These terms apply to the desktop version of the software.

You, the subscriber, agree to be bound by these terms, to comply with them, and to ensure that all your users (as defined below) comply with them. They continue to apply after your subscription has ended. Please note that they include terms which exclude and restrict our liability even if we have been negligent.

Note: An individual who accepts these terms on behalf of another person (whether a company, a firm or another individual) will be personally liable to Sparkol if he or she does not have the authority to bind that other person to these terms as the subscriber.

The software is made available by us, Sparkol Ltd, a company incorporated in England and Wales (number 06762963). Our registered office is 1 Temple Way, Bristol, BS2 0BY, UK.

If you are a consumer user, please read the following:

Summary of some of your key rights:

1    Interpretation

In these terms:

controller: has the meaning given to that term in the GDPR;

data protection laws: means

(a)      the Data Protection Act 2018;

(b)      the GDPR, and/or any corresponding or equivalent national laws or regulations; and

(c)      any applicable laws replacing, amending, extending, re-enacting or consolidating any of the above data protection laws from time to time;

GDPR: means the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679;

personal data: has the meaning given to that term in the GDPR;

premium content: means any Sparkol content that we have identified as premium content on our website or in an app;

product description: means the description of the app, the Sparkol content, and the services we provide in connection with the app which appears on our websites (including www.sparkol.com, www.videoscribe.co, www.tawe.co, www.storypix.co.uk);

project: means a collection and sequence of images (still or moving) of any kind, text, data, music, speech and other sounds created or used with the app by one or more of your users under your app account which has been produced by, or is intended to be used with, the app as a single entity; projects may be known by another name, such as “scribes” or “tawes”;

software: means the code that provides the software’s functionality and the Sparkol content;

Sparkol content: means any images (still or moving) of any kind, text, music, speech and other sounds made available by us for use with the app code, including premium content;

subscription: includes continuing use of the software in return for a single payment, where that payment plan has been offered by Sparkol and accepted by you;

you: means the person who has subscribed to the software, which may be a company, a firm or an individual;

your users: means you and anyone else who uses the software through your account and either does so with your permission or works for you;

your content: means any images (still or moving) of any kind, text, music, speech and other sounds, and data used with the software by your users, except those which are Sparkol content.

Any use of the software or your projects by your users is deemed to be use by you; any act or omission by your users in relation to the software is deemed to be your act or omission; any project created or used by your users is deemed to be your project; premium content acquired by your users is deemed to have been acquired by you; your users’ authorisation of a premium content download is deemed to be your authorisation; references to “your use” and “your project” in these terms and our acceptable use policy include any use by your users and any project created or used by your users;

“we” and “us” refer to Sparkol and “our” means “Sparkol’s”;

“person” includes an individual, a partnership and a corporation of any kind, no matter where in the world he or it is resident, domiciled, incorporated or established;

A reference to your subscription ending includes its termination;

Examples introduced by the words “including”, “include” or any similar expression only emphasise that those examples are included and do not limit the sense of any preceding words;

A reference to the singular or the plural includes both, and a reference to any gender includes all genders;

A reference to a statute or a statutory provision is to that statute or provision as it is in force from time to time.

2    The software and our services

2.1    The software, the Sparkol content and the services we provide in connection with the software, are as described in the product description.

2.2    Except to the extent that any such term is to be treated as being included by virtue of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and cannot be excluded, it is not a term of your agreement with us that the software is of satisfactory quality or has any functionality that is not described in the product description, or that we will correct any defects in the software or develop it further.

2.3    Subject to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, we may remove any functionality from the software without providing any reason or warning. If we remove any material functionality from the software, you may terminate your subscription to it.

2.4    We have exercised reasonable care and reasonable skill in creating the software, and we have the right to allow you to use it in accordance with these terms. We will provide our services with reasonable care and reasonable skill, but it is not a term of your agreement with us that those services will achieve any particular outcome.

2.5    You authorise the installation of software and software updates on your users’ devices, and the exchange of information between your users’ devices and our systems, for the purposes of enabling the software to function and improving it.

2.6    The payment terms are set out in the Sparkol subscription payment terms.

3    Use of the software

3.1    You must use the software only as permitted by these terms and within the scope of your subscription.

3.2    You must ensure that the number of your users does not exceed the number permitted by your subscription and that each of your users: works for you; has read and accepted these terms; uses the software only on your behalf; complies with our acceptable use policy.

3.3    You must ensure that only one individual knows the primary username and associated password for your software account, and that each of your users keeps his own password secret.

3.4    Unless and until you tell us that you believe someone is using the software through your software account without your permission, anyone using it through your software account is deemed to be one of your users and you will be liable for that use. This does not apply if that person does not work for you and did not acquire a username or password through you, your authorised users or anyone who works for you, but it is for you to prove that this is the case.

3.5    While your subscription is current:

    (a)    You may use the software to create, edit and use your projects;

    (b)    You may store your projects on our system or your system;

    (c)    You may charge anyone for using your projects (but not the software).

3.6    Once your subscription has ended:

    (a)    You will still be able to use projects which you have exported - such as rendered video files - and stored on your system, but you will not be able to access or use any other projects or create new ones;

    (b)    You must not sell your projects or charge or receive payments from anyone for using your projects;

    (c)    We may retain any of your projects which are on our system for as long as we wish but we may permanently delete any of your projects from our system without warning.

3.7    You must not charge anyone for using the software or allow anyone to use the software except for the purposes of viewing or using your projects.

3.8    Sparkol content may only be used for creating and using projects with the software. In particular, it may not be used directly with any other software or in any marketing materials.

3.9    You must not use the software, or create or use a project, in any way that infringes any rights of any third party or in connection with any offence, libel or slander, or in any way that is unlawful, unreasonably causes any person distress or offence, or brings our name into disrepute.

3.10    You must not modify the software in any way, combine it with any other software, or give any indication that it is anything other than a software that has been created and distributed by Sparkol.

4    Google Fonts

4.1    We use Google Fonts in the Services. Where you use the Google Fonts as part of your videos you must ensure that your use of the Google Fonts complies with the licensing terms that are applicable to the relevant font which can be found at the following distribution list: https://fonts.google.com/attribution.

4.2    We shall not be liable for any breach by you of the licence terms of the Google Fonts that you use in your videos or content.

5    Premium content

5.1    Premium content can be used in your projects for an additional charge. The charge will be shown when the premium content is selected and if you authorise that charge with your password we will collect it using the payment method you have registered for your account. If you set an authorisation period for your password, we will collect the charges for all premium content downloaded during that period (or until you log out of your account if that happens first). It may take up to five (5) working days for each order and payment to be processed, but the premium content can be used straight away.

5.2    Premium content may have been provided by a third party, but where that is the case we have the right to allow you to use it in accordance with these terms.

5.3    We reserve the right to reject any order for premium content any reason. If you have already paid, we will refund the full amount as soon as possible.

5.4    You acknowledge that as you will obtain the premium content straight away, you will lose your statutory right to cancel the transaction within fourteen (14) days. However, we will refund your payment for any premium content that is defective provided you notify us of the defect within fourteen (14) days of it being downloaded. This does not affect your statutory rights in respect of defective premium content.

6    Software-specific terms

The terms in this clause 6 only apply to the software and/or premium content mentioned:

VideoScribe

6.1    You will be charged each time you download any premium content, even if you have already paid for the same item, but if you store it on your system you may use it within any number of VideoScribe projects without having to pay a further charge.

7    Intellectual property rights

7.1    We will not acquire any rights to your projects or your content except that you authorise us to use your projects, both while your subscription is current and after it has ended, in the course of making the software’s functionality available to you, providing our support services to you, and in promoting the software by showing the projects our users create.

7.2    Other than the right to access and use the software, you will not acquire any title, right, or interest to or in the software, all of which are retained by us or the persons who have licensed any parts of the software to us.

8    Technical protection measures

The software is protected by technical measures to prevent unauthorised use and you must not remove or circumvent any of them.

9    Exclusions and restrictions of our liability

9.1    We will not be liable for any of the following:

    (a)    Loss or damage resulting from the software not being available for use;

    (b)    Loss or damage resulting from the deletion of your projects from our system after your subscription has ended, or any costs and expenses associated with their reconstruction; 

    (d)    Indirect or consequential loss or damage; 

    (e)    Loss or damage of or to reputation, goodwill, business, revenue, profit or expected savings; 

    (f)    Loss or damage of or to any software or data (including your content and your projects) which you could reasonably have avoided by making a backup copy of it; 

    (g)    Any unauthorised access to, or use or disclosure of, your content or projects by any person who is not associated with us except to the extent that the resulting loss and damage is recoverable under the General Data Protection Regulation; 

    (h)    Any fine, penalty, tax or other levy imposed on you or another user by any court, tribunal or regulator (including the UK Information Commissioner) in connection with your projects or your use of the software; 

Any costs or expenses incurred by you or your users in avoiding or dealing with any investigation, action or proceedings brought by or before any regulator (including the UK Information Commissioner) in connection with your projects or your use of the software.

9.2    We will not be in breach of contract, or liable in any way whatsoever, for failing to discharge our obligations, or for doing so late, to the extent that our failure or delay is a consequence of any failure on your part to discharge your obligations, or any delay on your part in doing so, or any cause that is beyond our reasonable control.

9.3    Our total liability for all loss, damage, costs and expenses resulting from, arising out of, or relating to your use of the software or your agreement with us will be limited to the higher of: (i) £1,000; and (ii) the total subscription charges you have paid for the software for the subscription year in which the event (or, where there are a number of connected or related events, the first of them) giving rise to the loss or damage occurred. When applying these limits, any liability that is unrestricted by virtue of clause 9.5 is to be taken into account first, so that our liability for any other loss, damage, costs and expenses may be reduced or even extinguished. A “subscription year” is a period of one year starting with your payment of the first subscription charge for the software or any anniversary of that date.

9.4    The exclusions and restrictions of our liability in this clause 9 cover all loss, damage, costs and expenses of the kind described no matter what the basis for our liability, and even if they result from our negligence or from other negligence for which we would otherwise be liable.

9.5    These terms do not affect or restrict any right or remedy which you might have, or any liability which we might have, for any of the following: personal injury resulting from negligence, whether or not it results in death; a breach of any term implied by section 2 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982; a breach of any term which has to be treated as being included in your agreement with us by virtue of sections 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 49, 50, 51 or 52 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015; fraud, fraudulent statements and fraudulent misrepresentations.

10    Indemnity

If you are a business user (i.e. you are not a consumer user), you agree to reimburse us in respect of all loss, damage, reasonable costs and reasonable expenses which we suffer or incur as a consequence of your breach of these terms. Your liability for our costs and expenses under this clause 10 is to be assessed on the court’s “indemnity basis” rather than the “standard basis”, and you agree to pay them even if you would not otherwise be liable for them.

11    Personal data

11.1    We are the controller of personal data used in the provision of your subscription, and we will process such personal data in accordance with our privacy statement and data protection laws.

11.2    Our third party hosting provider is Amazon Web Services and the software is hosted in the USA. Amazon Web Services is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield which provides and appropriate safeguard for the transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area and UK.

12    When we may terminate your subscription or close your software account

12.1    We may terminate your subscription, close your software account and/or prevent your access to and use of the software or your projects without any liability to you in any of the following circumstances:

    (a)    If you fail to pay any monies due to us in connection with the software by the due date; 

    (b)    If you breach any of these terms in any way; 

    (c)    If you use the software or your projects in any way which, in our reasonable opinion, is in breach of these terms; 

    (d)    If a third party threatens to start legal proceedings against us based on any of your projects or your use of the software; 

    (e)    If you challenge or dispute any of our rights in or to the software or any Sparkol content, or the rights of any persons who have licensed any parts of the software or Sparkol content to us. 

12.2    We may, at our absolute discretion, terminate your subscription, close your account and prevent your use of the software or your projects without giving any reason or warning, but in this case we will refund any monies you have paid in respect of any future period.

13    General terms

13.1    We may analyse your use of the software for our own business purposes.

13.2    We may use your name and trademarks in our marketing materials to identify you as a user of the software.

13.3    We may freely assign the benefit of your agreement with us.

13.4    If these terms require you not to do something, you must not attempt to do it or allow, assist or encourage any other person to do it.

13.5    These written terms, and any which have to be treated as being included by virtue of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and/or the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, form the whole agreement you have with us. You confirm and promise that you have not relied on anything else (apart from any trial of the software you may have had) when deciding to enter into that agreement, and that you will not claim otherwise.

13.6    Our acceptance of your subscription charges, and our permitting your users to use the software, will not prevent us from exercising any right or remedy we may have in respect of your breach of these terms even if we are aware of the breach at the time, and you agree not to claim that it does.

13.7    Only you and we (and our successors in title) may enforce these terms, and we do not need any third party’s consent before changing them or terminating the agreement you have with us.

13.8    We may change these terms at any time in order to comply with any law, regulation or court order, and both you and we will be legally bound by those changes when we have told you about them.

13.9    We may change these terms at any time, without giving any reason, and both you and we will be legally bound by those changes when we have told you about them unless you end your subscription within 7 days.

13.10    If any provision of this agreement (or part of any provision) is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the legality, validity and enforceability of any other provision of this agreement shall not be affected.

13.11    If any provision of this agreement (or part of any provision) is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable but would be legal, valid and enforceable if some part of it was deleted, the provision or part-provision in question shall apply with such deletions as may be necessary to make the provision legal, valid and enforceable.

13.12    The laws of England and Wales apply to this agreement. If you want to take court proceedings, the relevant courts of the jurisdiction in which you live will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to this agreement.