Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms & Eligibility

These Terms of Service ("Terms", "Agreement") constitute a legally binding contract between you (either an individual photographer, studio entity, or authorized representative, herein "Studio", "User", or "You") and Krovel ("Krovel", "we", "us", or "our") governing access to and use of the Krovel web application, APIs, dashboard, and client-facing galleries (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account, uploading images, subscribing to a paid tier, or accessing private proofing galleries, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a photography studio, corporation, or partnership, you represent that you possess legal authority to bind that entity. You must be at least 18 years of age to open a studio account.

2. Description of the Service & User Roles

Krovel is a specialized, mobile-first cloud platform engineered for photographic asset delivery, client favorites proofing, and retoucher workflow management:

• Photographers & Studios: Upload event galleries, configure selection limits, enforce PIN passcodes, dispatch assignments to retouchers, and export deliverable file queries for Adobe Lightroom and Capture One.
• Clients (Couples, Subjects, Commercial Clients): Access private, mobile-optimized proofing galleries to review web previews, heart favorite images, submit selections, and download authorized deliverables.
• Editors & Retouchers: Access sandboxed editor portals to review assigned tasks, inspect pinpoint photo annotations, and upload finished deliverables back for studio review.

3. Intellectual Property, Copyright & Operational License

You warrant that you are the sole author, copyright holder, or possess all necessary rights, commercial licenses, model releases, and property releases required to upload, process, and display each image on the Service.

Limited Operational License: Solely for the purpose of operating and providing the Service to you and your clients, you grant Krovel a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, downsample, transcode, cache on Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), display in browser lightboxes, and transmit your images pursuant to your gallery settings. This license terminates automatically when you delete an image or gallery, or terminate your account.

4. Critical Backup & Disaster Recovery Disclaimer

Under no circumstances shall Krovel be liable for any lost data, corrupt files, deleted selections, or business interruption arising from hardware failure, cloud infrastructure outages, or inadvertent user deletion.

5. Subscription Plans, Billing & Metered Usage

Krovel offers subscription tiers (Starter Solo Free, Pay-Per-Use, and Flat Studio Pro) and modular high-capacity storage add-ons:

• Subscription Fees: Paid plans are billed in advance on a recurring monthly or annual basis via our designated payment processors (such as Razorpay or authorized payment partners). All fees are non-refundable except where required by law.
• Metered Storage & Overage: If you exceed your plan's allocated AWS S3 storage quota, you may fund your storage wallet or purchase modular +1 TB Cold Vault blocks ($25/TB/mo). Uploads exceeding your quota will be suspended until your account is upgraded or older galleries are archived.
• Taxes: Fees do not include applicable sales tax, VAT, GST, or similar indirect taxes. Krovel calculates and collects taxes based on your billing jurisdiction. European B2B customers must provide a valid VAT ID to qualify for reverse-charge treatment.
• Cancellation & Downgrades: You may cancel or modify your subscription anytime through the dashboard. Downgrades take effect at the conclusion of the current billing cycle.

6. Acceptable Use Policy & Prohibited Content

You agree not to misuse the Service or assist any other party in doing so. You shall NOT upload, transmit, or distribute:

• Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) / CSAE: Strictly zero tolerance. Krovel complies with mandatory US federal reporting obligations under 18 U.S.C. § 2258A. Any apparent child exploitation content is immediately reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline along with upload logs, IP addresses, and user identifiers, and the associated account is permanently terminated.
• Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII): Photos captured or shared without the express consent of the depicted individual, including upskirting, hidden-camera imagery, or revenge pornography.
• Infringing Works: Photographs, trademarks, or visual assets that infringe upon third-party copyrights, moral rights, or trademark protections.
• System Abuse & Attacks: Automated web scraping, brute-forcing PIN codes, reverse-engineering client lightboxes, bypassing selection quotas, or injecting malicious scripts or exploits.

7. DMCA Copyright Policy & Takedown Procedure

Krovel respects the intellectual property of creators and complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512):

If you believe your copyrighted work has been uploaded or displayed on Krovel without authorization, please submit a written DMCA Notice of Infringement to our Designated Copyright Agent containing:

1. Physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized representative;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
3. The exact gallery URL or photo identifier located on Krovel;
4. Your contact information (name, address, telephone number, and email);
5. A statement of good faith belief that the disputed use is unauthorized;
6. A statement under penalty of perjury that the notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

Repeat Infringer Policy: Krovel reserves the right to suspend or permanently terminate accounts of users who are the subject of repeated, substantiated copyright infringement notices.

8. Gallery Expiration & Data Deletion Policy

Krovel allows studios to configure automated gallery expiration dates. Following gallery expiration or account cancellation:

• Clients accessing an expired gallery will see a friendly "Proofing Closed" status screen.
• Upon account termination or prolonged non-payment exceeding 30 days, Krovel reserves the statutory right to permanently delete and purge original RAW files, web previews, and database records from Amazon S3 and PostgreSQL.
• Individual photo deletions are placed in a 15-day Recycle Bin retention window for accidental recovery before automatic permanent purge (or immediate permanent purge upon emptying the bin), while full gallery deletions initiate immediate irreversible removal from Amazon S3 and PostgreSQL.

9. Disclaimers of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

KROVEL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE AND ANY RELIANCE PLACED THEREON.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL KROVEL, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, OR INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF REPUTATION, LOSS OF DATA, EVENT RE-SHOOTING EXPENSES, OR CLIENT DISPUTES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL KROVEL'S AGGREGATE MONETARY LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO KROVEL DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE INCIDENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, OR ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100.00 USD), WHICHEVER IS LESS.

11. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Krovel, its officers, contractors, and affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal and attorney fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your photographs, assets, or content uploaded to the platform; (b) any violation by you of these Terms or applicable law; (c) any dispute between you and your photography clients or third-party retouchers; or (d) any infringement of third-party privacy, copyright, or publicity rights.

12. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which Krovel operates, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be resolved through good-faith negotiation, and if unsuccessful, submitted to confidential binding arbitration or competent courts having jurisdiction.

13. Modifications to Terms

We reserve the right to revise or amend these Terms at any time. When material changes are made, we will provide at least thirty (30) days' advance notice by updating the "Effective Date" at the top of this page, sending an email notice, or displaying a dashboard announcement. Continued use of the Service following the effective date of revised Terms constitutes full acceptance.

14. Contact Information

For legal inquiries, terms interpretation, or regulatory requests, please direct correspondence to: