Welcome to Monocasts (“we”, “our”, “us”). These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of our platform, including our website, apps, and related services (collectively, the “Service”). By using our Service, you agree to these Terms.

1. Accounts and Plans

• You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your country) to use the Service.
• We offer different plans: Starter (free), Creator, and Producer (paid). Features may vary and may be updated from time to time.
• All pricing is listed in euros (€). No additional taxes will be charged, as we currently operate under the small-business exemption.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and for all activity under it.
• You are responsible for any taxes or duties you may personally owe in your own country.

Plan-Specific Limits

• Starter plan: Limited to 10 episodes per week. Abuse of this limit (e.g., creating multiple accounts to bypass it) is strictly prohibited.
• All plans: Individual episodes cannot exceed 8,000 characters. This limitation may change in the future.
• Attempts to bypass these limits may result in suspension or termination of your account.

2. Acceptable Use

You may use the Service to create and publish lawful content, including text, images, and audio. However, you agree not to:

• Produce or distribute content that violates applicable law (e.g., hate speech, incitement, child exploitation, fraud).
• Attempt to disable, disrupt, overload, reverse engineer, or otherwise interfere with the Service.
• Use automated scripts, bots, or any method to abuse free or paid plans.
• Misrepresent your identity, impersonate others, or mislabel content.
• Circumvent plan limits or manipulate billing.

AI-Generated Content

Episodes created fully through our interface will automatically be marked as AI-generated. Users are required to keep this label visible.

In addition, all episodes include a short disclosure at the end of the audio file stating that the listener has been listening to an AI-generated podcast created using Monocasts. This disclosure is required by the terms of service of our technology providers and cannot be removed or altered by users.

3. Intellectual Property & Ownership Verification

• You retain all rights to the content you create using our Service.
• By uploading or generating content, you grant us a non-exclusive license to process, store, and deliver that content solely for the purpose of operating the Service.
• We retain ownership of our software, platform, and branding. You may not copy, modify, or distribute our code or infrastructure.

Ownership Verification for Imported Content

• If you import content via a URL, you can verify ownership of that source by following the instructions in the app (e.g., inserting a provided code into your latest article).
• Verified sources will be considered more credible and may influence visibility or ranking.
• Verification is optional and designed to help creators prove their ownership — it does not give us control over your intellectual property.

4. Hosting, Distribution, and Promotion

• Monocasts provides hosting and management of audio episodes. Each show automatically has its own public page, where anyone can listen without registration.
• While we support full freedom of speech within the law, we cannot guarantee freedom of reach. External platforms (e.g., Spotify, YouTube Music) decide whether to accept and distribute your content.
• Submissions to third-party platforms are done on your behalf, not Monocasts’. If these platforms remove or reject your content, Monocasts is not liable.
• Promotion of your show is your responsibility. While we may offer promotional features in the future, they are not currently included.

5. Monetization

• Monocasts does not provide royalties or revenue-sharing programs.
• You may include sponsor messages or promotional content in your episodes at your discretion, provided it complies with applicable law and these Terms.

6. Service Availability and Changes

• We may update, modify, or discontinue any feature or plan at any time.
• While we strive for uninterrupted service, we do not guarantee continuous availability.
• We may limit access to certain features to protect system stability or prevent misuse.

7. Refund Policy

We do not provide monetary refunds. If a generated episode contains broken, invalid, or inconsistent audio due to a technical issue, you may request reimbursement of the character credits used. Please see our Refund Policy for details.

8. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account if you:

• Violate these Terms,
• Engage in illegal activity, or
• Misuse the Service in a way that threatens its stability or other users’ experience.

9. Limitation of Liability

• We are not responsible for any content created by users.
• We are not liable for any damages resulting from the use or inability to use the Service.
• To the maximum extent permitted by law, our liability is limited to the amount you have paid us in the last 12 months (or €0 for Starter plan users).

10. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Belgium. Nothing in these Terms affects any mandatory consumer protection rights you may have under applicable law in your country of residence within the European Union. Any disputes will be handled exclusively by the competent courts of Antwerp, Belgium.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you by email or in-app notification. Your continued use of the Service after updates means you accept the revised Terms.

12. Contact Us

Monocasts is operated by Digiplan, a Belgian digital company. For questions about these Terms, please contact us at: [email protected].1