With the imminent TikTok ban just days away, the future for creators is at a critical juncture. Heres what to do next.FILE - The TikTok logo is seen on a cell phone on Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Canada is banning TikTok ... [+] from all government-issued mobile devices and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it might be a first step to further action. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reservedThe TikTok ban and legal challengeIn April 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, known as the TikTok ban. In short, the law bans TikTok and other applications owned by its Chinese-based parent company, Byte Dance Ltd., from operating in the United States unless Byte Dance divests its interests in TikTok by January 19, 2025.Last year, TikTok, Byte Dance, and several creators submitted a petition to the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., challenging the validity of this law on several grounds, including that it violates the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its 170 million American users. The Government defended the validity of the ban, citing national security concerns. The D.C. Circuit Court ruled in favor of the ban on December 6, 2024. You can read that decision here.TikTok submitted a petition to the Supreme Court to review the Circuit Courts decision and to pause the ban before the imminent January 19th deadline. On December 18, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to pause the ban but decided to hear the case on an expedited timeline. The petition, briefs, and other Supreme Court filings are here.On January 10, 2025, lawyers for TikTok, TikTok creators, and the U.S. government argued before the panel of nine Supreme Court justices, which you can listen to the arguments (or read the transcript) here.MORE FOR YOUNow that the parties have submitted their cases, the Supreme Court will decide TikToks fate.Access to the TikTok app after the January 19th deadlineIf the ban takes effect, our access to and use of the TikTok app will be on borrowed time. Following the D.C. Circuit Courts decision, around December 16, 2024, Googles parent company Alphabet and Apple received a letter from lawmakers instructing them to prepare for the January 19th deadline. Under the law, the TikTok ban prohibits app stores and web hosting services from hosting or distributing TikTok as of January 19, 2025. Effectively, the ban prohibits new users from downloading the app and prevents access to the TikTok website via desktop. Existing TikTok users will continue to have access to the app. They will no longer have access to future updates or access it on their desktops. Without updates, the TikTok app will eventually be rendered useless for creators. In its court filings and during oral arguments before the Supreme Court, TikTok stated the app would go dark if the Court upholds the ban.How to download your TikTok account dataCloseup hand of woman with Cloud download on mobile smartphone, copy spacegettyTikTok enables its users to retrieve their account data by submitting a request through TikTok. Once TikTok provides users with their data, they have to engage in the most tedious copy-and-paste activity, navigating a dense RTF file to retrieve and download their posts one by one without the TikTok watermark. And do the same exercise again for any content they may request, such as likes, comments, messages, or saved videos. I found this creators video showing people how to do this helpful. However, other creators have mentioned automation tools or apps that help users download their content for them, such as Faves.Your rights in your TikTok contentEven though creators can download their data, their rights in their content are not as clear-cut as they may believe. Copyright law protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium like a video or photo. However, this is limited to creators original worksnot outside elements they may incorporate into their content.Content and copyright law considerations no longer occur in a vacuum. Creators incorporate music, put their spin on viral trends using popular sounds, and use other features native to TikTok to create engaging content.As owners, copyright law protects creators right to control where their content is published and to license their content to third parties (among other things). TikToks Terms and Policies acknowledge that creators own their original content but grant TikTok and its user base a range of permissions (a license), including the right to access, modify, and share their content on third-party platforms. Although TikToks Terms provide a lot of flexibility around the use of user content, it does not grant any licensing rights in the catalogs of music or sounds available on the app, which is a critical component of most creators content.Aside from the copyright risks, creators must also consider the terms of other platforms. Meta, for example, prohibits users from sharing unoriginal or infringing content. While there is a lot of overlap across other social platforms in music, popular sounds (give or take a few days after its gone viral on TikTok), and content, content creators should be mindful of the limitations in the case of a gap. Ultimately, it is up to the original owners of a viral sound, music, or video to enforce their rights.Where do you direct your audience?Tyumen, Russia - January 21, 2020: TikTok and Facebook application on screen Apple iPhone XRgettyNot Lemon8.Some of the most significant consequences of this ban is the loss of the platform and communities they worked so hard to build on TikTok. As creators come to terms with the reality of this ban, its crucial to retain as much of their audience as possible. Some creators have already taken steps by directing them to alternative apps, but not the right ones.Although the law has been dubbed the TikTok ban, do not let the label fool you. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act impacts all social apps owned by Byte Dance Ltd., including Lemon8. So Lemon8 will likely suffer a similar fate under this ban.Some creators (myself included) are directing their audiences to Instagram or YouTube. Theres also been some chatter about other TikTok alternatives like Neptune and FanBase.Another consideration: TikTok brand partnershipsCreators in the middle of a TikTok-specific partnership should review their agreements and reach out to their contacts to discuss a path forward. This looming deadline could impact a creators ability to fulfill their contract obligations if theyre specifically required to create and publish content on TikTok and a brands ability to amplify it through paid media efforts. Some contracts may not be affected by this pivot. Still, it is worth exploring and getting ahead before the January 19th deadline.