Content Selling Service for Web Media

Terms of use

These Terms of Service (hereinafter referred to as the “Terms”) define the conditions for the use of the services (hereinafter referred to as the “Service”) provided by codoc Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) on this website. All registered users (hereinafter referred to as “Users”) shall use the Service in accordance with these Terms.

Basic Terms Terms for Creators codoc pro Integration Terms

Basic Terms

Article 1 (Application)

These Terms shall apply to all relationships related to the use of the Service between the User and the Company.
In addition to these Terms, the Company may establish various rules and guidelines regarding the use of the Service (hereinafter referred to as “Individual Rules”). Regardless of their names, these Individual Rules shall constitute a part of these Terms.
In the event of any conflict between the provisions of these Terms and the Individual Rules mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the provisions of the Individual Rules shall prevail unless otherwise specified.

Article 2 (User Registration)

In the Service, the user registration shall be completed when an applicant agrees to these Terms, applies using the method specified by the Company, and the Company approves the application.
The Company may reject a registration application if it determines that the applicant falls under any of the following, and is not obligated to disclose the reason:
1. If false information was submitted during registration;
2. If the applicant has previously violated these Terms;
3. If the Company otherwise deems the registration inappropriate.

Article 3 (Management of User ID and Password)

Users shall manage their User ID and password for the Service responsibly and appropriately.
Users must not transfer or lend their User ID or password to any third party, nor share them. If a combination of User ID and password matches the registered information and logs in, the Company will consider it as usage by the User who owns that User ID.
The Company shall not be liable for any damage caused by the use of the User ID and password by a third party, unless due to the Company’s intentional misconduct or gross negligence.

Article 4 (Usage Fees and Payment Methods)

Users shall pay the usage fees, as specified separately by the Company and displayed on this website, for the paid portions of the Service using the method designated by the Company.
If the User delays payment, a late fee of 14.6% per annum shall be applied.
The same payment method shall apply to support features, where Users agree to pay an amount they determine as consideration for the digital content.
Due to the nature of the Service, except where an individual transaction between the User and a Creator is canceled by mutual agreement, Users agree in advance that fees paid to the Company are non-refundable for any reason.

Article 5 (Use of the Service)

Users may use the Service in accordance with the methods defined by the Company, within the scope of the purpose of these Terms and without violating any Company regulations.
Users shall, at their own expense and responsibility, prepare and maintain the necessary computer, software, communication equipment, network, and other environments required to receive the Service.
Users shall take appropriate security measures, such as virus protection, preventing unauthorized access, and avoiding information leaks, at their own expense and responsibility.
The Service provides a paywall mechanism to make part of the content paid and visible only to users who have paid. All individual transactions between Users and Creators are conducted directly between the parties through the Service. The Company is not involved in contract formation or termination and is not responsible for any such transactions. However, the Company may receive payments from Users on behalf of Creators.
The terms of contracts between Users and Creators shall be agreed directly based on the terms presented by the Creators. The Company is not responsible for the content of such contracts, although it will make best efforts to assist in resolving disputes between the parties.

Impersonating other users;

Advertising, soliciting, or conducting business without the Company’s permission on the Service;
Providing benefits, directly or indirectly, to anti-social forces in connection with the Company’s services;
Any other acts that the Company deems inappropriate.

Article 7 (Suspension of Service)

The Company may suspend or interrupt all or part of the Service without prior notice to Users if it determines any of the following conditions apply:
1. For maintenance or updates to the computer system related to the Service;
  1. In case the provision of the Service becomes difficult due to force majeure such as earthquakes, lightning, fire, power outages, or natural disasters;
    1. In case of system or network failure due to accidents;
    2. In any other case where the Company deems service provision difficult.
The Company shall not be liable for any disadvantage or damage incurred by the User or any third party due to the suspension or interruption of the Service.

Article 8 (Usage Restrictions and Cancellation of Registration)

The Company may, without prior notice, restrict all or part of the User’s use of the Service or cancel the User’s registration if the User:
1. Violates any of these Terms;
  1. Is found to have provided false information upon registration;
    1. Fails to fulfill payment obligations;
    2. Fails to respond to communications from the Company for a certain period;
      1. Has not used the Service for a certain period since the last usage;
        
        Is otherwise deemed inappropriate by the Company for continued use.
The Company shall not be liable for any damage incurred by the User due to actions taken under this Article.

Article 9 (Withdrawal)

Users may withdraw from the Service by following the withdrawal procedures specified by the Company.

Article 10 (Refunds)

Users acknowledge that, due to the nature of the Service and transaction contracts, refunds for paid fees are not available except where the transaction is canceled under Article 9 of the Creator Terms. Furthermore, if the User repurchases the digital content after cancellation, the User may not cancel the transaction again.
If the Company determines that the User has abused the refund system under Article 9 of the Creator Terms, the Company may suspend the User’s use of the Service without prior notice. The Company shall not be liable for any damages resulting from such suspension.

circumstances (including cases where the Company or the User foresaw or could have foreseen such damages) caused by the Company’s non-performance or tort due to negligence (excluding gross negligence). The compensation for damages in such cases shall be limited to the amount of fees received from the User in the month in which the damage occurred.
The Company shall not be responsible for any transactions, communications, or disputes that arise between a User and another User or a third party in connection with the Service.

Article 12 (Changes to Service Content)

The Company may change the content of the Service or discontinue the provision of the Service without notice to the Users and shall not be liable for any damages caused thereby.

Article 13 (Changes to the Terms)

The Company may change these Terms at any time without prior notice to the User if deemed necessary. If the User begins using the Service after the changes, the User is deemed to have agreed to the revised Terms.

Article 14 (Handling of Personal Information)

The Company shall handle personal information obtained through the use of the Service appropriately in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

Article 15 (Notices and Communication)

Notifications and communication between the User and the Company shall be conducted in the manner specified by the Company. Unless a change notification is submitted by the User in accordance with the Company’s specified method, the Company will consider the currently registered contact information valid and send notifications and communication to it, which shall be deemed to have reached the User at the time of sending.

Article 16 (Prohibition of Assignment of Rights and Obligations)

Users may not assign or pledge their status under the usage contract or rights or obligations under these Terms to any third party without the Company’s prior written consent.

Article 17 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction)

The interpretation of these Terms shall be governed by the laws of Japan.
In the event of a dispute regarding the Service, the court having jurisdiction over the location of the Company’s head office shall be the exclusive agreed court of jurisdiction.

Terms for Creators

Article 1 (Regarding Use of Stripe)

The payment processing services for creators on codoc are provided by the Company and Stripe, Inc., and are subject to the Stripe Connect Account Agreement (including the Stripe Services Agreement; collectively, the “Stripe Services Agreement”). By agreeing to these Terms or continuing to use codoc as a creator, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement (including any updates made by Stripe). As a condition for enabling codoc to use Stripe’s payment services, you agree to provide accurate and complete information about yourself and your business to codoc, and authorize codoc to share such information and transaction data related to your use of Stripe with Stripe.

mpany shall not be liable for any damages incurred by the creator due to such actions.

Violation of the Terms;
Posting spam or engaging in spam-like behavior;
Causing excessive load on the codoc server;
Interfering with codoc’s operations.

Article 4 (Content Pricing)

When a user purchases content, the user agrees to be charged and pay the amount displayed on the codoc purchase screen as the price for the content.

The same applies to support features, where users agree to pay the amount they choose using the designated method specified by codoc.

Article 5 (Agency Collection and Payment)

When a creator sells content, the creator grants the Company the authority to receive payment on their behalf. Based on this authority, the Company will collect the content fees from purchasers.
The purchaser’s payment obligation is deemed fulfilled when the purchaser (including users) pays the Company. At that point, a purchase agreement is considered established.
After the creator makes a payout request, the Company will deduct fees from the collected amount and remit the balance to the creator.
Payout requests must be made within 90 days from the date the sale is settled.
The provisions in the preceding two paragraphs do not apply if a user files a suspicious charge dispute with their credit card company. In such cases, Stripe and the Company will cooperate in handling the matter. Payment under paragraph 3 may be temporarily withheld.

Article 6 (Track Record)

The Company may, at its discretion, publish the fact that a creator is or was using the Service as part of its track record. This may include display on the official website or in press releases. The creator agrees to this without objection.

 1. The Company will aggregate the revenue data finalized at the end of each month and submit a report (in an electronic file or email) to the user by early the following month.
       2. The report described above may be substituted by revenue data displayed and paid through the dashboard managed by the Company.
             3. If either the user or the Company has doubts about the report, both parties shall communicate and resolve it through mutual discussion.
                   4. The Company shall process payments through the dashboard in the same manner as content revenue payments to creators. Transfers are processed within 4 to 30 business days after application, with a uniform transfer fee of 300 yen deducted.
                         5. The revenue share rate shall be 5% (including tax) of the sale price.
                               6. Revenue sharing is valid for only one year from the creator’s registration date.

Users themselves (including those within the same corporation) are prohibited from receiving revenue distribution under this clause.
1. The Company will issue an agency account for Client management, which shall be jointly managed by the user and the Client.
  1. Users must appropriately assign employees or personnel and provide supervision and training.

Users shall pledge to sever ties with anti-social forces regarding Clients as follows:
- The officers, employees, or major shareholders of the Client are not anti-social forces.
  - The Client is not cooperating with or involved in the maintenance or operation of anti-social forces.
    - Anti-social forces are not involved in the management of the Client.
    - The Client does not and will not utilize anti-social forces.
If the Client violates the provisions above, the Company may immediately terminate all or part of the agreement without any notice or procedures.

Article 9 (Refunds, etc.)

Creators may choose whether to make their digital content (limited to types specified by the Company) refundable via a method designated by the Company. If the creator marks the content as refundable and the user notifies the creator or the Company within 24 hours after purchase, and the creator approves the refund, the purchase agreement between the user and the creator will be canceled.

codoc pro Integration Terms

Article 1 (About codoc pro)

Through specific software code, the Company enables media (i.e., users who wish to use features such as exclusive user mode and have separately agreed to these Integration Terms with the Company) to manage payments from each purchaser for data, text, graphics, and other content (collectively, “Content”) they provide (hereinafter referred to as the “pro System”). When offering Content using the pro System as part of their own membership service, the media must agree in advance that a separate agreement shall be formed between the media and the purchaser regarding the sale of such Content.

Article 2 (Rights Granted to Media)

The Company grants the media a non-exclusive, limited, revocable, and non-transferable right to reproduce codoc pro on the media’s website (hereinafter referred to as the “Media Site”) for the purpose of enabling sales of Content to purchasers via codoc pro.

Article 3 (Usage Fees)

The Company shall receive usage fees by deducting the published rates (shown at https://codoc.jp/lp_pro) from the transaction amount of each purchase of Content via the pro System, or through alternative payment methods specified by the Company (including but not limited to bank transfer or credit card). The Company reserves the right to change these fees at its sole discretion without notice. Revenue earned by the media will generally become withdrawable 30 days after the transaction date.

s shall be effective from the date agreed upon between the Company and the media, and shall remain in effect while the media continues to use the pro System, or until either party terminates the agreement, whichever comes first. Even after expiration, the media's responsibilities regarding processed payments or related chargebacks shall remain unchanged.

Article 7 (Application of Creator Terms)

All provisions of the Creator Terms shall apply mutatis mutandis to the rights and obligations of the Company, the media, and purchasers when using the pro System.

Article 8 (Special Provisions on Implementation Support / Design Customization)

When applying for implementation support or design customization, the creator shall agree in advance without objection to the following:

To pay a separate service fee specified by the Company using the method specified by the Company;
That the Company may subcontract all or part of the work to a third party without prior approval;
That if the creator or the Company suffers damages due to reasons attributable to the other party, the responsible party shall compensate for actual damages incurred. However, unless due to willful misconduct or gross negligence by the Company, the Company’s liability shall be limited to direct and ordinary damages, and the total amount of compensation shall not exceed the total amount of fees actually paid by the creator under this agreement;
That the copyright and all other intellectual property rights to the deliverables (including illustrations, photos, text, etc. that comprise the deliverables) shall, unless previously owned by the Company, be transferred from the Company to the creator upon completion of the work.

Revision History

April 24, 2021

Added paragraph 4 to Article 4 (Usage Fees and Payment Methods) of the Basic Terms.
Added “Use of the Service” as Article 5 in the Basic Terms and renumbered the subsequent articles.
Added Article 7 “Display under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions” to the Creator Terms.

September 1, 2021

Added the codoc pro Integration Terms.

November 2, 2022

Added Article 8 “codoc Partner Program” to the Creator Terms.

March 9, 2023

Revised Article 7 “Display under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions” of the Creator Terms.

August 30, 2023

Added Article 10 “Refunds” to the Basic Terms and renumbered the subsequent articles.
Added paragraph 5 to Article 5 (Agency Collection and Payment) of the Creator Terms.
Added Article 9 “Refunds, etc.” to the Creator Terms.