Final Draft Updates Its Terms of Service: Here's What Every Filmmaker Needs to Know Before Your Scripts Are Gone
- Sahndra Fon Dufe
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Final Draft updated its Terms of Service in 2026. Here's what Black filmmakers, screenwriters, and indie film students need to know before your scripts disappear.
When a company like Final Draft updates its Terms of Service and End User License Agreement, it's easy to dismiss as legal housekeeping. But that is not the case If you're building IP, pitching streamers, developing festival-bound scripts, or working on anything you intend to own and monetize, those terms directly affect your access, your files, your billing rights, and what happens if something goes wrong.
Final Draft, the industry-standard screenwriting software, updated both documents as of yesterday, 23rd February, 2026. We read through every page so you don't have to. Here's what independent filmmakers, especially those without in-house counsel, need to pay attention to:
The File Deletion Question: Three Things You Actually Need to Know
This is the most urgent section in the entire document for working writers. The Terms contain a permanent deletion clause, and the details matter.
1. Is Deletion Immediate or Is There Notice First?
There is a 30-day grace period after your subscription lapses before Final Draft deletes your files. That's the good news.
However, the Terms do not require Final Draft to notify you before deletion happens. The language puts the burden entirely on you "you will have thirty (30) days from the lapse date to preserve your files." There is no contractual obligation for them to send a warning email at day 25, or day 29, or at all. The clock starts running whether or not you know it.
If you cancel your subscription and forget about it, miss a payment and assume it'll sort itself out, or let a free trial expire during a busy production period, your files could be permanently gone before you realize the timer was running.
2. Is There a Grace Period to Export Files?
Yes 30 days, explicitly stated in the Terms. Section 6 adds that Final Draft will use "commercially reasonable efforts" to allow you to export or transition your content during that window.
That phrase "commercially reasonable efforts" is worth understanding. It's standard legal language, but it's meaningfully weaker than a guarantee. It means Final Draft will try, but it doesn't legally obligate them to ensure the export actually works. If the platform has a technical issue during your 30-day window, that language gives them significant cover.
Our advice is that you don't wait until your subscription is about to lapse to export. Export regularly, as a habit, to storage you control.
3. Does This Apply to Cloud Storage Only or to Your Local Files Too?
This is the most nuanced and most misunderstood part of the policy. The answer is that it depends on where your files are live, but local users are not fully in the clear either.
The deletion clauses in the Terms specifically reference "files in your Final Draft account" and "Final Draft Vault" that is cloud storage. Final Draft cannot remotely delete files sitting on your local hard drive or device. Those files are yours.
However, the End User License Agreement contains a separate concern for locally installed software. It states that "an online connection, a Final Draft account, and registration with a unique code may be required to use the Software." In plain terms, even if your script is saved locally as an .fdx file, Final Draft's license management system may require you to authenticate an active, paid license before the software will open it.
Your local file doesn't get deleted. But if your license lapses, you may be locked out of opening that file in Final Draft which is a functional loss even if it's not a literal deletion. You would need either an active subscription or an alternative application that can read .fdx files to access your own work.
The key takeaway is that Cloud users face permanent deletion after 30 days. Local users face potential lockout. Either way, the safest move is to keep your scripts in a universally readable format like .pdf or .fountain in addition to your .fdx files.
Why This Matters More When You're Building IP
For filmmakers who are pitching, packaging projects, or developing work toward festival submission or streamer deals, the stakes around file access are higher than they might appear. A script in active development is an asset. It may already be attached to a director, have a letter of intent from a producer, or be part of a pitch package you're circulating. Losing access to that script even temporarily during a crucial window could affect relationships, deadlines, and deals.
The Terms make clear that Final Draft bears no liability for any of this. Their maximum financial responsibility if something goes wrong on their end is $100 or three months of fees, whichever is greater. The platform is provided "as is," with no guarantees that content will be secure, that the service won't experience outages, or that your files will be available when you need them.
None of that means Final Draft is a bad tool. It means the legal structure places all the risk on you, which is standard for software companies. The appropriate response is to treat your scripts like what they are intellectual property with real value and protect them accordingly.
Auto-Renewal and the 7-Day Refund Window
Final Draft subscriptions auto-renew by default, and the updated Terms are emphatic about it cancellation instructions appear in all-caps multiple times.
Annual plans carry a 7-day refund window from the date of purchase or renewal. After 7 days, the payment is non-refundable, though your access continues through the subscription period. If your plan started with a free trial, the 7-day window begins when the trial ends not when you originally enrolled.
Monthly plans are non-refundable in any circumstance. Cancel to stop future charges, but the current month is gone.
You can cancel via a support ticket at finaldraft.com/support or by self-canceling in your account settings. Cancellations must reach Final Draft by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on the applicable deadline. If you signed up through Final Draft Go on iOS, all of this is irrelevant to you. Refunds and cancellations go through Apple not Final Draft.
The Class Action Waiver
The updated Terms require you to waive your right to join a class action lawsuit against Final Draft. Any dispute must be brought individually.
For claims under $10,000, either party can opt for binding arbitration conducted by phone, online, or written submission. Larger disputes go to Los Angeles County courts under California law. There's also a one-year statute of limitations on all claims. After that, your right to pursue any legal action is permanently barred, regardless of what happened.
Class actions matter because they're often the only practical path when a company's practices harm many users in ways that are real but individually too small to justify solo litigation. Under these Terms, that option is off the table.
What the Terms Say About Ownership
Final Draft is explicit about owning your scripts. The company makes no claim to your creative content.
The platform does reserve the right to scan content for viruses, malware, and legal compliance. Their Privacy Policy (finaldraft.com/company/legal/privacy-statement) governs what else they collect and how it's used, worth reading separately if data privacy is a concern for projects in early development.
One additional clause to note is that any feedback or suggestions you submit through the platform feature requests, ideas, bug reports can be used by Final Draft "for any purpose without attribution, accounting or compensation to you."
Practical Checklist for Our Readers
If you're a cloud/Vault user:
Back up all scripts outside Final Draft today Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, local hard drive, all of it.
Set a calendar reminder 2 weeks before your subscription renews or expires.
Export a copy of every active project after every major revision.
If you're on a locally installed license:
Keep .pdf or .fountain copies of your scripts in addition to .fdx files.
Understand that license authentication may be required to open your files even locally.
For everyone:
Know your refund window (7 days for annual plans).
Understand that Final Draft's liability is capped at $100 if something goes wrong on their end.
Any legal claims must be filed within one year and must be brought individually.
The full Terms of Service are at
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