T&Csfor Creators

Acast Terms and Conditions for Creators

The Platform and the Platform Services, as defined below, are provided to You by Acast Stories Inc a company registered in Delaware, USA (“We” or “Acast”).

These Acast Terms and Conditions for Creators (the "Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between You (“You” or “you”) and Acast and contains the terms and conditions upon which Acast permits You to access and use the Platform, the Platform Services and all associated information and content therein (collectively referred to herein as the “Services”).

By clicking the checkbox stating that You accept these Terms You agree to be bound by and comply with the Terms (and any amendments thereto that Acast may publish from time to time). If You accept these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, You represent and warrant that You have the authority to bind such entity to these Terms. If You do not have such authority, or if You do not agree with these Terms, You may not use the Services.

1. DEFINITIONS

1.1 In these Terms, unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall have the meaning set out below, to be equally applicable to the singular and plural forms of such terms:

“Acast API” means certain programming interfaces, access tokens, HTML scripts, data import tools or other software forming part of the Platform.

“Acast Commercials” means a commercial message placed by Acast having an audio (including but not limited to Ads and Sponsorships), video and/or display format, or any interactive media format inserted into any Publication by the System.

“Ads” means a commercial message having an audio (excluding Sponsorships), video and/or display format, or any interactive media format inserted into any Publication by the System.

“Advertiser” means the person placing and paying for Ads in any Publication.

“Advertising Partner” means a third party engaged for the purposes of selling and/or producing Acast Commercials in Publications.

“Community Guidelines” means the terms available at https://acast.com/en/community-guidelines, which may be updated from time to time and is incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof.

“Confidential Information” means information of a commercial and/or financial nature, whether written or oral, and whether or not marked as confidential, including without limitation (i) the contents of any agreement You have with Acast, (ii) customer lists, (iii) trade secrets, and (iv) other information relating to the parties’ businesses.

“Intellectual Property Rights” means unregistered and registered intellectual property rights of whatsoever nature throughout the world, such as, but not limited to copyrights, designs, domain names, trade names, trademarks, whether registered or earned, and patents, whether pending or approved, and applications and rights to apply for the same.

“Plans” means the subscription models available to purchase in order to gain access to the Services.

“Platform” means the entire platform provided by Acast under these Terms, including, but not limited to, all software related to the Platform Services and the software which enables Publications to be uploaded and streamed to Acast’s mobile application or otherwise for users to access.

“Platform Services” means any service that Acast in its sole discretion and from time to time decides to make available on the Platform.

“Podcast Audio File” means the podcast audio file and all episodes (including, but not limited to, all bonus material) for Publications uploaded to the Platform for distribution to users.

“Podcaster Content” means any and all Publications, related data, metadata, files, audio files, attachments, text, images, commercial messages (including Ads and Sponsorships) and other content that You upload or submit (or which is uploaded or submitted using your account) to the Platform.

“Publication” means the aggregate media content related to the RSS feed(s) used to distribute the Podcast Audio File(s), including but not limited to any interactive media, related to any and all podcast shows controlled by You.

“Renewal Date” means the date and time (your local time) your subscription to the Platform Services will renew itself.

“Services” means the Platform and the Platform Services, collectively.

“Sponsors” means the person paying for the Sponsorship in any Publication.

“Sponsorships” means a commercial message having an audio format (excluding Ads), endorsement or branded story, branded content, voiced by the Talent or narrator (where possible) or in the style of the Talent or Publication.

“Talent” means You, the host of or voice associated with any Publication.

“Terms” means these Terms, applicable to your use of the Platform and the Platform Services and all associated information and content therein.

“Third-Party Services” means the services described in Section 9 of these Terms.

2. THE SERVICES

2.1 Acast shall make available the Services, as well as all associated information and content therein, as set out in these Terms.

2.2 Acast shall use commercially reasonable efforts to make the Services available 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year, except for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

2.3 In order to use the Services, You must obtain access to the internet. Acast is not responsible for any service fees associated with such access, nor is Acast responsible for any costs or equipment necessary for You to make such connection to the internet or be able to use the Services.

3. ACCOUNT

3.1 You need to create an account with Acast to log in and access the Platform. Your account is personal to You and may not be transferred to or shared with others. You warrant that all user information provided by You to Acast is true and correct and that, when necessary, You will update your user information so that it remains true and correct at all times.

3.2 You are responsible for keeping your account and login details secure and You are responsible for all activities that are carried out under your account. You should choose a strong, unique password, which You will not disclose to anyone else, or use with any other service. Acast will not be responsible for any losses suffered by You in circumstances where your account is used by someone else, except where this is demonstrably caused by Acast's negligence.

4. ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE SERVICES

4.1 You must be at least eighteen (18) years old and/or otherwise be authorized to enter into agreements and accept to be bound by the Terms in order to use the Services.

4.2 Subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions of the Terms, Acast grants You a limited, personal, non-exclusive, revocable and non-transferable right and license to use the features and functionality of the Services during the term of Your agreement with Acast.

4.3 You agree that when using the Services, You will not:

• re-produce, modify, copy, distribute, prepare derivate works of, translate, resell, perform or display to the public, or permit access to the Services by any third party;

• take any actions to artificially alter the streaming and/or download numbers of the Publications as measured by the Platform;

• interfere with the Services or disrupt any other user's access to the Services;

• unless provided for under mandatory law, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, or attempt to discover the underlying source code or structure of the Services;

• submit any content or data that contains mass mailings or any form of spam;

• distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm Acast or our affiliates or the interests of any other user of the Services, or otherwise interfere with or disrupt our systems;

• use any robot, spider, data scraping or extraction tool or similar mechanism with respect to the Services;

• share account credentials or give others access to your account. In addition to, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, You may not access the Services for purposes of monitoring its performance, functionality or availability, or for any other competitive purposes; or

• use the Services other than in compliance with the Terms and any amendment hereto, applicable laws and regulations and the Community Guidelines.

5. OWNERSHIP AND RIGHTS

5.1 Acast is and remains the sole owner of the Platform and the Platform Services, including but not limited to all Intellectual Property Rights related to the Services and all technology, software and code creating links and connections between Podcast Audio Files, interactive media, the Acast API, the design, images, information and other content and material on the Platform and in the Platform Services (collectively, the "Acast IP"), including future developments and enhancements. Furthermore, Acast is and remains the sole owner of Acast's trade names, trademarks, logos, copyrights, branding and all components thereof. Acast hereby grants to You a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable worldwide license for the term to use the Platform and the Acast IP in accordance with these Terms. Acast reserves any and all rights not expressly granted to You. These Terms do not confer upon You any right to, or in respect of, the Platform, the Platform Services or to any technology, software, information or material being part of such services. Acast expressly reserves all Intellectual Property Rights not expressly granted to You hereunder.

5.2 As between You and Acast, all your Podcaster Content is owned and/or controlled by You.

5.3 Unless otherwise expressly agreed by You and Acast, we do not claim any ownership rights to nor any responsibility over your Podcaster Content. You acknowledge and agree that your Podcaster Content remains solely your responsibility. You may not upload, store, distribute, send, transmit, display, perform, make available or otherwise communicate to the public any Podcaster Content to which You do not hold the necessary rights (including but not limited to rights to any sound recordings and/or musical works, lyrics, compositions etc. included in the Podcaster Content). Please be advised that Acast expressly reserves the right to charge You any reasonable and/or verifiable out of pocket music costs incurred by Acast for the distribution of the Publication. Any unauthorized use of copyright protected material within your Podcaster Content (including by way of reproduction, distribution, modification, adaptation, public display, public performance, making available or otherwise communicating to the public via the Platform), independent of whether it is or becomes unauthorized at a later point, may constitute an infringement of third-party rights and is strictly prohibited.

5.4 You may not upload any Podcaster Content to the Platform that is defamatory, offensive or illegal, or otherwise violates the Terms or the Community Guidelines. Acast reserves the right to remove any Podcaster Content that violates these Terms, Community Guidelines or any applicable law or which Acast for any other reason deems may harm Acast’s business.

5.5 By uploading Podcaster Content to the Platform, You hereby grant to Acast an exclusive, sub-licensable, irrevocable, fully paid, royalty-free, worldwide license to host, use, copy, digitally transcode, transmit, modify, publicly perform, display publicly, communicate to the public on a pre-programmed and on-demand basis, promote, market, distribute, make use of Podcaster Content and cover art, host imagery, show and/or episode descriptions for marketing and promotional purposes, monetise (as may be agreed between Acast and You separately), and otherwise make your Podcaster Content available to end users and third parties including via download and streaming during the term of your agreement with Acast. In addition, You acknowledge that the foregoing licenses in this Section will extend to the end users of Acast's mobile app and website, and to operators and users of any other websites, apps and/or platforms to which your Podcaster Content has been shared, distributed or embedded by Acast including, but not limited to, third party platforms and/or services where Publications and related content are made available.

5.6 By uploading Podcaster Content to the Platform, You expressly agree that Acast shall have the right to use any and all cover art and podcast imagery for marketing and promotional purposes of the Publication and Acast products and Services, including but not limited to in any PR, marketing campaigns, sales pitches and on Acast’s websites.

5.7 Upon Acast’s request, you shall add the Acast logo (as provided to you by Acast) on any cover art associated with the Podcast Content / Publication.

6. SUBSCRIPTION PLANS

6.1 Acast provides its Services to You on a subscription basis which requires payment to Acast in regular intervals (either monthly or yearly). The Acast Services are bundled into Plans which may have different terms, prices and associated Services. A list of the plans in place from time to time is publicly available and can be found at this address https://acast.com/pricing or upon request. Acast reserves the right to amend any Plan You may have subscribed to by providing to You not less than 14 days' notice of such change.

6.2 You are required to make payment on the commencement of the Plan You have signed up for and You are required to keep payment of your subscription fees up to date. Failure to make full payment of your subscription fees may result in suspension of Services to You until such arrears are cleared and repeated lapses in payment may result in a complete termination of your account which may result in the deleting of your content.

6.3 Should You decide to terminate subscription to your Plan(s) pursuant to Section 10.2 below or should Acast be forced to rely on the terms stated in Section 10.3, Acast shall have no obligation to provide the Service to You or to repay and/or/ refund any subscription fees already paid by You.

7. COMMERCIALS

7.1 You expressly agree that the placement of any Commercial(s) by You is strictly prohibited under the Terms of this agreement unless otherwise expressly agreed between You and Acast.

7.2 If You are invited by Acast to monetise the Publication, You acknowledge and agree that Acast shall have the right to sell Acast Commercials and to place such Acast Commercials in the Publication as per the additional terms agreed between you and Acast.

8. PERSONAL DATA

8.1 Acast will collect and process certain personal data pertaining to You when You create an account and use the Platform and the Platform Services. In the Acast Privacy Policies we inform You of the categories of data we collect, for what purposes we collect the data and how long we store data collected in connection with the Platform and the Platform Services. The Privacy Policies are available when You create your account and on the Platform at all times. Please read through the Privacy Policy relevant to the country from which You are creating and uploading the Podcast Content from carefully before creating your account on the Platform.

9. THIRD PARTY SERVICES

9.1 The Platform may, from time to time, contain links to third party websites or services which are not operated by Acast to enable You to or assist You in using services provided by third parties. The use of a Third-Party Service may be subject to additional terms and conditions from the provider of such Third-Party Service. Acast makes no representation or commitment and shall have no liability or obligation whatsoever in relation to the content or use of, or correspondence with, any such Third-Party Service, or any transactions completed, or any contract entered into by You, with any such Third-Party Service provider. Acast recommends that You refer to the Third-Party Service provider's terms and conditions and privacy policy prior to using the relevant Third-Party Service. By using a Third-Party Service available on the Platform, You agree to be bound by and adhere to any additional terms and conditions applicable to such Third-Party Service.

9.2 At any time during the term of your agreement with Acast and in the event that any of your Publications are published to a third-party distribution platform, You acknowledge that such third party distribution platform(s) may require that You agree to separate third party license terms, terms of use agreements and/or privacy policies as a condition of any such distribution/use of the third party service(s). We will not be responsible in any manner whatsoever for any such Third-Party Services.

10. TERM AND TERMINATION

10.1 To terminate subscription to your Plan(s), Acast requires notice at least 3 business days before the Renewal Date of the Plan(s). To terminate your Plan(s), You must either (i) send an email from the email address associated with your Acast account to support@acast.com requesting termination, or (ii) by requesting termination from a support representative using the secure Intercom chat message feature on the Platform when You are signed in to your Acast account. If Acast has not received the notice at the latest 3 business days before the Renewal Date, subscription to your Plan(s) will automatically renew. For the avoidance of doubt, termination can only be effected at the end of the current Plan and if You choose to terminate before this date, You do so with the full knowledge that Acast may not refund any part of the subscription fees You have already paid to Acast.

10.2 You may delete your account in order to terminate your use of the Platform at any time and for any reason. In such case, your rights and obligations under the Terms will also terminate except for such obligations of yours that have arisen as a consequence of your use of the Platform and the Platform Services before the deletion of your account. For the avoidance of doubt, any subscription fees already paid will not be refunded.

10.3 Your non-compliance with the Terms and/or Community Guidelines may result in: (i) the suspension of your access to the Platform and/or the Platform Services; and/or (ii) the permanent removal of your Podcaster Content and/or Podcaster Data from the Platform; and/or (iii) the termination of your account and your use of the Services. For the avoidance of doubt, if termination is effected for any reason outlined in this Section 10.3, any subscription fees already paid to Acast will not be refunded. By using the Services, You accept that Acast may, at any time and at its own discretion, close the Platform or parts of the Platform and discontinue the Platform Services or parts thereof.

10.4 In the event of termination, Acast agrees to terminate service, and to remove credit card records and other information Acast has stored about You. Acast also agrees to redirect the users RSS feed(s), if any, to a new URL provided by You, if requested at the time of cancellation, termination or expiration, subject to Section 10.5 below.

10.5 We have no obligation to retain Podcaster Content or your data from the Platform at any time after cancellation, termination or expiration of your agreement with Acast. Notwithstanding the foregoing, You acknowledge and agree that Acast will be entitled to use aggregate, non-identifying data both during and beyond the term of your agreement with Acast for analytics, as well as to develop, improve and deliver the Platform and the Platform Services.

10.6 Acast is not obligated to ensure the deletion of any Podcaster Content from any servers or systems operated by third party distributors, or to require that any user of the Platform or any third party distributor deletes any Podcaster Content.

11. CHANGES TO THE SERVICES AND/OR THE TERMS

11.1 We reserve the right to modify, correct, develop, improve, or make any other change to, or discontinue (temporarily or permanently), the Platform and/or Platform Services (or any part thereof) without notice, at any time. In the event of a permanent discontinuation of the Platform, we will, unless prohibited by applicable law or stock-exchange rules, inform You hereof no later than thirty (30) days prior to such discontinuation.

11.2 Acast may revise these Terms from time to time at our sole discretion. When there is a new version of the Terms, You will receive notice hereof in the Platform and be prompted to approve the new version of the Terms. If You do not approve the new version of the Terms, You may not continue to use the Services and any Subscription Fees or similar shall not be refunded.

12. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

12.1 For each piece of Podcaster Content You submit, You represent and warrant that You have obtained and possess all licenses, rights, consents and permissions necessary to submit the Podcaster Content to the Platform and to grant Acast the rights and licenses set forth herein for Acast's use of the Podcaster Content as contemplated herein. Furthermore, any Podcaster Content made available by You on the Platform does not and will not infringe upon any third party's rights, including any Intellectual Property Rights, privacy rights, or any other proprietary rights and will comply with all applicable laws.

12.2 You represent and warrant that any materials uploaded to the Platform, including without limitation, any Podcaster Content, does not contain anything that is defamatory, libellous, abusive, offensive, threatening, pornographic and/or obscene (unless specifically approved by Acast in writing), does not violates any confidentiality obligations You have with a third party and will comply with all applicable laws.

13. DISCLAIMER

13.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE, THE PLATFORM, THE PLATFORM SERVICES AS WELL AS ANY MATERIAL, INFORMATION AND ANY THIRD-PARTY COMPONENTS PROVIDED THEREIN ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, AND ACAST DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF USE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

13.2 WE WILL MAKE REASONABLE EFFORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR USE 24 HOURS A DAY AND 365 DAYS A YEAR. HOWEVER, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME THE PLATFORM MAY BE INACCESSIBLE, UNAVAILABLE OR INOPERABLE FOR ANY REASON, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION: (A) EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTIONS; (B) PERIODIC MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES OR REPAIRS WHICH ACAST MAY UNDERTAKE FROM TIME TO TIME; OR (C) CAUSES BEYOND THE CONTROL OF ACAST OR WHICH ARE NOT REASONABLY FORESEEABLE BY ACAST. ACAST WILL NOT BE LIABLE AND/OR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLATFORM'S FAILURE TO BE AVAILABLE FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INTERNET AND NETWORK CAUSED OUTAGES, OUTAGES DURING WHICH THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE CANNOT BE ACCESSED DUE TO TECHNICAL OR OTHER PROBLEMS THAT ARE NOT UNDER OUR CONTROL (E.G. FORCE MAJEURE, THIRD PARTY NEGLIGENCE, ETC.).

13.3 ACAST USES COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE ENDEAVORS TO ENSURE THAT THE USAGE DATA FOR YOUR PUBLICATION(S), SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED TO NUMBER OF LISTENS AND DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, WHICH IS PROVIDED TO YOU VIA THE PLATFORM, IS CORRECT. HOWEVER, ACAST MAKES NO GUARANTEE THAT SUCH INSIGHTS DATA IS ERROR-FREE.

13.4 YOU SHOULD ALWAYS PRESERVE BACK-UP COPIES OF ANY PODCAST AUDIO FILES, PUBLICATIONS OR OTHER CONTENT OR DATA THAT YOU UPLOAD TO THE PLATFORM. WHILE ACAST HAS ESTABLISHED ROUTINES FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF CONTENT STORED ON THE PLATFORM, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PODCAST AUDIO FILES, PUBLICATION OR OTHER CONTENT OR DATA UPLOADED BY YOU TO THE PLATFORM.

13.5 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE, IN NO EVENT SHALL ACAST BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DIRECT OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF GOODWILL, PROFITS OR DATA AND BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING HEREUNDER, RESULTING FROM OR ARISING OUT OF THE SERVICES, YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES OR FAILURE OF THE PLATFORM AND/OR THE PLATFORM SERVICES TO PERFORM AS REPRESENTED OR EXPECTED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ACAST TOTAL LIABILITY HEREUNDER EXCEED AN AMOUNT CORRESPONDING TO THE SUBSCRIPTION PLAN FEES PAID BY YOU DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO YOUR CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION HEREUNDER.

13.6 YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ACAST IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OF THE PODCAST CONTENT THAT IS UPLOADED TO THE PLATFORM AND THAT RELIANCE ON SUCH PODCAST CONTENT IS EXPRESSLY AT YOUR OWN RISK. ACAST ACCEPTS NO LIABILITY FOR DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS ARISING AS A RESULT OF THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE PLATFORM.

14. INDEMNIFICATION

14.1 YOU WILL INDEMNIFY, DEFEND, AND HOLD HARMLESS ACAST AND OUR AFFILIATES, AND EACH OF OUR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS, FROM AND AGAINST ALL THIRD-PARTY ACTIONS, DAMAGES, CLAIMS, LIABILITIES, DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND EXPENSES: (A) THAT ARISE FROM YOUR ACTIVITIES ON THE PLATFORM OR IN THE PLATFORM SERVICES; (B) AGAINST ANY CLAIM THAT ASSERTS OR ALLEGES THAT ANY OF YOUR PODCASTER CONTENT ANY LAW OR INFRINGES UPON ANY THIRD PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR PROPRIETARY RIGHT, INCLUDING ANY COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK, PATENT, OR PRIVACY RIGHT; OR (C) OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF ANY BREACH OR ALLEGED BREACH OF ANY OF YOUR REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH IN THESE TERMS.

15. CONFIDENTIALITY

15.1 Each Party shall, during the term of the Agreement and thereafter to keep Confidential Information of the other Party confidential and not use such Confidential Information otherwise than for the purpose of the Agreement.

15.2 Each Party shall take all necessary precautions to prevent any unauthorised disclosure or use of such Confidential Information by its officers, directors, employees or other representatives.

15.3 Each Party may disclose Confidential Information if such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable governmental regulations, laws or stock exchange rules, provided that the Party required to make any such disclosure will, to the extent practicably possible, give reasonable advance notice to the other Party of such disclosure requirement and will use its best efforts to secure confidential treatment of such information required to be disclosed.

16. MISCELLANEOUS

16.1 Acast has the right, fully or partly, to transfer our rights and obligations to third parties under these Terms. You have no right to transfer your rights and obligations under these Terms, unless You have Acast's written consent to do so.

16.2 If any part, term or provision of the Terms is held to be illegal or unenforceable, the validity of the remainder of the Terms will not be affected. Any omission of Acast to enforce its rights under the Terms shall not be regarded as a waiver of such rights. It is expressly understood that all provisions regarding limitations of liability and indemnities will remain in full force and effect and shall survive the deletion of your account on the Platform.

17. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTES

17.1 Any claim relating to the Platform or the use thereof will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Sweden, without reference to its conflict of law principles.

17.2 Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof, shall be finally settled in accordance with normal procedures for such matters set out in local consumer legislation. The language to be used in any proceedings shall be English.

18. CONTACT INFORMATION

18.1 If You have any questions, complaints or comments about Acast or our services then please contact us by email using support@acast.com, or in writing by post to Acast Stories Inc, 79 Walker Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013.