Terms and conditions of use and sale

01Purpose

Zictovid is an online service that turns an audio file into a vertical video: the engine picks out the beats in the track, works backwards to the trajectory of a ball, and renders a 1080×1920 video at 60 frames per second in which every impact lands on a beat.

These terms govern access to the service and the sale of subscriptions. They apply from the moment you create an account: by creating one, you confirm that you have read and accept them. If there is a clause you do not accept, do not use the service.

In this document, “we” means the publisher identified in the legal notice, “you” means the person using the service, and “the service” means zictovid.com and the application it gives access to.

02What the service does, and what it does not promise

You upload an MP3 or WAV file of up to 40 MB. The engine analyses it, works out the level, builds the scene and renders the video. It appears in your workspace, and an email tells you when it is ready.

Rendering takes time. It runs on a graphics card, not in your browser: expect several tens of minutes per video. Paid plans move ahead in the queue; no plan guarantees a deadline.

We do not guarantee any particular artistic result, uninterrupted availability, or that the engine will suit a given track: a track with no clear percussion produces a thin result, and that is inherent to the method.

The service changes over time: we may add, alter or withdraw features. If a change reduces what you have paid for, the clause “Changes to these terms” applies.

03Accounts and sign-in

Signing in is done through Google only. We neither create nor store passwords. Losing access to your Google account means losing access to your zictovid account.

An account is personal, and you are answerable for everything done from yours.

You must be at least 15 years old to create an account, and of full legal age — or hold your legal guardian's permission — to take out a paid subscription.

Your email address must stay valid: it is how we tell you that a video is ready, or that a render has failed.

04The music you upload

You warrant that you hold the rights in every audio file you upload, or that you hold written permission from the rights holders. This covers every right involved: copyright in the composition and in the lyrics, and the related rights of the performer and of the sound recording producer.

Uploading a commercial recording — even one you have paid for — does not give you the right to make a video from it and publish it. Buying a track is a licence to listen privately, not a synchronisation licence.

You alone are responsible for what you do with the video, in particular for publishing it on a third-party platform such as TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. The rules of those platforms, and the deals they have struck with rights holders, neither bind us nor excuse you.

You indemnify us against any third-party claim arising from a file you uploaded or a video you published: if we are pursued on that basis, you bear the consequences, including the cost of defending the claim.

We do not vet uploaded files before processing them — we have neither the right nor the means to do so. We act on report, as set out in the next clause.

05What you may not do

• Upload content you do not hold the rights in, or unlawful content: infringing, defamatory, hateful, violent, or harmful to minors.
• Produce content intended to mislead as to someone's identity.
• Work around the quotas: automating uploads, or opening several accounts to multiply the free allowance.
• Attempt to reach another user's files, probe the infrastructure or disrupt it.
• Resell access to the service, or let a third party use it through your account.

Rendering costs graphics-card minutes. The quotas are not a sales device: they are what keeps the service viable.

06Reports, suspension and termination for breach

Anyone may report content to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com. What a report should contain is set out in the legal notice.

On a serious report, or where we find a breach of these terms, we may take down a video, suspend access to an account, or terminate it. We tell the account holder what we have done and why, unless the law forbids it.

You can challenge any such measure by writing to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com: we look again, and we answer.

Termination for a serious and established breach carries no refund of the current period.

07What is yours, what is ours

Your files stay yours. Uploading a track transfers no rights to us.

The video is yours, to the extent of the rights you hold in the music it contains. You may publish it, monetise it, edit it.

You grant us only the technical licence needed to run the service: to store your file, decode it, analyse it, render the video, keep it and hand it to you. That licence is free of charge, strictly limited to that purpose, and ends when the files are deleted.

We do not publish your videos. No video rendered for you will appear in our gallery, on our social accounts or in any communication without your express permission, asked for case by case.

The engine, the scene templates, the visual identity and the code of the service remain ours. A subscription gives you a right to use the service, not a right in the software.

On the free plan, an “@zictovid” watermark is burned into the video. On paid plans, the watermark carries your account name — see the privacy policy, which explains what that means in practice.

08Plans, quotas and prices

Three plans. The table below is generated from the same source as the quotas the service enforces and the amounts it charges: what you read here is what is applied.

The quota counts renders started, not renders that succeeded. It resets at each monthly renewal of your subscription; on a free account, on a rolling thirty-day window.

If a render fails through our fault, we credit it back on request to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com. There is no automatic credit today, and we would rather write that down than let you assume otherwise.

The maximum track length depends on the plan. That is the real cost driver: a three-minute video costs three times a one-minute video.

Prices are in euros. TO BE COMPLETED: VAT regime — state “VAT not applicable, Article 293 B of the French General Tax Code” under the small-business exemption, otherwise state that prices include VAT and publish the VAT number

09Payment, renewal and invoices

Payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or keep card details: they do not pass through our servers.

The subscription is monthly and renews automatically at each due date until it is cancelled. It is charged in advance for the period ahead.

Your invoices, your payment method and your subscription are managed from the Stripe portal, reachable from the Billing page of your workspace.

If a payment fails, Stripe retries. If it still does not go through, the subscription ends and the account returns to the free plan.

Changing plan mid-period is prorated by Stripe.

10Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer — that is, if you subscribe for purposes outside your trade or profession — you have fourteen days from the conclusion of the contract to withdraw, without giving reasons and at no cost (Article L221-18 of the French Consumer Code).

To exercise it, write to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com before the deadline. An unambiguous statement is enough; the model form annexed to the Consumer Code may be used.

But starting straight away ends it. At the point of payment you are asked to choose: either you wait out the fourteen days before using your plan, or you expressly request immediate performance of the service and expressly waive your right of withdrawal. If you choose the second, the right is lost as soon as the service has been fully performed (Article L221-28, 1° of the French Consumer Code).

If you withdraw after performance has begun at your request, you owe an amount in proportion to what has already been supplied at the date of withdrawal (Article L221-25). The number of renders already started is the measure of it.

Automatic renewal does not open a fresh withdrawal period: the contract was concluded once.

11Cancelling

You may cancel at any time and without giving reasons, from the Stripe portal reachable in one click from the Billing page of your workspace, in accordance with Article L215-1-1 of the French Consumer Code.

Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid for: you keep your plan until then, and no pro-rata refund is due for that period.

Cancelling the subscription does not delete the account — it returns to the free plan. To delete the account and the data attached to it, write to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com; the privacy policy explains how that works today and where its limits are.

12Statutory guarantee of conformity

The service is digital content supplied on a continuous basis. If you are a consumer, you therefore benefit from the statutory guarantee of conformity (Articles L224-25-12 et seq. of the French Consumer Code) throughout the period of supply.

If the service does not conform to what is described here, you may require it to be brought into conformity; failing that, you may obtain a price reduction or rescission of the contract. This guarantee costs you nothing and applies regardless of any commercial warranty.

Write to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com and we will deal with it.

13Availability and interruptions

The service is supplied as it stands, with no service-level commitment. It may be interrupted for maintenance, for updates, or by a provider's failure.

Rendering runs on a single machine: a hardware failure can hold up renders for several days. Where an interruption is a long one, we tell subscribers by email and extend running subscriptions accordingly.

14Liability

We are liable for direct loss caused by our own breach. Our liability cannot exceed the sums you have paid us over the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to it.

That cap does not apply in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence, in the event of death or personal injury, or wherever the law forbids it — in particular under the statutory guarantee of conformity.

We are not liable for the consequences of your publishing a video made with the service, nor for what a third-party platform decides about it.

We are not liable for the loss of a file you have not kept a copy of: always keep your own copies of your tracks and your videos. This is not a backup service.

15Personal data

How we handle your data is set out in the privacy policy, which forms part of these terms.

One point belongs here too: a rendered video can be viewed by anyone who knows its address, with no session check. Only pass that address to people you want to show the video to.

16Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. Any substantial change is notified to you by email at least thirty days before it takes effect.

If it does not suit you, you may cancel free of charge before that date. Continuing to use the service after it takes effect counts as acceptance.

A price change never applies to a period already paid for.

17Complaints and mediation

Send your complaint to zictovid@alexandre-devaux.com first. We acknowledge it, and we answer.

If the disagreement stands and you are a consumer, you may refer the matter free of charge to a consumer mediator (Article L612-1 of the French Consumer Code). The mediator we are registered with is: TO BE COMPLETED: Consumer mediator.

The mediator may be approached within one year of your written complaint. Doing so takes away none of your legal remedies.

18Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by French law.

If you are a consumer resident in another EU member state, this clause does not deprive you of the protection afforded by the mandatory rules of the law of your country of residence.

Failing an amicable settlement, disputes fall to the courts having jurisdiction under the ordinary rules. If you are a consumer, you may bring proceedings before the court for the place where you lived when the contract was concluded, or where the harmful event occurred.