Terms of Use

1. License

When you purchase a VidNotes tier (Scholar, Researcher, Press) or receive a lifetime license, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, personal license to install and use VidNotes on Macs you own or primarily control, for both personal and commercial work.

A single purchase covers reasonable personal use across your own devices. For team or organizational deployments, see the Classroom or Team pricing or contact us.

2. What you can do

• Use VidNotes for research, education, journalism, and commercial work
• Process videos you own, have rights to, or are publicly available under fair use
• Export transcripts, briefs, quotes, and captures to other tools
• Include VidNotes-generated outputs in your own articles, studies, or publications
• Upgrade between tiers any time (pay the price difference)

3. What you can’t do

• Resell, sublicense, or redistribute the VidNotes app or license keys
• Reverse engineer the app to clone its functionality for a competing product
• Use VidNotes to circumvent technical measures protecting copyrighted content
• Use VidNotes to process content where doing so violates applicable copyright, contract, or broadcast-rights law in your jurisdiction
• Re-broadcast or publish raw transcripts/recordings of copyrighted streams in ways that infringe the rights-holder’s protections

4. AI features

VidNotes ships bundled on-device AI (Apple MLX) and on-device transcription (WhisperKit). Both run entirely on your Mac with no third-party calls.

Optionally, the Researcher tier enables cloud AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini) using API keys you provide. Your use of those providers is governed by their terms — we’re not a party to that relationship. You are responsible for:

• Costs you incur with those providers
• Ensuring your content doesn’t violate their policies
• Keeping your keys secure

5. AI output accuracy

AI-generated briefs, summaries, entity extractions, and journalist briefs are provided as-is. They may contain errors, omissions, or hallucinations. Verify anything important against the source before quoting or publishing. You, not VidNotes, are responsible for the accuracy of any content you publish that draws from AI outputs.

6. No warranty

VidNotes is provided “as-is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. We don’t guarantee uninterrupted operation, that every feature works with every stream source, or that future macOS versions won’t introduce incompatibilities.

7. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, VidNotes and its authors are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the app. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid for your license.

8. Refunds

For purchases through the Mac App Store, refunds are handled by Apple per their policies. For direct purchases, email us within 30 days of purchase and we’ll honor a refund.

9. Updates & compatibility

Your license entitles you to updates within your purchased tier. Major new features may be offered as a paid upgrade; we’ll announce clearly in the changelog when that happens. We aim to keep the app running on the current and previous two major versions of macOS.

10. Termination

You can stop using VidNotes any time — your local data stays with you. We can revoke a license only in the case of a chargeback, fraud, or a clear breach of these terms (e.g. license key resale).

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms; material changes will be noted with a new date at the top and summarized in the changelog. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised terms.

12. Governing law & contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where VidNotes’ publisher is established (listed on the App Store page). Disputes that can’t be resolved by emailing team@vidnotes.org are subject to that jurisdiction’s courts.

These terms are a plain-English starting point. If you’re deploying VidNotes in a commercial newsroom or enterprise context, have your own legal team review your intended use — especially around rights to record, transcribe, and republish copyrighted broadcasts.