Terms & Conditions updated February 18, 2014

Human-Readable Summary

This is non-legally-binding introductory summary of (and not a substitute for) the terms & conditions. Read the disclaimer.

You grant Kinonation the right to:

  • Distribute your titles and associated metadata to video-on-demand (VOD) platforms
  • Collect all revenue from VOD platforms in connection with your titles, which we then pass on to you less our revenue share

With the understanding that:

  • You control the necessary rights
  • You can withdraw your title(s) from Kinonation at any time, but remain bound to the rules of VOD platforms already delivered to
  • VOD platforms may decline titles. Your titles are not guaranteed to be on all VOD platforms.
  • You can opt out territories and VOD platforms
  • You communicate with our VOD outlets only through us, not directly

Some most-asked questions:

  1. Am I signing over all distribution rights? No. The only rights we take are the obvious ones we need to run the service. For example, the right to deliver the titles you upload to VOD outlets on your behalf.
  2. Can I upload "unsold" titles only? No. We operate non-exclusively. We can augment other distribution deals you might have with territories and outlets they don't cover. We just ask not to deliver to the same outlets. You can exclude specific outlets and territories per title.
  3. Am I tied into a long term contract? No. You can pull your titles anytime. There might be some delay by the terms of platforms already delivered to, though.

Now on to the binding legal text.

Terms & Conditions

Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. These terms and conditions govern your access to and use of the *.kinonation.com websites (the “Site”), including the use of any content, information, products and/or services (the “Services”) therein. This is a legal agreement between you and Kinonation (“Company”). Company reserves the sole right at any time to modify, discontinue or terminate the Site and Services, or modify the Terms of Service without notice. All modified terms and/or conditions will be in effect after they are posted on the Site (unless applicable law requires a longer notice period). By continuing to use or access the Site and/or Services after Company makes any such modification, you agree to be legally bound by the revised Terms of Service. You may not alter the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service without Company’s express written consent.

You understand that by using the services offered by Company through the Site or with respect to your account at Company, you agree to be bound by the terms of service. If you do not accept the terms of service in their entirety, you may not access or use the services offered by Company.

  1. GRANT OF RIGHTS.
    1. The rights granted hereunder shall include the sale of Content (as defined in Section 2 below) by, without limitation, permanent digital downloads, temporary digital downloads, interactive streaming, non-interactive streaming and cloud services. You agree to allow Company at its discretion to deliver your content to any and all video-on-demand outlets (“Video-on-Demand Outlet”) except for any outlets specifically de-selected by you and except for outlets in countries specifically de-selected by you.
    2. By clicking the "I Agree" button, you irrevocably grant to Company, throughout the world and during the Term (as defined in Section 5 below), the non-exclusive right:
      1. to sell, copy, transfer, distribute and otherwise exploit the Content by all means and media (whether now known or existing in the future) (“Sale”) through any and all Video-on-Demand Platform now operational or hereafter available;
      2. to collect all income deriving therefrom;
      3. to use the name(s), photographs and likenesses, artwork images, biographical and other information provided by you or the participants whose performances are embodied on the Content in connection with the Content and Company's general business.
      4. to insert Kinonation video bumper or ident of 3-5 seconds seconds at the commencement of the film
      5. to allow Company to claim a distributor credit on the relevant record at IMDb.com and elsewhere.
      6. to communicate on your behalf with any and all VOD outlets that accept your film. All takedown requests or other notices must be communicated to the VOD outlet via Company
    3. You agree that you will not use the Site or Services to transmit, route, provide connections to or store any material that infringes copyrighted works or otherwise violates or promotes the violation of the intellectual property rights of any third party. You acknowledge and agree that Company may disable access to and/or terminate your account and/or remove or disable access to any Content or any associated materials you provide to Company in the event that Company receives any claim that, if true, would constitute a violation of your representations and warranties hereunder. Please see the Copyright Policy for further information.
    4. You agree that Company may freeze any and all revenues in your account that are received in connection with Content or other materials submitted by you which Company believes, in its good faith discretion, violate the Terms of Service, and that such revenues will be forfeited by you if Company determines, in its good faith discretion, they are the result of fraud and/or infringement. You agree that you will not be entitled to reimbursement for any fees paid by you to Company in the event Company disables access to your account, your Content and/or any other materials you provide to Company, or to any revenues forfeited by you as set forth in the preceding sentence.
    5. You agree that Company may terminate your account if you violate the Terms of Service or, in Company’s good faith discretion, are believed to be infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties and/or engaging in otherwise fraudulent activity.
  2. CONTENT

    The term "Content" shall be defined as the audiovisual Content that you submit to Company at any time, along with associated assets such as metadata, still images, supplemental audiovisual content, artwork, etc. Company, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to reject any materials (including, without limitation, Content, images and/or artwork) that you submit. You agree to submit all Content, images and artwork at your sole expense, in the format(s) required by Company or the Video-on-Demand Platform.

  3. PAYMENTS.
    1. Company will pay you eighty percent (80%) of Net Income (as defined in Section 3(b) below) generated by your film or films successfully submitted to Company. Net Income will be posted to your Kinonation account in a timely fashion after Company's receipt thereof. Once payment has been credited to your account, you will be able to withdraw all or any portion at your discretion subject to a minimum account balance of $100. You will be responsible for any bank fees or other charges related to such withdrawals.
    2. “Gross Income” shall be defined as the actual receipts paid by consumers to Video-on-Demand Platform. "Net Income" shall be defined as Company's actual receipts from Video-on-Demand Platform. i.e. each platforms’ Gross Income less the VOD Platform commission. Any objection relating to any accounting statement or any lawsuit arising therefrom must be made (and any lawsuit commenced) no later than one (1) year after the date the statement is rendered, and you hereby waive any longer statute of limitations that may be permitted by law.
    3. To the extent that you owe any amounts to Company as a consequence of the Terms of Service or otherwise, Company shall have the right to deduct all or a portion of such amounts from any Net Income otherwise payable to you.
    4. In the event that Company has, in its good faith discretion, reason to suspect that your account has been subjected to and/or involved in fraudulent or infringing activities, Company reserves the right to discontinue the posting of Net Income to your account and block your ability to otherwise withdraw funds therefrom until resolution of the suspect activities to the satisfaction of Company is obtained. Furthermore, you agree that such revenues will be forfeited by you if Company determines, in its good faith discretion, that they are the result of fraud and/or infringement. To the extent that any fraudulent and/or infringing activities are determined to be caused by your or your affiliates actions or omissions, any costs incurred by Company (including legal fees and expenses) in connection therewith may, in addition to its other remedies, be deducted by Company from any monies otherwise payable to you hereunder. Certain Video-on-Demand Platform may also have policies related to fraud and suspected fraudulent activities and you agree that it is your responsibility to investigate such policies, if any, and such policies shall be binding upon you hereunder.
    5. The Net Income posted to your Kinonation account will be pooled in an interest bearing bank account with the Net Income of other Kinonation customers until you withdraw such funds. You agree that you will not receive interest or other earnings on the Net Income that Company handles as your agent and places in such pooled account. In consideration for your use of the Services, you irrevocably transfer and assign to Company any ownership right that you may have in any interest that may accrue on Net Income held in such pooled account. In addition to or instead of earning interest on such pooled account, Company may receive a reduction in fees or expenses charged for banking services by the banks that hold your Net Income.
    6. In the event that Company is presented with a claim of infringement of copyright, trademark, right of publicity or other intellectual property right, or failure to comply with any third party license requirement or any other claim which, if true, would constitute your breach of, or non-compliance with, any of your representations, warranties or agreements hereunder, you agree that Company may freeze any and all revenues in your account that are received in connection with the disputed Content or other materials submitted by you, and that such revenues will be forfeited by you if Company determines, in its good faith discretion, they are the result of fraud and/or infringement.
  4. WARRANTIES; REPRESENTATIONS; INDEMNITIES.
    1. You warrant and represent that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age, you have the right and authority to enter into this agreement and to grant to Company all rights specified; all of the Content, including, without limitation, any fully or partially utilized or sampled third party material embodied therein, music, artwork, metadata, audiovisuals, images and any other materials furnished by you to Company or relating to the Content are owned or controlled by you and the use thereof as described or contemplated herein and/or on the Site and/or Video-on-Demand Platform’ websites shall not infringe on the copyrights, trademark rights, publicity rights or other rights of any person or entity; and that Company shall have the right to exploit same in any manner hereunder free from adverse claim and without any obligation to make any payment of any nature to any person or entity other than the amounts payable to you hereunder.
    2. You shall defend and indemnify Company and any of its affiliates (including any directors, members, officers, employees and other representatives) and hold them harmless against any third party claims or expenses and losses resulting from breach or a claim which, if true, would constitute a breach of the foregoing warranties and the Terms of Service, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses.
    3. Company shall give you prompt notice of any claim that is subject to the foregoing indemnification obligation and you shall defend Company at your expense with counsel approved by Company, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event you fail to retain approved counsel, Company may, if it so elects, defend itself at your cost and expense and you agree that Company may require your participation in such defense as a third party or otherwise and you hereby waive any objection or claim to compensation in respect of same. If a claim is made Company shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to remove or disable access to the Content and/or any associated materials that are the subject of such claim, and/or to withhold payment of any monies due hereunder in an amount reasonably related to the claim and potential expenses. Any settlement of any claim shall be subject to Company's prior written approval.
  5. TERM.

    The Terms of Service shall apply at all times while you utilize the Site or the Services. You may withdraw your film at any time with 30 days notice via email to with the understanding that film will continue to be subject to the underlying terms & conditions (including any minimum performance or notice terms) for any VOD platforms that may have already selected your film for exhibition.

  6. CONFIDENTIALITY.

    You acknowledge and agree that, in the course of negotiating and transacting business with Company, you may become aware of certain otherwise confidential information related to Company’s business and business practices. Except to the extent that such information is otherwise generally available to third parties or is required to be divulged by operation of law, you agree to keep such information confidential. You hereby expressly agree that Company shall have the right to provide information relative to the sales of your Content hereunder to third parties, to aggregate such information in charts and other comparative informational materials, and to disseminate the same in any manner.

  7. OTHER AGREEMENTS.

    You acknowledge that in providing the Services and payments hereunder, Company will be required to enter into certain agreements with various Video-on-Demand Platform. The selection of these Video-on-Demand Platform shall be within the sole discretion of Company. You agree that the Terms of Service shall be subject to any applicable terms and conditions of such other agreements that Company enters into with respect to such Video-on-Demand Platform. You expressly acknowledge that certain Video-on-Demand Platform may, with respect to audiovisual Content, require that your audiovisual Content be made available on their websites at certain times and in certain formats relative to the availability of such materials elsewhere in the marketplace. To the extent that such requirements are not met, the individual Video-on-Demand Platform may have the right to discontinue the availability of said audiovisual Content in their store(s). Company will, upon your written request, provide you with the current specifics of such requirements.

  8. MISCELLANEOUS.
    1. The Site and Services may be used and accessed solely for lawful purposes. You agree to abide by all applicable local, state, national and foreign laws, treatises and regulations in connection with your use of the Site and Services. In addition, without limitation, you agree that you will not do any of the following while using or accessing the Site and Services:
      1. Disable, hack, circumvent or otherwise interfere with security related features of the Site or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Company content or materials;
      2. Use any metadata, meta tags or other hidden text utilizing a Kinonation name, trademark, URL or product name;
      3. Upload, submit, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, so-called pyramid schemes or any other form of solicitation;
      4. Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any posting or in any way use the Site or Services to send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information;
      5. Upload, submit, post, email, or otherwise transmit, via the Site or Services, any Content or other materials that are, in the sole opinion of Company, unlawful, harmful, threatening, obscene, harassing, defamatory or hateful or that contain objects or symbols of hate, invade the privacy of any third party, contain pornography, erotica, child pornography or child erotica, are deceptive, threatening, abusive, inciting of unlawful action, defamatory, libelous, or constitute hate speech or are otherwise objectionable;
      6. Destroy, interfere with or disrupt, or attempt to interfere with or disrupt, any web pages available on the Site, servers or networks connected to the Site or the technical delivery systems of Company’s providers or break any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site;
      7. Attempt to scan, probe or test the vulnerability of any Company system or network or breach, impair or circumvent any security or authentication measures protecting and providing security for the Site or Services;
      8. Attempt to decompile, disassemble, decipher or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Site or Services;
      9. Attempt to search, meta-search or access the Site with any engine, software, tool, agent, device or mechanism other than software and/or search agents provided by Company or other generally available third party web browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari), including, without limitation, any software that sends queries to the Site to determine how a website or web page ranks;
      10. Collect or store personal data about other users of the Site or Services without their express and explicit permission;
      11. Misrepresent or impersonate your affiliation with any person or entity, through pretext or some other form of social engineering or otherwise commit fraud;
      12. Use the Site or Services in any manner not permitted by the Terms of Service; or
      13. Instruct or encourage any other individual to do any of the foregoing or to breach and/or violate any of the Terms of Service.
    2. Company does not guarantee exploitation of the Content, which will depend on consumer preference, nor on the inclusion or participation of any given Video-on-Demand Platform. Company reserves the right in its sole discretion to decline to engage in business with any given Video-on-Demand Platform. Except as specifically set forth in these Terms of Service, Company shall have no obligations to you.
    3. Company shall not be deemed in breach of the Terms of Service unless you have given Company notice of the breach and Company has failed to cure such breach within thirty (30) days after receipt of such notice. In no event shall any breach entitle you to rescind the rights granted hereunder.
    4. In no event will Company, its officers, directors, employees or agents be liable to you for any damages whatsoever, including, without limitation, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages arising out of or in connection with your use of the Site, 99, Company products or any Company content, no matter whether the damages are foreseeable and whether or not Company has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The foregoing limitation of liability will apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction and in no event will Company’s aggregate liability to you exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100).
    5. The Terms of Service shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California excluding that body of law pertaining to the conflict of laws. Any legal action or proceeding arising under the Terms of Service shall be brought exclusively in courts located in the State of California, and the parties hereby irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue therein. The parties to this agreement waive their respective rights to a trial by jury. In the event that any provision in the Terms of Service is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. The failure of a party to enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Service will not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision. You may not assign the Terms of Service (by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of Company and any prohibited assignment will be null and void. Company may assign the Terms of Service or any rights or obligations hereunder without your consent. The relationship of the parties under the Terms of Service is that of independent contractors and the Terms of Service shall not be construed to imply that either party is the agent, employee, or joint venturer of the other. You agree that the Terms of Service and the rules, restrictions and policies contained herein, and Company's enforcement thereof, are not intended to confer and do not confer any rights or remedies upon any person other than you and Company. The Terms of Service, together with the rules and policies of Company, constitute the entire agreement between Company and you with respect to the subject matter hereof. Any notice or other communication to be given hereunder will be in writing and given (i) by Company via email (in each case to your email address of record), (ii) a posting on the Site, or (iii) by you via email to or to such other address as Company may specify in writing. The date of receipt shall be deemed the date on which such notice is transmitted.
    6. You acknowledge that you have read and understand Company's Privacy Policy as more fully described on the Site, and by using the Services and the Site you have expressly accepted the terms and conditions set forth in such Privacy Policy, as same may be amended from time to time.
    7. It is your responsibility to deliver all necessary information, metadata, songs, graphic files or any other information or music in the format required. You acknowledge that Company will not be obligated to furnish its services hereunder until receipt of said materials.
    8. Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse to provide its services to you or any customer for any or no reason whatsoever.
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