IP indemnification for AI video and image APIs

For information only, and not legal advice. The Enterprise Services Terms, the Terms of Use and your Order are the binding text: rely on them, with your own counsel, for what your agreement covers.

Summary

Runway Dev offers IP indemnification under an Enterprise agreement.

Runway defends and indemnifies you against third-party lawsuits claiming its services infringe their intellectual property, for Runway’s own models and the models it hosts from other labs, and the obligation sits outside the liability cap.

Pay-as-you-go accounts add it by moving to an Enterprise agreement.

This article covers what an AI API indemnity is, where to find one, what to check in the terms and how it works on Runway Dev.

IP indemnification becomes a question once generation is a feature of your product rather than an experiment, often when a customer, a legal team or procurement asks who pays if someone claims the service infringes their rights. The answer sits in the terms your account runs on, and four things in them decide what the indemnity is worth: which claims count, which services and models it covers, what it excludes and whether it is capped.

1. What is IP indemnification for an AI API?

IP indemnification is a provider’s contractual promise to defend you, and to pay what is awarded against you, when a third party sues claiming the provider’s service infringes their intellectual property. Without one, the cost of defending that claim falls on you.

An indemnity does not give you rights you lack. Likeness, trademarks and third-party material in your inputs still need their own clearances, and Can I use AI image and video generation commercially in my product? covers input rights, ownership and disclosure.

2. Which AI video APIs offer IP indemnification?

Whether an AI video API offers IP indemnification depends on the provider and on which terms your account runs on, since a provider’s self-serve and enterprise terms can differ. Runway Dev includes IP indemnification in its Enterprise agreements. Under the Enterprise Services Terms, it covers Runway’s own models and the models Runway hosts from other labs, outside the liability cap. Pay-as-you-go accounts run on the Terms of Use and add it by moving to an Enterprise agreement.

Where a provider offers an indemnity, it can be limited to the provider’s own models, to a named list of services or to generally available model versions. To find it, look for a clause in which the provider defends you. A disclaimer that provides the service “as is” and a clause in which you indemnify the provider are not that clause.

3. What should you check in an AI API’s IP indemnity?

1. The covered claim: a third-party lawsuit alleging the service infringes their IP, and what the provider pays, such as damages awarded and legal fees.
2. The models covered: every model you call, including the models a platform hosts from other labs.
3. Previews and betas: whether models or features marked beta, preview or trial are excluded.
4. The exclusions: claims arising from your inputs, your breach or misconduct, modifications the provider did not approve and your own application are common carve-outs.
5. The cap: whether the indemnity sits inside the liability cap or outside it. Inside, it is worth at most the cap.
6. The conditions: how fast you must give notice, who controls the defense and who can settle.
7. Your own obligations: which claims you indemnify the provider against.
8. Your end users: whether the indemnity reaches the people using your product, and what your own terms promise them.

4. How does IP indemnification work on Runway Dev?

A Runway Dev account runs on one of two sets of terms, and IP indemnification comes with the Enterprise ones.

	Pay as you go	Enterprise
Terms	Terms of Use	Enterprise Services Terms plus an Order
IP indemnification	Available with an Enterprise agreement	Yes, uncapped (§8.1 and §9.2)
Models from other labs covered	Available with an Enterprise agreement	Yes (§1)

4.1 Enterprise agreements include IP indemnification outside the liability cap

Under the Enterprise Services Terms, Runway defends and indemnifies you against a lawsuit or proceeding brought by a third party alleging that the Services infringe its intellectual property rights, for damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees finally awarded against you (§8.1). The obligation sits outside the liability cap, which otherwise limits each party to the fees paid to Runway in the 12 months before the first claim (§9.2).

To rely on it, you give Runway prompt written notice of the claim, let Runway control the defense and cooperate with it. Runway cannot settle the claim without your written consent (§8.3).

4.2 The indemnity covers the models Runway Dev hosts from other labs

The Enterprise Services Terms define the Services to include every model provided through Runway’s platform and APIs, third-party models included, unless an Order says otherwise (§1). The Enterprise third-party model FAQ confirms that Runway’s indemnification obligations cover them. Services Runway designates as beta, preview or trial are provided as is, without indemnity (§3.6).

4.3 Claims arising from your inputs or your application are excluded

The Enterprise Services Terms exclude claims that arise from any of these (§8.1):

• Your inputs
• Negligence, misconduct or breach of the agreement by you or your users
• A modification of the Services, or a combination with other products, that Runway did not perform or approve and the documentation does not set out
• Your own application, where the infringement would not have occurred without it

You are responsible for having the rights to your inputs, including publicity clearances and releases, and for evaluating outputs for legality and fit for your use case (§3.2).

4.4 Pay-as-you-go accounts need an Enterprise agreement for IP indemnification

Self-serve Runway Dev accounts are pay as you go and run on the Terms of Use. IP indemnification is part of the Enterprise Services Terms, so a pay-as-you-go account adds it by moving to an Enterprise agreement: talk to sales at dev.runway.com/enterprise.

FAQ

Does Runway Dev offer IP indemnification?

Runway Dev offers IP indemnification under an Enterprise agreement. Runway defends you against third-party claims that its services, including the models it hosts from other labs, infringe their intellectual property, outside the liability cap. Pay-as-you-go accounts add it by moving to an Enterprise agreement.

Is Runway’s IP indemnification uncapped?

Runway’s IP indemnification is uncapped: the Enterprise Services Terms exclude IP indemnification obligations from the liability cap (§9.2). That cap otherwise limits each party’s liability to the fees paid to Runway in the 12 months before the first claim.

Does Runway’s IP indemnity cover models from other labs?

Runway’s Enterprise IP indemnity covers the video, image and audio models it hosts from other labs as well as its own, because the Enterprise Services Terms define the Services to include every model on its platform and APIs (§1). Beta, preview and trial services are excluded (§3.6).

What does an AI API’s IP indemnity usually exclude?

AI API indemnities commonly exclude claims arising from your inputs, your breach or misconduct, modifications the provider did not approve and your own application. Runway’s Enterprise Services Terms exclude all four (§8.1).

Does IP indemnification cover content my users upload?

Runway’s Enterprise IP indemnity excludes claims arising from inputs, and inputs include files your end users upload through your application, since the Enterprise Services Terms count them as authorized users (§1 and §8.1). Clear the rights to uploads in your own terms and moderation.

Do my app’s end users get Runway’s IP indemnity?

Runway’s Enterprise IP indemnity protects the customer that signs the agreement (§11.6). What your end users get is set by your own terms with them.

Does IP indemnification give me copyright in AI output?

An IP indemnity grants no copyright or other right. It is a promise to defend covered claims and pay what is awarded. Under the Enterprise Services Terms, you own your inputs and outputs as between you and Runway (§5.2).

How do I get IP indemnification on Runway Dev?

IP indemnification comes with a Runway Dev Enterprise agreement, which you can request at dev.runway.com/enterprise. The agreement is the Enterprise Services Terms plus an Order, and where the two differ, the Order prevails (§11.9).