Terms and Service Agreement
Draft for legal and operational review — not final legal terms. This document must be reviewed and approved before accepting paying customer orders. Service availability, payment, refund, retention and contact procedures must be checked against the actual production implementation.
1. Scope and acceptance
These terms describe the proposed conditions for using CheapEncode's website and video-processing services. By accepting the final published terms and submitting an order, a customer would agree to the applicable terms displayed at checkout. Any enterprise agreement signed separately would govern to the extent of a conflict.
2. Eligibility and permitted use
Customers must have the legal authority to enter into an agreement and use the service. They may submit only files they own or have permission to process. The service may not be used to infringe copyrights or privacy rights; upload illegal or abusive content; distribute malware; exploit the platform; attempt unauthorized access; or interfere with service operations.
3. Your content and intellectual property
Customers retain their rights to uploaded content. Uploading content does not transfer ownership to CheapEncode. Customers grant CheapEncode a limited, non-exclusive permission to receive, scan, temporarily store, reproduce as technically necessary, transcode, and deliver the submitted media solely to provide the requested service, maintain security, and meet legal obligations. Customers are responsible for the legality of their content and any necessary permissions from rights holders or persons depicted.
4. Copyright complaints
We may suspend processing or restrict access to content that is reported as infringing or otherwise unlawful. A published copyright policy should specify a monitored contact address and, where applicable, DMCA agent registration and counter-notification procedures. Customers must not use the service to circumvent rights-management restrictions unlawfully.
5. Security and file handling
Processing requires temporary transfer and storage of source and output media. We aim to limit retention, but exact deletion times, download windows, backup handling, and security controls must be stated accurately in the final production policy. Customers should maintain original copies and should not upload exceptionally sensitive or regulated content without a separately agreed security arrangement. No online system can guarantee absolute security.
6. Pricing and orders
Website quotations are estimates until confirmed during ordering. Applicable fees, minimum charges, included services, currency, and any taxes must be disclosed before payment. Saving a quote in a browser does not itself create a paid processing order. Material modifications requested after acceptance may require a new quote.
7. Payments and refunds
Payment processing, payment timing, failed transactions, and applicable refund or reprocessing conditions must be finalized before launch. A failed or materially defective conversion should have a clear support and resolution procedure. Nothing in these terms limits non-waivable statutory consumer rights.
8. Processing and output quality
Encoding can reduce quality, alter metadata, or produce a file incompatible with some devices. Output size, time to completion, and compatibility vary with source footage and selected settings. Customers should verify results before deleting original media or relying on outputs for critical production uses.
9. Availability, delays, and failed jobs
Service capacity and supported formats may change. Uploads, processing, and delivery may be delayed or unavailable due to capacity limits, network failures, file errors, maintenance, or security checks. Unless separately agreed, no specific turnaround time or service-level agreement is promised. The final terms should explain failed-job handling and refunds.
10. Suspension and termination
CheapEncode may reject or stop jobs when reasonably necessary to address security threats, suspected illegal content, policy violations, technical limitations, or legal requests, subject to applicable law and any refund obligations.
11. Disclaimer and liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the service would be provided without guarantees of uninterrupted operation or suitability for a particular purpose. Any limitation of liability, exclusions, and remedies require legal review before adoption; this draft does not establish a liability cap or waive rights that cannot legally be waived.
12. Changes, governing law, and contact
Future terms should identify when changes take effect and how they are communicated. The governing law and dispute-resolution provisions should be reviewed by Texas counsel. For questions about the proposed service or this draft, contact steph@cheapencode.com.