T&Cs for Acast+

Terms of Service for Acast+

The Platform and the Acast+ Service, as defined below, are provided to you ("You" or "Podcaster") by Acast AB (publ), a company registered in Sweden ("We" or "Acast").

These terms of service (the "Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between You and Acast and contains the terms and conditions upon which Acast permits You to access and use the Acast+ Service for the purposes of providing and managing subscription-based Premium Content Offers to Members (all as defined below).

By clicking the checkbox stating that You accept these Terms, or by start using the Acast+ Service, You agree to be bound by and comply with these 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 Acast+ Service. 

These Terms apply in addition to the Podcast Agreement that You have entered into with Acast with respect to inter alia hosting and distribution of Podcaster Content via the Platform. In the event of a conflict between the Podcast Agreement and these Terms, the Terms shall prevail with regard to the Acast+ Service.

1. DEFINITIONS

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+ Service" means the Acast platform service which enables Podcaster to provide and manage subscription-based Premium Content Offers to Members having entered into a membership subscription agreement with Acast and agreed to pay the associated Subscription Fee.

"Administration Fee" means the administration fee charged by Acast to You for your use of the Acast+ Service, amounting to 15% (fifteen percent) of the Subscription Fee, as further described in Section 6 below. 

"Availability" means the time the Acast + Service shall be available as further described in Section 2.2 below.

"Podcast Agreement" means Acast's Open Terms of Service, or the individual agreement, as applicable, entered into between Podcaster and Acast with respect to inter alia hosting and distribution of Podcaster Content via the Platform. 

“Effective Date” means the date when You accepted these Terms by clicking the checkbox stating that You accept these Terms, or by starting to use the Acast+ Service.

"Subscription Fee" means the applicable one-time or recurring fee payable by the Member for the access to Premium Content Offers, as determined by Podcaster from time to time and presented in connection with the relevant subscription, as further described in Section 6 below. 

"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.

“Member” means a physical person who has entered into a membership subscription agreement with Acast to get access to Premium Content Offers via the Acast+ Service and agreed to pay the relevant Subscription Fee.

"Premium Content Offers" means Podcast Content and additional content or products related thereto, such as bonus material, ad-free or sponsorship-free episodes, early access to episodes and other related offers provided by Podcaster to Members via the Acast+ Service.

"Platform" means the entire technical platform used by and provided by Acast under these Terms, including, but not limited to all software related to the Acast+ Services.

“Podcaster” means the individual podcast creator who uses the Acast+ Service to provide its Premium Content Offers to Members as described herein, and who is bound by these Terms.

“Podcaster Content” means any and all publications, related data, metadata, files, audio files, attachments, text, images, commercial messages (including advertisements) and other content that a Podcaster upload or submit to the Platform.

"Terms" means these Terms of Service for Acast+.

2. THE ACAST+ SERVICE

2.1 Acast shall make available the Acast+ Service as set out in these Terms as from the Effective Date. The Acast+ Service is provided as a software as a service-offering enabling Podcaster to provide and manage subscription-based Premium Content Offers to Members having entered into a membership subscription agreement with Acast and agreed to pay the associated Subscription Fee. 

2.2 Acast shall use reasonable efforts to make the Acast+ Service available 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year (“Availability”). You acknowledge and agrees that the Acast+ Service may be unavailable from time to time due to (i) equipment, software or service malfunctions; (ii) maintenance and update procedures or repairs; or (iii) causes beyond the control of Acast, including, without limitation, interruption or failure of telecommunication or digital transmission links, malicious attacks, the unavailability, operation, or inaccessibility of websites or interfaces, network congestion or other failures, and that Acast shall not be liable for any unavailability caused by any of the foregoing. In the event that the Acast+ Service does not meet the Availability for any reason other than as set forth in the foregoing (i) through (iii) for at least two (2) consecutive months, Your sole remedy and Acast’s exclusive liability for unavailability of the Acast+ Service, is to terminate these Terms and the account upon written notice to Acast. In addition, You acknowledge and agree that Acast has no responsibility or liability with respect to the operation of any third-party payment solution, such as e.g. Stripe VISA, Mastercard etc., which is used to collect and transfer any payments from Members.

3. ACCOUNT

3.1 Being a Podcaster, You need to have an account with Acast for hosting Your Podcaster Content. Your account is personal and may not be transferred to or shared with others. You warrant that any and all user information provided to Acast in connection with the creation of Your account, setting up Your use of the Acast+ Service or otherwise provided in connection with Your use of the Acast+ Service is true and correct and that, when necessary, You will update the 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 carried out under Your account. You should choose a strong, unique password and not disclose it to anyone else or use it with any other service. Acast will not be responsible for any losses You suffer in circumstances where Your account is used by someone else. Please let us know immediately if You believe that Your account is compromised.

4. ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE ACAST+ SERVICE

4.1 You acknowledge and agree that You must be at least eighteen (18) years old, and/or otherwise be authorized to enter into the Terms, in order to access and use the Acast+ Service.

4.2 Subject to Your compliance with these Terms, Acast grants You a limited, personal, non-exclusive, revocable and non-transferable right and license to use the features and functionality of the Acast+ Service during the term.

4.3 You agree that when using the Acast+ Service, You will not:

(a) re-produce, modify, copy, distribute, prepare derivate works of, translate, resell, perform or display to the public, or permit access to the Acast+ Service by any third party; 

(b) take any actions to artificially alter the streaming and/or download numbers of any audio content as measured by the Platform;

(c) interfere with the Acast+ Service or disrupt any other user's access to the Acast+ Service;

(d) unless provided for under mandatory law, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Acast+ Service, or attempt to discover the underlying source code or structure of the Acast+ Service;

(e) submit any content or data that contains mass mailings or any form of spam;

(f) distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm Acast or our affiliates or the interests of any other user of the Acast+ Service, or otherwise interfere with or disrupt our systems;

(g) use any robot, spider, data scraping or extraction tool or similar mechanism with respect to the Acast+ Service;

(h) 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 Acast+ Service for purposes of monitoring its performance, functionality or availability, or for any other competitive purposes; or

(i) use the account or the Acast+ Service in a way that breaches any applicable money laundering legislation, trade restrictions and/or economic sanctions; or

(j) use the account or the Acast+ Service other than in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

4.4 You acknowledge that any bank and/or payment partner (such as Stripe, VISA, Mastercard etc.) used for transferring payments from Acast to You, or receiving Subscription Fees or similar payments from a Member, may prohibit such transfer of money due to their internal policies, applicable laws, regulations and/or trade restrictions. Acast shall have no responsibility for any non-transferred amount due to such internal policies, applicable laws, regulations and/or trade restrictions.

5. MEMBER INVITATION

5.1 You, as a Podcaster, may invite your listeners to become Members, and thus enter into a membership subscription agreement with Acast to be able to access Premium Content Offers against the payment of the relevant Subscription Fee, through the Acast+ Service by including information about the contents of the Premium Content Offers and a link to the Acast+ Service where the membership subscription agreement may be entered into in e.g. the show description.

5.2 Although the membership subscription agreement is entered into between the Acast and the Member, You acknowledge and agree that You are responsible for determining the Subscription Fee and uploading correct and sufficient information about the Subscription Fee and the contents of the available Premium Content Offers on the Platform, as well as any specific terms and conditions applicable for the Premium Content Offers. You are also responsible for the content of the Premium Content Offers, including its compliance with applicable legislation, and You further undertake to include any and all information to the Member that is required under any applicable regulations or other legislation, including consumer legislation. Notwithstanding the above, You acknowledge that the Subscription Fee may not be lower than 2 USD/ 2GBP /20 SEK per month.

5.3 In case You change any terms and conditions with respect to any Premium Content Offer, You must do so  in accordance with applicable law and You undertake to communicate any and all changes to the Members who have entered into a membership subscription agreement for the affected Premium Content Offer.

6. PAYOUTS, FEES AND TAXES

6.1 Unless otherwise agreed, Acast aims to pay out Your share of the Subscription Fee (i.e. after deducting the Administration Fee and additional fees as set out in Section 6.3 below) within 60 (sixty) days following the month during which the payment from the Member was received by Acast. We may block or hold funds for violations of these Terms or for compliance reasons, including collecting tax reporting information or for non-delivery of content, refunds etc. When payments are delayed or blocked, We aim to communicate the reason for such delay or block as soon as We possibly can. If You have questions about such a delay or block, please contact us. In the event that the balance on Your account becomes negative (which may happen e.g. in the event of refunds), We have the right to recover such funds from future payments. 

6.2 Minimum payout amount is 50 USD/50 GBP/500 SEK. 

6.3 Acast will charge You an Administration Fee for the provision of the Acast+ Service. The Administration Fee corresponds to 15 % (fifteen percent) excluding VAT (where VAT is applicable) of the Subscription Fee actually paid by a Member for the Premium Content Offers. In addition, for the service provided by the third-party payment solution provider (the “PSP”) Acast will charge You the fee actually charged by the PSP, which may be modified from time to time. The current PSP is Stripe and the fee is currently based on a fee for each individual payment transaction by a Member, equivalent to 1,4% + a fixed fee of 1,80 SEK for payments made by European cards and 2,9% + a fixed fee of 1,80 SEK for payments made by non-European cards. Where applicable, the fixed fee is converted automatically by Stripe at a mid-market exchange rate at the time of the charge, including VAT (if applicable).  The specific VAT amount will (where applicable) always be specified on each invoice.

6.4 You are responsible for reporting any and all taxes including VAT.

7. OWNERSHIP, RIGHTS ETC.

7.1 Acast is and remains the sole owner of the Platform and the Acast Service, including but not limited to all Intellectual Property Rights related to the Acast+ Service and all technology, software, design, images, information and other content and material on the Platform and in the Acast+ Service, 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 reserves any and all rights not expressly granted to You. These Terms do not confer upon Podcaster any right to, or in respect of, the Platform or the Acast+ Service 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.

7.2 You acknowledge and agree that You remain solely responsible for any information, content or other material, including but not limited to the Premium Content Offers, uploaded and/or made available to Members through the Platform.  You may not upload, store, distribute, send, transmit, display, perform, make available or otherwise communicate to the public any content to which You do not hold the necessary rights (including rights to any sound recordings and/or musical works, lyrics, compositions etc. included in the content). Any unauthorized use of copyright protected material within Your 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.

7.3 You may not make available any content via the Platform that is defamatory, offensive or illegal. Acast reserves the right to remove any content that violates these Terms or any applicable law or which Acast for any other reason deems may harm Acast’s business.

8. PERSONAL DATA

8.1 Acast will, as data controller, collect and process certain personal data pertaining to You or any of Your employees/representatives when You create an account, use the Platform and the Acast+ Service. In Acast's Privacy Policy, we inform of the categories of personal data We collect, for what purposes We collect the personal data and how long We store personal data collected in connection with the Acast+ Service. The Privacy Policy is available when You create an account and on the Platform at all times.

8.2 Acast may, in connection with a Member's subscription to Your Premium Content Offers, make available the Member's personal data (such as e-mail address) to You. In the event that You use the Member's personal data to send direct electronic marketing or any other relevant information related to Your Premium Content Offers or the Acast+ Service, You acknowledge that You are a data controller (as defined in applicable data protection legislation) for the processing of the Member's personal data for such purposes. You are responsible for complying with all obligations applicable to You as a data controller and defined in the applicable data protection legislations, including but not limited to the obligation to respond to any data subject request and keeping such personal data safe.

8.3 If You are located in a country outside of the EEA which does not provide an adequate level of protection within the meaning of Article 46 of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/69 (“GDPR”), the EU Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses for international transfers  (the “SCCs”), Module 1 transfer controller-to-controller (the “Controller-to-Controller SCCs”) shall apply to the transfer of Member’s personal data from Acast to You. Where the Controller-to-Controller SCCs apply, You agree to the following:  

  • Acast is the data exporter and You are the data importer.
  • The option under Clause 7 of the Controller-to-Controller SCCs shall not apply.
  • The option under Clause 11 of the Controller-to-Controller SCCs shall not apply.
  • The governing law under Clause 17 of the Controller-to-Controller SCCs shall be the law that is designated under Section 14 of these Terms.
  • The courts under Clause 18 of the Controller-to-Controller SCCs shall be he courts of Sweden, with the district court of Stockholm as the court of first instance.
  • The contents of Annex 1 of these Terms shall form Annex I to the Controller-to-Controller SCCs.

8.4 You further acknowledge that if You use the Member’s personal data to send email marketing communications, You are responsible for complying with rules concerning electronic and direct marketing applicable in Your jurisdiction, including but not limited to rules requiring consent from the individual before sending marketing emails and providing an opt-out function. 

9. TERMINATION, DELETION OF ACCOUNT ETC.

9.1 Acast may terminate or suspend Your account at any time at our discretion provided that any amount due to You at the time of termination are paid out. Your non-compliance with these Terms may result in the suspension of access to the Platform and/or the Acast+ Service, or the termination of Your right to use the Platform and/or the Acast+ Service. By using the Acast+ Service, You accept that Acast may, at any time and at its own discretion, close the Platform or parts of the Platform and discontinue the Acast+ Service or parts thereof.

9.2 You may terminate the use of the Acast+ Service at any time and for any reason. In such case, Your rights and obligations under these Terms will also terminate except for such obligations that have arisen as a consequence of You use of the Acast+ Service before the deletion of Your account. 

10. CHANGES TO THE ACAST+ SERVICES AND/OR THE TERMS

10.1 We reserve the right to modify, correct, develop, improve, or make any other change to, or discontinue (temporarily or permanently), the Platform and/or Acast+ Service (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 30 (thirty) days prior to such discontinuation.

10.2 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 a reasonable notice thereof. Your continued use of the Acast+ Service following such notice will be deemed an acceptance by You of the new version of the Terms.

11. DISCLAIMER

11.1 TO THE FULLEST EXTENT LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE, THE PLATFORM AND THE ACAST+ SERVICE 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. THE DISCLAIMER UNDER THIS CLAUSE ALSO APPLY TO OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS.

11.2 ACAST USES COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE ENDEAVORS TO ENSURE THAT ANY PAYMENT DATA, WHICH IS PROVIDED TO YOU VIA THE PLATFORM, IS CORRECT. HOWEVER, ACAST MAKES NO GUARANTEE THAT SUCH DATA IS ERROR-FREE.

11.3 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'S TOTAL LIABILITY HEREUNDER EXCEED AN AMOUNT CORRESPONDING TO THE ADMINISTRATION FEES PAID BY YOU DURING THE THREE (3) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO YOUR CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION HEREUNDER.

12. INDEMNIFICATION

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 THAT ARISE FROM ANY PODCASTER CONTENT, PREMIUM CONTENT OFFERINGS, OR YOUR USE OF THE ACAST+ SERVICE  OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF ANY BREACH OR ALLEGED BREACH OF ANY OF YOUR OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH IN THESE TERMS. THE INDEMNIFICATION UNDER THIS CLAUSE ALSO APPLY TO OUR THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS.MISCELLANEOUS

13. MISCELLANEOUS

13.1 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.

13.2 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.

14. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTES

14.1 Any claim relating to the Platform, the Acast+ Services, 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.

14.2 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 by the court of Stockholm.

15. CONTACT INFORMATION

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 regular mail, to Acast AB, Kungsgatan 28, 111 35 Stockholm, Sweden.

Terms of Service for Acast+ dated October 2022

ANNEX 1 CONTROLLER-TO-CONTROLLER TRANSFER OF PERSONAL DATA

A. LIST OF PARTIES

Data exporter(s): 

Name: Acast AB (publ)  

Address: Kungsgatan 28, 111 35 Stockholm, Sweden

Contact person’s name, position and contact details: privacy@acast.com 

Activities relevant to the data transferred under these Clauses: Transfer of Member’s personal data to Podcaster

Role (controller/processor): Controller

Data importer(s): 

Name: Name as listed in Podcaster’s account.

Address: Address as listed in Podcaster’s account.

Contact person’s name, position and contact details: Account owner listed in Podcaster’s account. 

Activities relevant to the data transferred under these Clauses: Accessing and using Member’s personal data for the purposes of sending direct electronic marketing or any other relevant information related to Podcaster’s Premium Content Offers or the Acast+ Service.

Role (controller/processor): Controller

B. DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFER

Categories of data subjects whose personal data is transferred

Members of Podcatser’s Premium Content Offers.

Categories of personal data transferred

Member contact details (name and email address)

Sensitive data transferred (if applicable) and applied restrictions or safeguards that fully take into consideration the nature of the data and the risks involved, such as for instance strict purpose limitation, access restrictions (including access only for staff having followed specialised training), keeping a record of access to the data, restrictions for onward transfers or additional security measures.

N/A

The frequency of the transfer (e.g. whether the data is transferred on a one-off or continuous basis).

On a continuous basis every time Podcaster exports the list of Members in the Platform. 

Nature of the processing

Access and use of Members personal data.

Purpose(s) of the data transfer and further processing

Access and use of Member’s personal data for the purposes of sending direct electronic marketing or any other relevant information related to Podcaster’s Premium Content Offers or the Acast+ Service.

The period for which the personal data will be retained, or, if that is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period 

For as long as the Member is subscribed to Podcaster’s Premium Content Offers. 

For transfers to (sub-) processors, also specify subject matter, nature and duration of the processing

N/A

C. COMPETENT SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY

Identify the competent supervisory authority/ies in accordance with Clause 13

Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY)