THRESHOLD, (II) YOU HAVE CREATED A PAYMENT ACCOUNT, (III) YOU HAVE SUPPLIED ALL NECESSARY CONTACT INFORMATION AND ANY OTHER INFORMATION REQUIRED TO EFFECTUATE PAYMENT TO YOU, (IV) WE HAVE NOT YET MADE PAYMENT TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH ANY CRYSTALS THAT WE HAVE RECORDED AND ATTRIBUTED TO SUCH QUALIFYING ACTIVITY, (V) YOUR SNAPCHAT ACCOUNT AND PAYMENT ACCOUNT ARE IN GOOD STANDING, AND (VI) YOU ARE OTHERWISE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THESE SPOTLIGHT TERMS AND OUR THIRD-PARTY PAYMENT PROVIDER’S PROCEDURES AND TERMS. IF, HOWEVER, AT THE END OF THE APPLICABLE PERIOD YOU HAVE NOT SATISFIED ALL OF THE FOREGOING REQUIREMENTS IN FULL, THEN YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE ANY PAYMENT RELATED TO SUCH QUALIFYING ACTIVITY.

Payments may be made to you on behalf of Snap by subsidiary or affiliate entities or other authorized third-party payment providers, which may act as the payor under these Spotlight Terms. Snap will not be responsible for any delay, failure, or inability to transfer Payments to your Payment Account due to any reason out of Snap’s control, including your failure to comply with these Spotlight Terms or the terms of the applicable Payment Account. Snap will not be responsible if, due to any reason out of Snap’s control, someone other than you (or your parent/legal guardian(s) or business entity, as applicable) requests Payment based on any Crystals that we have recorded and attributed to your Qualifying Activity using your Snapchat account or transfers Payments using your Payment Account information. If you authorize Snap to transfer Payments to a business entity in accordance with our and our authorized third-party payment provider’s procedures, you acknowledge and agree that Snap may transfer any and all amounts payable to you under these Spotlight Terms to such business entity, subject to compliance with these Spotlight Terms. Payment will be made in United States dollars, but you may elect to withdraw the funds from your Payment Account in your local currency, subject to use, exchange, and transaction fees, as further explained in The Spotlight Guidelines & FAQ, and subject to our third party payment provider’s terms. Any Payment amounts shown in the Snapchat application are estimated values and may be subject to change. The final amounts of any Payments will be reflected in your Payment Account.

In addition to our other rights and remedies, we may, to the extent permitted by law, without providing a warning or prior notice, withhold, offset, adjust, or exclude any Payments to you under these Spotlight Terms for suspected Invalid Activity, failure to comply with these Spotlight Terms, any excess Payments made to you in error, or to offset such amounts against any fees you owe us under any other agreement.

You represent that all information you provide to us or our subsidiaries, affiliates, or authorized payment provider, is truthful and accurate, and that you will maintain the accuracy of such information at all times.

6. Taxes

You agree and acknowledge that you have sole responsibility and liability for any and all taxes, duties, or fees relating to any Payments you may receive in connection with the Service. Payments are inclusive of any applicable sales, use, excise, value added, goods and services or similar tax payable to you. If, under applicable law, taxes are required to be deducted or withheld from any Payments to you, then Snap, its affiliate, or its authorized third-party payment provider may deduct such taxes from the amount payable to you and pay such taxes to the appropriate taxing authority as required by applicable law. You agree and acknowledge that payment to you as reduced by such deductions or withholdings will constitute full payment and settlement to you of amounts payable under these Spotlight Terms. You will provide Snap, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and any authorized payment provider with any forms, documents or other certifications as may be required to satisfy any information reporting or withholding tax obligations with respect to any Payments under these Spotlight Terms.

7. Advertising on Spotlight

Spotlight may contain advertisements. You agree that you are engaging us, our affiliates, and our third-party partners, with no payment from you, to distribute advertising on the Spotlight Service in our sole discretion. You agree to facilitate the distribution of such advertisements by agreeing to these Spotlight Terms, abiding by the Guidelines portion of The Spotlight Guidelines & FAQ, and continuing to provide Snap with access to any Snaps you submit to Spotlight subject to these Spotlight Terms. We will determine all aspects of the advertisements distributed on the Spotlight Service, if any, including the type, format, and frequency of the advertisements distributed in connection with your Snaps submitted to Spotlight, in our discretion. We also reserve the right, in our discretion, to not show advertisements on, in, or alongside your Snaps on Spotlight for any reason.

8. Your Representations and Warranties

You represent and warrant that: (i) you have reached the age of legal majority in the place of your legal residence (if an individual), and otherwise have the full right, power, and authority to enter into these Spotlight Terms on your own behalf and on behalf of any entity for which you are acting, or you have obtained parental/legal guardian consent, as required in your country of residence, to agree to these Spotlight Terms; (ii) you have obtained all necessary third party rights, including rights of publicity and privacy and any other rights with respect to name, likeness, and voice, for the appearance of any individual in your Snaps, and all necessary parental or legal guardian(s) consent for the appearance of any individual in your Snaps who is under the age of eighteen (18) or any other applicable age of majority, (iii) you have read, understand, and agree to comply with all of these Spotlight Terms, including but not limited to our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, Music on Snapchat Guidelines and Guidelines portion of The Spotlight Guidelines & FAQ; (iv) the Snaps you submit to Spotlight are created solely by you, do not infringe, violate, or misappropriate any third-party rights, including, but not limited to, copyright (including master, synch, and public performance music copyright rights), trademark, publicity, privacy, or any other applicable right, and comply with applicable law; (v) you will make any required payments to any third parties with respect to your Snaps and you will not cause Snap to incur any liability to any third party as the result of distributing your content; and (vi) if you are a legal resident of a country other than the United States, you were physically located outside of the United States when you performed the services of creating and posting the Snaps you submit to Spotlight and facilitating the distribution of advertisements in connection with the Snaps you submit to Spotlight.

9. Confidentiality

You agree that any non-public information that may be provided by Snap is confidential and that you will not disclose it to any third party without Snap’s express, prior written approval.

10. Privacy

This section supplements the information we provide in our Privacy Policy and Privacy Center.

Spotlight Snaps are public. You understand that Snaps you submit to Spotlight are Public Content and may be visible to all Snapchat users, as well as non-Snapchat users on other services and websites.
Spotlight Snaps can be remixed. This means other Snapchat users can use your Spotlight Snaps (including audio and video) to create new Snaps or other Public Content. You can always delete your Snaps in Settings but keep in mind remixes of them can’t be deleted.
Information we collect. When you submit Snaps to Spotlight, we collect information on its use and interactions, such as the number of views, view time, favorites, screenshot captures, and number of sends it gets in or from Snapchat. For a detailed overview of information we collect, see our Privacy Policy.
How we may use Spotlight Snaps. The main reason we collect information from Spotlight Snaps is to offer you the Spotlight Service. In addition to Section 2 of these Spotlight Terms and the purposes disclosed in our Privacy Policy, we and others may use your Spotlight Snaps in the following ways:
- We may feature Spotlight Snaps in Snapchat, including in Chat, or in Discover as part of a Curated Story, Publisher Edition, or Show.
- Other users may edit or use your Spotlight Snaps, share your Spotlight Snaps in Chat with their Friends, share a link to your Spotlight Snaps through other non-Snapchat services (such as messaging services), and share a link to your Spotlight Snap on third-party websites.
- If you submit Snaps that perform well or qualify for a reward, we may highlight your Account or your Snaps in the Snapchat application, for example, by placing a badge on your Spotlight Snaps.
- If you decide to add a location tag to your Spotlight Snap, your Spotlight Snap may also be associated with a Place and appear on the Snap Map.
- We may feature your Spotlight Snaps in Search and associate them with Pages, for example, if your Snap uses a certain Lens, Sound or other distinct element.
- If you submit a Snap to Spotlight, other users may favorite the Snap, and that favorite Spotlight Snap will appear in that user's private Favorites list.
- We may analyze Spotlight Snaps for trends, analytics, research and development, personalization, [1] optimization, and machine learning.
- To contact you about Payment Account eligibility and reach out to you for other questions about your Spotlight Snaps or our use of your Spotlight Snaps.
Retention of Spotlight Snaps. Spotlight Snaps submissions may be stored indefinitely and may be visible on Snapchat for long periods of time — sometimes for months or more.
Control over your Spotlight Snaps. You can manage Snaps submitted to Spotlight in your Profile. You can also use Download My Data to obtain a copy of information, so you can move it or store it wherever you want. See the Section Control Over Your Information for more information on controls you have, including your right to request a copy of your information.
Sharing information with third parties. We may share information about you with service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as third-party payment providers, as described in Section 4 of these Spotlight Terms.

Of course, if you still have questions about how your data is handled, just contact us.

11. Termination; Suspension

In addition to any other rights or remedies we may have, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate the distribution of your Snaps in Spotlight, the revenue program related to Spotlight, the Spotlight Service, or your access to either of the foregoing. In the event that you do not comply with these Spotlight Terms, then you may be disqualified from eligibility to receive any unpaid amounts that have accrued but have not yet been transferred to your Payment Account. If at any time you don’t agree to any portion of these Spotlight Terms, you must stop using Spotlight or the applicable parts of the Service.

12. No Agency Relationship

Nothing in these Terms will be construed to imply a joint venture, principal-agent, or employment relationship between you and Snap.

14. Arbitration and Governing Law

As a reminder, these Terms incorporate the Snap Inc. Terms of Service or the Snap Group Limited Terms of Service (whichever is applicable to you based on where you live or, if you are using the Services on behalf of a business, where that business’s principal place of business is located). Although all of the Snap Inc. Terms of Service or the Snap Group Limited Terms of Service (whichever is applicable) apply to you, we wanted to specifically point out that these Terms are governed by the Arbitration, Class-Action Waiver, and Jury Waiver clause, Choice of Law clause, and Exclusive Venue clause of the Snap Inc. Terms of Service (if you live, or the business you are acting on behalf of has its principal place of business located, in the United States) or the Dispute Resolution, Arbitration clause, Choice of Law clause, and Exclusive Venue clause of the Snap Group Limited Terms of Service (if you live, or the business you are acting on behalf of has its principal place of business located, outside of the United States).

ARBITRATION NOTIFICATION: EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES MENTIONED IN THE ARBITRATION PROVISION OF THE SNAP INC. TERMS OF SERVICE, YOU AND SNAP AGREE THAT CLAIMS AND DISPUTES, INCLUDING STATUTORY CLAIMS AND DISPUTES, ARISING BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY THE MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE OF THE SNAP INC. TERMS OF SERVICE IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OR IF YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF A BUSINESS WITH ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES, AND YOU AND SNAP INC. WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION. IF YOU ARE USING THE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF A BUSINESS WITH ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, THEN YOU AND SNAP GROUP LIMITED AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY THE BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN THE SNAP GROUP LIMITED TERMS OF SERVICE.

15. Miscellaneous

From time to time, we may revise these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms. You can determine when these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms were last revised by referring to the “Effective” date at the top. Any changes to these Spotlight Terms will become effective on the "Effective" date above, and will apply to your use of the Services after that time. You agree to review these Spotlight Terms, including any updates, regularly to ensure that you are familiar with the most recent version of such terms. By using the Service following the public posting of updated Spotlight Terms, you will be deemed to have agreed to the updated Spotlight Terms. If you do not agree to the modifications you must stop using the Service. If any provision of these Snap Spotlight Submission and Revenue Terms is found unenforceable, then that provision will be severed and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.