Known

Terms of Service

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Known is a video hosting, sharing, and portfolio platform for creative professionals, operated by Hiike Distribution Inc. ("Hiike," "Known," "we," "us," or "our"). Known is currently offered to users located in the United States.

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you ("you," "User," "Owner," or "Viewer" as applicable) and Hiike Distribution Inc., a Delaware corporation. By creating an account, accessing, visiting, or using Known — including watching a video shared with you, even without an account — you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use Known.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old, or the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction if older, to use Known. This applies to all users, whether you create an account as an Owner or simply view a video shared with you as a Viewer.

3. Description of the Service

Known allows Owners to upload, store, organize, and share video content, build a public or private portfolio, and view detailed analytics about how their content is watched. Viewers can watch videos shared with them, leave feedback, and, with an account, build their own portfolio. Features and functionality may change, be added, or be removed at any time.

4. Accounts and Authentication

Known uses third-party identity providers (including Google, Apple, and Clerk) for account authentication, including email-and-password login. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You may not share your account with any other person, and each account may be used by only one person. You must notify us immediately at privacy@known.video if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings. Deleted accounts enter a 14-day grace period before permanent deletion, during which you may reverse the deletion. Once an account is deleted (whether by you or after the grace period lapses), any active share links associated with that account will immediately cease to function, and per-recipient viewer analytics tied to that account will be deleted, subject to Section 8 (Data Retention) of our Privacy Policy.

5. Subscription Plans, Payments, and Auto-Renewal

5.1 Plans

Known offers a free tier (limited to one video upload, up to 2GB) and paid subscription tiers (2TB of storage) billed at $12/month or $99/year. Subscriptions are purchased and managed through the web only; Known's mobile applications do not offer any in-app purchase path. The Apple App Store and Google Play Store are used solely for distribution of the mobile applications.

5.2 Automatic Renewal

Paid subscriptions automatically renew for the same period at the then-current rate unless cancelled prior to the renewal date. By subscribing, you authorize Known to charge your designated payment method (processed via Stripe) for the subscription fee and any renewal.

5.3 Cancellation and Refunds

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. If you cancel, your paid access continues until the end of the current billing period; you will not receive a refund or credit for any unused time in that period, except as follows:

  • Annual plans may be refunded within 14 days of purchase.
  • Monthly plans may be refunded within 3 days of purchase.
  • Refunds apply only to the most recent payment and are not available for renewals.

If your account is terminated for a violation of these Terms or our Acceptable Use Policy, you forfeit any right to a refund and any remaining subscription time, regardless of whether you would otherwise be within a refund window.

6. Storage

Free accounts are limited to one video upload, up to 2GB total. Paid accounts are allotted up to 2TB of storage. Uploads that would exceed your plan's storage limit will be rejected.

7. User Content Ownership and License

7.1 You Own Your Content

You retain all ownership rights in the video content, images, and other materials you upload to Known ("Your Content"). Known does not claim ownership of Your Content, whether created using traditional tools, AI-assisted tools, or fully AI-generated. Content is content — Known does not treat AI-generated or AI-assisted work differently from any other upload.

7.2 Ownership Warranty

You represent and warrant that you own or have all necessary rights, licenses, and releases (including from any person appearing in the content) to upload Your Content to Known, and that Your Content does not infringe or violate the rights of any third party. This warranty applies regardless of how the content was created. You agree to indemnify Known against any claim arising from a breach of this warranty, as further described in Section 18 (Indemnification).

7.3 License Granted to Known

The scope of the license you grant Known to host, process, and display Your Content depends on the privacy setting you choose for that content:

  • Private: Known may only store, process, and stream Your Content back to you.
  • Invitation (per-recipient links): Known may stream and display Your Content to the specific individuals you have shared it with.
  • Public: Known may stream and display Your Content to any user or visitor, and may generate embeds, portfolio previews, and thumbnails for open sharing.

In all cases, this license is solely for the purpose of operating, providing, and improving the Service, and terminates when you delete the applicable content or your account, subject to reasonable technical retention periods.

8. Viewer Analytics

A core feature of Known is the ability for an Owner to see detailed analytics about how a specific video was watched, including by named individuals on per-recipient share links (audience retention, drop-off points, playback speed, and watch-in-progress notifications), as well as aggregate analytics on publicly shared links. This feature, its consent mechanics, and your rights with respect to it are described in detail in our Privacy Policy, which you should review carefully.

Owners may not use viewer analytics data to harass, stalk, dox, or take any adverse action against a Viewer. Known discloses this information to Owners as a feature of the Service; how an Owner subsequently uses that information is the Owner's responsibility, and misuse is a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy.

9. Known Network

Known automatically creates a connection between users when one accepts a shared video or collection from another ("Known Network"). You may remove or block a Known Network connection at any time through your account settings. Using the Known Network to harass, stalk, or repeatedly contact another user against their wishes is a violation of these Terms.

10. Acceptable Use Policy

Known has zero tolerance for the following. Any violation will result in immediate termination of your account, forfeiture of any refund or remaining subscription time, and, where required by law, a report to appropriate authorities. There is no warning period.

10.1 Prohibited Content

  • Sexually explicit content, including pornography, sexualized nudity, and content promoting sexual services.
  • Hateful or discriminatory content that promotes violence or disparages on the basis of a protected characteristic.
  • Content depicting or promoting terrorism, graphic real-world violence, or illegal acts, including instructions for weapons or explosives.
  • Malware, viruses, or unsolicited bulk spam.
  • Content that infringes any third party's intellectual property or other rights.
  • Content that violates any applicable law.

10.2 Prohibited Conduct

  • Impersonating any person, including through a fake or misleading profile.
  • Harassing, stalking, threatening, bullying, or doxing another user, including through the Known Network, comments, or any reporting or access-request feature.
  • Misusing the reporting or access-request process, including through false or bad-faith reports.

Known's automated moderation (including image-based content scanning performed via our video infrastructure provider) may flag content on upload. You may contact privacy@known.video to appeal an enforcement action.

11. Prohibited Technical Measures

You may not, and may not permit any third party to:

  • Access, scrape, or collect data from Known using automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers), except as permitted for public search engine indexing consistent with our robots.txt file.
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service.
  • Frame or mirror any part of the Service without our written permission.
  • Circumvent any security, rate-limiting, or digital rights management measure.
  • Introduce malicious code or submit an unreasonable number of requests to our servers.

12. Artificial Intelligence Policy

Known does not use, access, or license any content you upload for the purpose of training, fine-tuning, or improving any generative AI, large language model, or image generation system. Our automated content moderation (image-based scanning to detect content that violates Section 10) is a safety function applied automatically to uploads and is not AI training.

Known respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe content on Known infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice to our designated DMCA agent at privacy@known.video. Notices must comply with the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If your content is removed following a takedown notice and you believe this was in error, you may submit a counter-notice. Following a valid counter-notice, we will forward it to the original complainant; unless that party initiates legal action, we may restore the content within 10 to 14 business days.

Known will terminate the accounts of users determined to be repeat infringers, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion.

Submitting a knowingly false takedown notice or counter-notice may subject you to liability under applicable law.

14. Feedback

If you submit ideas, suggestions, or feature requests to Known, you grant us a fully paid, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, and sublicensable right to use that feedback for any purpose, without any obligation to compensate or credit you.

15. Beta Features

Known may offer experimental or "beta" features from time to time. Beta features are provided for experimental purposes only, without warranty of any kind, and may be modified or discontinued at our sole discretion at any time.

16. Mobile Applications

The following applies to Known's applications distributed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store:

  • This Agreement is between you and Known, not Apple or Google.
  • Apple and Google have no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the application.
  • Known, not Apple or Google, is solely responsible for the application and its content.
  • Apple and Google, and their subsidiaries, are third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement and may enforce it against you.
  • Your use of the application must comply with the applicable app store's terms of service.

17. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to Known at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably determine you have violated these Terms, pose a legal or security risk, or if required by law. You may terminate your account at any time as described in Section 4. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination — including ownership, license grants, indemnification, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution — will survive.

18. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Hiike Distribution Inc. and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claim, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) Your Content; (b) your use of the Service; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any third party's rights. This provision does not require you to indemnify Known for any unconscionable commercial practice, fraud, deception, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealment by Known.

19. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

20. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, KNOWN SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. KNOWN'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO KNOWN IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100), EXCEPT WHERE A SPECIFIC STATUTE SETS ITS OWN MINIMUM DAMAGES, IN WHICH CASE THAT STATUTORY MINIMUM APPLIES INSTEAD. THIS LIMITATION DOES NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR (I) DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY KNOWN'S NEGLIGENCE, OR (II) KNOWN'S FRAUD OR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.

21. Export Control

You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo, and that you are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You agree not to use Known in violation of U.S. export control laws.

22. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Agreement

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.

22.1 Agreement to Arbitrate

You and Known agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to your use of Known's Service or these Terms (a "Dispute") will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court, except as set forth below. This Arbitration Agreement is limited to Disputes arising from your actual transaction or use of the Service, consistent with applicable law.

22.2 Exceptions

Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to prevent infringement or misuse of intellectual property.

22.3 Informal Resolution First

Before starting an arbitration, the party with a Dispute must send written notice to the other describing the Dispute (to Known: privacy@known.video) and engage in a good-faith informal resolution conference for at least 45 days.

22.4 Class Action and Jury Trial Waiver

YOU AND KNOWN AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU AND KNOWN WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

22.5 Batch Arbitration

If 10 or more similar arbitration demands are filed against Known by or with the assistance of the same law firm or organization within a 90-day period, the AAA will administer those demands in batches, with one arbitrator and one set of filing fees per batch, as further described in the AAA's applicable rules.

22.6 30-Day Right to Opt Out

You may opt out of this Arbitration Agreement by sending written notice to privacy@known.video within 30 days of first becoming subject to it (or within 30 days of any future material change to it). Your notice must include your name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration.

22.7 Federal Arbitration Act

This Arbitration Agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.

23. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Except for Disputes subject to Section 22 (Arbitration), any legal action will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Delaware.

24. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Changes will take effect for existing account holders 14 days after posting (except changes to Section 22, the Arbitration Agreement, which take effect 30 days after posting and are subject to a fresh 30-day opt-out right as described in Section 22.6). Your continued use of Known after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

25. California Consumer Complaint Notice

In accordance with California Civil Code §1789.3, you may report complaints to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by contacting them in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

26. General Provisions

26.1 Force Majeure

Known will not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside its reasonable control, including acts of God, pandemic, war, terrorism, riots, government order, labor strikes, or failure of a utility, telecommunications, or third-party infrastructure provider.

26.2 Electronic Communications

You consent to receive communications from Known electronically, including notices, disclosures, and updates to these Terms, and agree that such electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing.

26.3 Assignment

You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. Known may freely assign these Terms.

26.4 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, that provision will be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

26.5 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Known regarding the Service.

26.6 Waiver

Known's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that provision.

27. Corporate Information

Hiike Distribution Inc.

2108 N St, STE N, Sacramento, CA 95816

Contact: privacy@known.video