A carve-out, and why it is usually the last thing written
A carve-out is an exception that removes something from a grant. It is normally filed away from the grant itself, near the end of a document or in a separate policy, and it can remove more than the grant appears to give. As of 2026-09-22.
| Question | What the phrase answers |
|---|---|
| Late in the terms | After most readers have stopped |
| In an acceptable use policy | A separate document entirely |
| In a definitions section | Inside a defined term the grant relies on |
| In a help article | Clearest wording, least binding location |
Inclusion rule. Phrases that appear in more than one vendor's permissions documents and that change what a sentence means. A phrase used by a single vendor in a single clause is described on that vendor's own page instead. Order. Reading order: where you meet it, then what it settles, then what it does not.
1Documents are written generous first
Nobody drafts an exception before the thing it excepts, so the shape is always the same: a broad grant early, definitions in the middle, exceptions late. Reading in printed order produces an impression the last section withdraws.
Reading backwards is slower and lands where the document actually lands. For a reader who has to decide whether a specific campaign is inside a licence, backwards is the correct order.
2The carve-out hidden in a definition
The hardest kind to find is not a list of exceptions but a defined term that the grant depends on. A grant of worldwide rights inside a document that defines territory narrowly is carved out without anything in the exception list.
Capitalised words are the flag. Where a licence capitalises Territory, Outputs or Subscriber, the definitions section governs and the plain reading of the grant is unreliable.
3What a register can record about one
The wording, the document it sits in and the date it was read. What it cannot do is judge whether a particular use falls inside a category, because that depends on facts about the campaign.
Where a carve-out names concrete things, such as specific platforms or media types, it is far more useful to a planner than a general clause about unlawful use. Concreteness is worth recording for its own sake.
4What the output is for
Alongside the terms behind “Carve-out”, SceneMixer's guides describe the work itself this way:
The script is written from the photos and the one-line description. In step-by-step mode you can rewrite it before anything is shot.
SceneMixer, How to Make an Ad from One Photo — “Do I need a script?” (read 2026-10-13)
For places, every photo you add becomes a set the shots can move through, up to four.
SceneMixer, An AI Ad for a Store or a Property — “Can I add several rooms?” (read 2026-10-13)
5Where the sourced wording is
A word page, not an entry in the register: nothing above is attributed to any vendor and nothing above is legal advice. The quoted clauses are on commercial use, the column this phrase turns up in is commercial use from, and the reading rules are on the reading page. Next words: Assignment, Consent, Likeness.