Terms and Conditions

1.1 Age

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are under 18 (or the age of majority where you live), you may only use the Service with the consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly permit accounts for them.

1.2 Account Types

Accounts may be designated as viewer ("Watcher"), filmmaker ("Maker"), or other roles we offer. Maker features (including certain uploads, portfolio tools, and feed posting) may require approval or additional verification. We may grant, deny, suspend, or revoke roles at our discretion.

1.3 Registration and Accuracy

You must provide accurate account information and keep it current. You may not impersonate any person or entity, misrepresent affiliation, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission. One person or entity should generally maintain one primary account, except where we expressly allow additional accounts.

1.4 Security

You are responsible for safeguarding credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized access. We may require multi-factor authentication or additional verification.

1.5 Account Deletion

You may request account deletion by contacting [email protected] or through available account tools. Deletion may not remove content already licensed, cached, backed up, shared by others, or retained as required by law, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, or legitimate business needs. Festival rankings, payment records, and aggregated analytics may persist in anonymized or limited form.

2.1 Overview

FSTiVL may provide, among other things:

• Upload, hosting, processing, and streaming of audiovisual works and related media
• Film discovery, search, watchlists, favorites, resume playback, and viewing history
• Online and/or hybrid film festivals, screenings, competitions, and rankings
• Social features including profiles, follows, feed posts, replies, votes, and reviews
• Subscriptions, credits, and other paid features
• Advertising, sponsorships, and promotional placements

Features may change, be limited by device or region, or be unavailable at times. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access, particular encoding quality, or that any title will remain available.

2.2 License to Use the Service

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes, or for legitimate filmmaker promotional use consistent with these Terms. You may not scrape, reverse engineer, circumvent access controls, frame, mirror, or commercially exploit the Service except as we expressly allow in writing.

2.3 Device and Access Limits

We may limit concurrent streams, device types, geographic availability, mobile access, bandwidth, or download/offline features. Circumventing such limits is prohibited.

2.4 Beta and Experimental Features

We may offer beta, demo, or experimental features "as is." They may be modified or discontinued without notice and may process additional data as described in the Privacy Policy.

3.1 Your Content

"Your Content" means films, trailers/previews, posters/thumbnails, metadata (titles, descriptions, cast/crew, tags, ratings, categories), profiles, bios, banners, feed posts, replies, reviews, rankings, comments, and any other material you upload, submit, or display on the Service.

3.2 Ownership

As between you and FSTiVL, you retain ownership of Your Content, subject to the licenses below and any third-party rights. You are solely responsible for Your Content and for securing all rights, clearances, releases, and licenses needed to upload and authorize our use of it (including music, footage, likenesses, trademarks, and underlying IP).

3.3 License to FSTiVL

By submitting Your Content, you grant FSTiVL a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, transcode, adapt (including for format, resolution, preview clips, thumbnails, and accessibility), publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, communicate, promote, and otherwise use Your Content in connection with operating, improving, marketing, and providing the Service—including streaming, festival presentation, recommendations, social features, and promotional materials (e.g., site, email, social, and press features about FSTiVL or your work on FSTiVL). This license continues for as long as Your Content remains on the Service and, for residual copies, for a commercially reasonable period after removal, and for archival, legal, and dispute purposes as needed.

3.4 Festival and Screening License

If you submit a work to a festival, screening, competition, or curated program, you additionally grant FSTiVL the right to exhibit that work online and/or in associated events for the relevant program period (and any winner/showcase period we announce), to display rankings and related metadata, and to use stills, titles, and short excerpts for festival promotion. Specific program rules posted at submission may add requirements; those rules form part of these Terms for that submission.

3.5 Representations and Warranties

You represent and warrant that:

• You own or control all rights necessary to grant the licenses above
• Your Content does not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any third-party rights or law
• Your Content complies with these Terms and the Community Guidelines
• Any eligibility, student status, originality, premiere status, length, category, or other festival criteria you attest to are true and complete
• Content ratings and disclosures you select (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R, NR) are reasonably accurate

3.6 Moderation

We may review, refuse, remove, restrict, demote, age-gate, unpublish, or take down Your Content at any time for any reason, including legal risk, rights claims, guideline violations, technical issues, or editorial/curatorial decisions. We have no obligation to monitor all content but may do so. Removal does not create a refund obligation except as expressly stated in Section 4 or required by law.

3.7 Feedback

Ideas, suggestions, or feedback you provide may be used by FSTiVL without restriction or compensation.

4.1 Pricing

Certain features require payment, including Pro subscriptions, credits, and festival entry fees (paid in credits or otherwise). Prices are generally shown in USD and may change. Taxes may apply. Payment processing is handled by Stripe or other processors; their terms also apply to payment data.

4.2 Subscriptions

Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current rate unless canceled before the end of the billing period through the method we provide (or via Stripe customer portal if offered). Canceling stops future renewals; you generally retain access through the end of the paid period. We do not prorate refunds for unused periods except where required by law or expressly offered by us.

4.3 Credits

Credits are a limited license to redeem specified Service features (e.g., festival submissions). Credits have no cash value, are non-transferable, and may not be sold, bartered, or redeemed for cash except where required by law. We may adjust credit pricing, redemption rates, or eligible uses. Unused credits may expire if we give reasonable notice or as stated at purchase. Credits spent on a completed submission are generally non-refundable. If a submission fails due to a documented platform error, we may restore credits at our discretion.

4.4 Refunds

Except as required by applicable law or expressly stated by us in writing: (a) all sales of subscriptions, credits, and entry fees are final; (b) chargebacks initiated in bad faith may result in account suspension; and (c) refund requests should be sent to [email protected] with transaction details. We may refuse refunds for Terms violations.

4.5 Failed Payments

If a payment fails, we may suspend paid features until payment succeeds. You remain responsible for amounts due.

5.1 Program Rules

Each festival, screening week, location, or competition may have its own eligibility criteria, length/category limits, submission caps, credit costs, deadlines, judging methods, and prizes (if any). Those rules, as displayed at submission or on screening pages, control for that program and supplement these Terms.

5.2 Eligibility and Attestations

You must meet all stated criteria (e.g., university student status, genre, length). False or incomplete attestations may result in disqualification, content removal, credit forfeiture, and account action without refund.

5.3 Judging and Rankings

Rankings, scores, curation, and awards may use community voting, editorial judgment, algorithmic or Bayesian scoring, or a combination. We may adjust, invalidate, or exclude votes or rankings for fraud, manipulation, conflict of interest, technical error, or fairness. Decisions of FSTiVL regarding eligibility, selection, ranking, and awards are final unless we elect to revisit them.

5.4 No Guarantee of Exhibition or Prizes

Submission does not guarantee selection, screening, featured placement, prizes, or continued availability. Prize fulfillment (if offered) is subject to verification, eligibility, and any separate prize terms. We may cancel or modify a program for operational, legal, or force majeure reasons; remedies, if any, are limited to credit restoration or equivalent at our discretion unless law requires otherwise.

5.5 Conflicts and Multiple Submissions

Unless program rules allow otherwise, per-user and per-location submission limits apply. You may not use alternate accounts to exceed caps or manipulate outcomes.

Profiles, follows, feed posts, replies, votes, reviews, favorites, watchlists, and similar features are part of the Service. Content you post in these areas is Your Content and may be visible to other users and the public depending on settings and page design. You grant other users a limited license to view and interact with that content through the Service as intended. Do not post private personal data about others without consent. Reviews and ratings must reflect genuine opinions and must not be purchased, coerced, or manipulated.

The Service may display advertisements, including pre-roll, mid-roll, or other video ads (e.g., via Google IMA/VAST or similar), sponsored placements, and promotional messages. Ad partners may collect device and interaction data as described in our Privacy Policy. We may use Your Content titles, artwork, and short clips in Service marketing as described in Section 3. Referral programs (including referral cookies) are subject to posted referral rules; abuse may void rewards.

You agree not to:

• Violate the Community Guidelines or any law
• Upload infringing, illegal, or unauthorized content
• Harass, threaten, dox, defame, or exploit others
• Distribute malware, scrape at scale, or attack the Service
• Manipulate rankings, views, reviews, votes, or festivals
• Circumvent paywalls, DRM, geo/device limits, or access controls
• Use bots or automated means except ordinary browsers/APIs we authorize
• Resell, rebroadcast, or commercially exploit streamed content without rights
• Misuse credits, referrals, or promotions

9.1 FSTiVL IP

The Service, including software, design, trademarks (including FSTiVL), logos, and compilation of content, is owned by FSTiVL or its licensors. Except for Your Content and the limited license in Section 2.2, no rights are granted to you.

9.2 Copyright Complaints (DMCA)

If you believe material on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice that substantially complies with 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to:

Your notice should include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
• Identification of the material claimed to be infringing and its URL or location on FSTiVL
• Your contact information
• A statement of good-faith belief that use is not authorized
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act
• Your physical or electronic signature

We may remove or disable access to allegedly infringing material and may terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. If your content was removed and you believe it was a mistake, you may send a counter-notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).

9.3 Trademark and Other Rights

Rights holders may report trademark or other IP issues to [email protected]. We may remove content or restrict accounts where we believe rights are being violated.

The Service relies on third parties such as Clerk (authentication), Stripe (payments), cloud storage and CDN providers (e.g., AWS, Bunny), email providers (e.g., Resend), hosting/analytics (e.g., Vercel), and advertising networks (e.g., Google). Their terms and privacy practices govern their processing. Links to third-party sites are not endorsements; we are not responsible for third-party content or practices.

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access, remove content, or cancel submissions immediately, with or without notice, for any reason including Terms violations, legal risk, nonpayment, inactivity, or discontinuation of the Service. Upon termination, your license to use the Service ends. Sections that by nature should survive (including licenses already exercised, IP, payments owed, disclaimers, limitations, indemnity, and dispute terms) survive termination.

THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FSTIVL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. VIEWING EXPERIENCES DEPEND ON YOUR DEVICE, NETWORK, AND THIRD-PARTY INFRASTRUCTURE.

User Content is the responsibility of the users who submit it. FSTiVL does not endorse User Content and is not liable for it to the fullest extent permitted by law (including under the Communications Decency Act § 230 where applicable).

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FSTIVL AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND PARTNERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO FSTIVL IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those cases, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted.

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless FSTiVL and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) Your Content; (b) your use of the Service; (c) your breach of these Terms or the Community Guidelines; (d) your violation of any law or third-party right; or (e) your festival submissions or attestations.

15.1 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, USA, excluding conflict of law rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of the arbitration provisions below.

15.2 Informal Resolution

Before filing a claim, you agree to contact [email protected] and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for 30 days.

15.3 Arbitration; Class Action Waiver

Except for small-claims court actions and claims for injunctive relief regarding IP infringement, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. You and FSTiVL waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class, collective, or representative action. If this waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim must proceed in court and not in arbitration. Either party may seek provisional relief in court to protect IP or confidential information.

If you are a consumer living outside the United States, mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence may also apply, and you may have the right to bring proceedings in your local courts where those laws so require.

These Terms are the entire agreement between you and FSTiVL regarding the Service and supersede prior agreements on the subject. If any provision is unenforceable, the remainder remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Notices may be provided via the Service, email, or posting. Headings are for convenience only. "Including" means "including without limitation."

16.1 Changes

We may update these Terms by posting a revised version and updating the "Last Updated" date. Material changes may also be communicated by email or in-product notice. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, stop using the Service and request account closure.

Questions about these Terms:

FSTiVL LLC

[email protected]