LEGAL HUB

01Terms of Service

Who can use OnlyClips

You must be at least 18 years old to open a sponsor account or to receive monetary payouts as a creator. Viewer accounts are available to anyone 13 or older; under 18 requires parental or guardian consent.

What OnlyClips is

OnlyClips is a creator-economy operating system. We help creators produce short-form video, distribute it to platforms they connect (TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X), match them with sponsors who want their audience, hold escrow on those deals, and pay creators automatically when verifiable downstream actions occur (clicks, code redemptions, conversions).

What OnlyClips is not

• We are not a publisher of the content you create or distribute. You own your content.
• We are not the seller of the goods or services advertised in a sponsorship — that's the sponsor brand. We facilitate the deal and verify delivery.
• We are not a bank. The "credit" balances on your wallet represent stored value redeemable for services or payouts; they are not legal tender.

The marketplace mechanics

• Deals: a sponsor funds a deal with credits; we hold the full amount in escrow at deal creation.
• Advance: 60% of the creator's share releases to them automatically the moment they accept the offer.
• Final: 40% releases automatically when delivery is verified (we check the URL contains the required brand handle and FTC disclosure, and the content is live).
• Performance bonus: extra payout per attributed click / code redemption / conversion, capped at the deal's bonus_cap_total. Bonuses are paid against verified attribution events, not view counts.
• Platform fee: OnlyClips retains 15% of each sponsor payout. This is the only fee we charge on top of creator payouts.

Disputes and refunds

Our auto-refund logic resolves the overwhelming majority of issues without human review:

• Sponsor-initiated refund: while funds are still in escrow, the sponsor can refund the held portion at any time (advance already paid to the creator stays paid as compensation for work done).
• Non-delivery refund: if the creator doesn't deliver within the deal window, the held portion auto-refunds to the sponsor.
• Duplicate-purchase refund: our daily reconciliation auto-refunds any duplicate purchase the system detects.
• Human escalation: real fraud, account compromise, brand-safety incidents, and ambiguous quality disputes route to a human within the SLA on our support page.

Payment terms

All payments on the platform run through internal credits until our banking partner integration goes live. Once active, you'll be able to top up credits via card / ACH (sponsors) and cash out earned credits to a verified bank account (creators).

Termination

You can close your account at any time. We can suspend an account that violates our Acceptable Use Policy, with the held escrow refunded to its original source (sponsor wallet for unspent funds, creator wallet for already-earned advances).

Arbitration and governing law

Disputes that can't be resolved through our support process are governed by the laws of the state of Delaware and resolved by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator under the AAA Commercial Rules. You waive class-action participation. This clause survives termination.

Changes to these terms

We'll email you and post a banner at least 30 days before any material change. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

02Privacy Policy

What we collect

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Who else touches it

• Supabase (database + auth + storage processor) — data resides in their US data centers.
• Vercel (hosting) — request logs.
• Apify / RapidAPI (platform scraping for URL ingestion) — only the public URL you provided, no personal data.
• Stripe (when active) — for payment processing only.
• OAuth providers (TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X) — only when you connect them; we receive read/publish scopes per your authorization.

How long we keep it

• Account data: while your account is active, plus 30 days after closure (for fraud recovery).
• Financial records: 7 years (per US tax law).
• Attribution clicks: 90 days (then aggregated into bonus history; raw rows deleted).
• Support tickets: 3 years.
• Audit logs: 1 year.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access a copy of your data (request via support → category "legal_compliance")
• Correct inaccuracies (most fields you can edit in Settings)
• Delete your account and associated data (subject to legal retention for tax records)
• Port your data (we provide CSV exports of deals and earnings)
• Object to processing for marketing (we don't currently market to existing users, but if we start, you can opt out)

Children's privacy

Accounts for users under 13 are not permitted. Under-18 viewer/creator accounts require parental or guardian consent and don't get monetary payouts.

International transfers

Our infrastructure is US-based. If you're in the EU/UK, your data is transferred to the US under Standard Contractual Clauses.

Security

We use TLS for transport, Row-Level Security in our database to enforce per-user access, HMAC-signed webhooks, and rotate-able webhook secrets. We don't store payment card data (delegated to Stripe). We don't store plaintext passwords (auth tokens only).

03Acceptable Use Policy

Zero tolerance — immediate ban + report to law enforcement

• Sexual content involving minors (CSAM). We report to NCMEC.
• Content that incites immediate violence against an identified group or person.
• Trafficking in stolen accounts, credentials, or financial instruments.
• Selling regulated substances (drugs, firearms, etc.) without legal license.

Banned content categories

• Harassment, threats, doxxing, stalking.
• Hate speech targeting protected classes.
• Deceptive sponsorship — failing to disclose paid promotion as required by the FTC (see section 7).
• Copyright infringement (see section 9).
• Self-harm promotion.
• Malware, phishing links, scam destinations on affiliate links.

Platform manipulation

• Buying or running bot views, likes, follows, comments, or engagement to inflate metrics.
• Creating multiple accounts to claim audience drops or scout bounties more than once per campaign.
• Submitting fake brand mentions to game the scout bounty system.
• Misrepresenting brand identity in conversions or refund disputes.

Account integrity

• One human, one account (creator/viewer). Brands can be multi-user via team invites.
• No selling, trading, or transferring accounts.
• Sharing credentials is a violation; we'll lock the account on detection.

Enforcement is automated where possible (e.g., bot-engagement detection during click attribution) and human where required. You can appeal a suspension via support under category "account_compromise" if you believe it's in error.

04Creator Agreement

Independent contractor status

You are not an employee of OnlyClips. You control when, where, and how you create content. You're responsible for your own taxes, insurance, equipment, and benefits.

Tax forms (US creators)

• You must submit a W-9 before receiving any payout over $0.
• OnlyClips issues a 1099-K if you earn $600 or more in a calendar year (IRS threshold per the American Rescue Plan, effective tax year 2024 and after).
• Earnings include base payouts, performance bonuses, scout bounties, tips, and audience-drop credits cashed out.

Intellectual property

• You retain all rights in content you create.
• You grant OnlyClips a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to display your content on the platform, transcode it for cross-posting, generate AI assists from it, and promote it.
• For each sponsored deal, the brand receives a usage license specified in that deal's terms (default: 90 days, non-exclusive, attribution required).

FTC disclosure

Sponsored content must include a disclosure — #ad or #sponsored by default, more specific language if the deal contract requires it. See section 7 for the disclosure guide. Our verification cron checks for disclosure presence before releasing the final escrow payment. Missing disclosure = the deal does not verify and the bonus does not pay.

Deliverable specs

Each deal includes deal_verification_criteria specifying required handles, hashtags, disclosures, platforms, and clip length. Delivering off-spec means the deal won't auto-verify, and the held escrow may be refunded to the sponsor.

Trust Score

Your Trust Score is public and composed of: delivery pass rate (35%), bonus earn rate (35%), uptime rate (15%), account age factor (10%). It updates automatically as deals complete. New creators start at 0.88 ("NEW").

Account closure

You can close your creator account at any time. Open deals (accepted but undelivered) must be completed or formally cancelled before closure — cancelling forfeits the advance.

05Sponsor Agreement

Authorization to charge

By funding a deal, you authorize OnlyClips to debit your credit balance for the full payout amount immediately. Subsequent attributed-bonus events debit the additional bonus amount per event, capped at the deal's bonus_cap_total.

Content licensing

Creators retain ownership of their content. You receive the usage rights specified in the deal — typically 90 days, non-exclusive, for use on your owned channels (social, website, paid ads). Extended or exclusive licenses cost more and are negotiated per deal.

Refunds

See section 6. The held portion of your escrow auto-refunds on non-delivery. The advance and OC fee are retained on delivered deals.

Webhook security

Conversion and code-redemption events are POSTed to OnlyClips from your commerce backend. We provide a rotatable HMAC secret per brand. Replay attacks are blocked by a 5-minute timestamp window. Idempotency is enforced via the external_ref field (your order ID).

Tax responsibility

You are responsible for any taxes owed on the value provided to creators (e.g., 1099-NEC obligations for payments to US individuals in certain US states). OnlyClips issues 1099-K forms to creators, not to your brand.

Brand safety

You can flag any deal or creator for brand-safety review via support. Active deals can be paused pending review. Refund of the held escrow is automatic if the flag is verified.

06Refund Policy

Automatic refunds (no action required)

• Duplicate purchase: same SKU + amount succeeded twice within 5 minutes. Cron refunds the duplicate within an hour.
• Expired escrow drop: audience-boost drops not claimed within 30 days auto-refund to the sponsor.
• Cron-failed subscription: a recurring retainer that fails (e.g., insufficient credits) auto-pauses the subscription. No charge.
• Failed delivery verification: held portion of the escrow stays sponsor-side if verify_delivery returns failed status and the dispute window closes without sponsor approval.

Sponsor-initiated refunds

• While funds are still held in escrow, the sponsor can tap Refund on the deal card. The held portion + OC fee return to the sponsor wallet.
• The 60% advance already released to the creator stays with the creator as compensation for work performed.

Human-review refunds

• Account compromise (unauthorized account use): full refund within 5 business days after verification.
• Confirmed fraud by the other party: full refund within 10 business days.
• Quality dispute resolved in sponsor's favor: refund of held portion within 7 business days; advance is not clawed back.

What is NOT refundable

• Fully-delivered, verified deliverables that the sponsor regrets in hindsight ("buyer's remorse").
• OC platform fees on completed deals.
• Audience drops that were claimed by recipients (those credits are paid out and gone).
• Subscription months that already ran (you can cancel future months anytime).

07FTC Disclosure Guide

The simple rule

If you got paid (or got free product) and you're saying something positive about it, you must clearly and conspicuously disclose the material connection. "Clear" means a reasonable person sees it. "Conspicuous" means it's not hidden among hashtags or below the fold.

OnlyClips-required minimum

Every sponsored deal's deal_verification_criteria includes at least #ad in the required_disclosures field. Our verification cron checks for this in the published caption. Missing it = final escrow doesn't release.

Per-platform best practices

Don't

• Don't bury the disclosure at the end of 30 hashtags.
• Don't use ambiguous tags ("#sp", "#partner") — they don't satisfy the FTC.
• Don't disclose only in a video tile when the caption is the primary text.

08Tax Information

Creator side (US individuals)

• We collect a W-9 before your first payout. We can't pay you out without one.
• We issue a 1099-K by January 31 of the following year if you earned $600 or more in calendar-year payouts.
• The 1099-K reports gross earnings (base + bonus + scout bounties + tips). You'll report this on Schedule C of your 1040.
• Business expenses (equipment, software, OC fees you paid) are typically deductible — consult a CPA.

Creator side (international)

• Non-US creators must submit a W-8BEN (individual) or W-8BEN-E (entity).
• Default US withholding is 30% on US-source income unless a tax treaty reduces it. Submit the treaty claim section of the W-8 to apply the reduced rate.
• We don't provide international tax forms (your local equivalent of 1099-K) — you're responsible for reporting per your local rules.

Sponsor side

• Sponsor brand entities don't receive 1099-Ks from OnlyClips — you're paying us for marketplace services, not receiving income.
• Your accounting team should categorize OnlyClips spend as marketing / advertising expense.
• If your brand is paying individual US creators direct, that's between you and the creator — OnlyClips' 1099-K covers the OC-mediated portion only.

State sales tax

OnlyClips currently does not collect sales tax on platform fees (B2B marketplace services are typically exempt). This may change as we expand into states that tax digital services to consumers; we'll notify you in advance.

09DMCA / Copyright Policy

How to file a takedown

Send a written notice to our designated agent at dmca [at] onlyclips.app containing:

1. Your physical or electronic signature
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
3. The URL of the allegedly infringing material on OnlyClips
4. Your contact information (address, phone, email)
5. A statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorized
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and you are the owner or authorized to act

Counter-notice

If your content was taken down and you believe in good faith that it was mistakenly removed, send a counter-notice to the same address. We'll restore the content in 10-14 business days unless the original complainant files a court action.

Repeat infringer policy

Accounts with three or more upheld DMCA takedowns in any 12-month period are subject to termination.

10Cookie Policy

Essential (you can't disable these)

• Authentication tokens (so you stay signed in)
• Idempotency keys (so duplicate clicks don't double-charge)
• Role classes (so the right UI loads on first paint)

Functional

• Language / timezone preferences
• UI state (collapsed panels, last-viewed tab)

Analytics — minimal

We use first-party page-view counts (no third-party analytics SDK loaded). No Google Analytics, no Facebook Pixel, no Hotjar. If we ever add one, we'll update this section and obtain consent first.

Third-party

When you connect a social-platform account (TikTok / YouTube / IG / X) via OAuth, those providers may set cookies in the redirect flow. We don't read them.

11Contact

For legal notices: legal [at] onlyclips.app.

For DMCA takedowns: dmca [at] onlyclips.app.

For privacy / data subject access requests: privacy [at] onlyclips.app.

For general support: open a ticket on our support page.

For everything else: hello [at] onlyclips.app.

OnlyClips, LLC · A Delaware limited liability company.