Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Skep (the "Service"), operated at skep.fm. By using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Who can use the Service

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum digital-consent age in your country) to use Skep. If you use Skep on behalf of an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Accounts and anonymous use

Skep can be used anonymously. When you visit the Service we create an anonymous identifier so the product can remember your preferences. You may also create an account using a supported sign-in provider (Google, Apple, Spotify) or email. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account or anonymous session, and for keeping your credentials secure.

3. Content on Skep

Skep aggregates publicly available information about podcasts and podcast episodes — titles, descriptions, artwork, links, view counts, and similar metadata — from third-party platforms. All trademarks, podcast names, logos, and episode content belong to their respective owners. Skep does not host or stream the underlying audio or video. When you click through, you are sent to the original platform and that platform's terms apply.

4. Your contributions

When you rate episodes, write reviews, create playlists, or submit any other content ("User Content"), you keep ownership of that content. You grant Skep a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, reproduce, and otherwise use User Content for the purpose of operating and improving the Service, including showing public playlists and aggregating ratings into the Community Score.

You are responsible for User Content you submit and represent that it does not violate any law or third-party right.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Scrape, crawl, or extract data from the Service except via interfaces we explicitly provide.
• Attempt to manipulate ratings, votes, the Buzzmeter, or any other ranking signal.
• Use the Service to abuse, harass, defame, or infringe the rights of others.
• Upload User Content that is illegal, hateful, sexually explicit involving minors, or otherwise harmful.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or bypass rate limits or other security measures.
• Use the Service for any commercial purpose without our written permission.

We may suspend or terminate access for users who violate these rules.

6. Third-party connections

Features like playlist export and connected accounts rely on third-party services (e.g. Spotify, YouTube, Apple). Your use of those services through Skep is also subject to their own terms. Skep is not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or behavior of third-party platforms, and we may have to remove or change features if a platform changes its APIs.

7. Paid features

Skep may offer paid features in the future (e.g. a Pro tier). Specific terms — pricing, billing cycle, refunds, and cancellation — will be shown at checkout and form part of these Terms when you subscribe.

8. Intellectual property

The Skep name, the Buzzmeter, Hidden Honey, the Smoker, the bee / hive branding, the website design, and all related software are owned by Skep. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works of any part of the Service except as permitted by these Terms or applicable law.

9. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Rankings, scores, and recommendations are informational only.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Skep and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose, or (b) USD 50.

11. Termination

You can stop using Skep at any time. You can request deletion of your account or anonymous data as described in our Privacy Policy. We may suspend or terminate access to the Service if you violate these Terms or if we discontinue the Service.

12. Changes

We may update these Terms as the product evolves. Material changes will be announced on the Service. Continued use after the changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which Skep's operator is established, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the courts of that jurisdiction, except where mandatory consumer-protection law gives you the right to bring proceedings elsewhere.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: hello@skep.fm.