These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of Cineaste. Please read them carefully. By using the platform, you agree to these terms.
By accessing or using Cineaste (cineaste.cc) — including during its beta period — you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, do not use the platform. We may update these Terms at any time; we will give you at least 14 days' notice of material changes via in-app announcement or email. Continued use after the notice period constitutes acceptance.
By creating an account, you confirm that:
You are at least 16 years old. If you are between 16 and 18, you confirm you have parental or guardian consent.
Any information you provide — including via Google OAuth — is accurate and current.
You will maintain only one active account. Creating duplicate accounts to circumvent restrictions is prohibited.
You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately at [email protected] if you believe your account has been compromised.
Cineaste lets you publish film reviews, lists, comments, and profile information ("User Content"). By submitting User Content, you grant Cineaste a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, display, and distribute it solely to operate the platform.
You retain full ownership of your User Content. Cineaste does not claim intellectual property rights over your reviews or lists.
You are solely responsible for the content you post. Do not post content that is false, defamatory, infringing, or illegal.
You may delete your own content at any time. Cineaste may remove content that violates these Terms, with or without prior notice.
Use Cineaste only for lawful purposes. The following are strictly prohibited:
Posting content that is abusive, threatening, defamatory, or discriminatory.
Submitting fake reviews, unsolicited messages, or artificial engagement.
Misrepresenting yourself as another person or as affiliated with Cineaste.
Scraping, crawling, or accessing the platform through bots or scripts without our prior written permission.
Attempting to disrupt, compromise, or reverse-engineer any part of the platform or its security systems.
Cineaste's recommendation engine (ANIMA) processes your film interactions to build a 24-dimensional Mood DNA profile. By using the platform, you acknowledge:
Generating and updating your Mood DNA is fundamental to the service. This processing cannot be opted out of while you maintain an active account, as it is what delivers the personalised experience.
Your individual Mood DNA vectors, personal watch history, reviews, and account information are never sold, licensed, or shared with any third party in a form that identifies you.
Cineaste derives fully anonymised, aggregate trend data from collective platform activity (e.g. mood dimension trends, genre sentiment patterns across the user base). This data does not identify any individual and may be licensed to film industry partners including studios, distributors, and research firms. By using the platform, you consent to your interactions contributing to this non-identifiable aggregate pool.
When you delete your account, your Mood DNA vectors and all interaction records are permanently purged within 30 days.
The Auteur plan unlocks additional features on a recurring subscription basis.
Subscriptions are billed monthly or annually. By subscribing, you authorise Cineaste to charge your payment method at the start of each billing cycle.
You may cancel at any time from your account settings. Access to Auteur features continues until the end of the current paid period, after which your account reverts to the Standard plan.
If you are a consumer in the EU or UK, you have the right to withdraw from a new subscription within 14 days of purchase without giving any reason. To exercise this right, email us at [email protected].
Outside the statutory cooling-off window, subscription fees are non-refundable except where required by law or at our discretion. See cineaste.cc/refunds for the full policy.
We will give at least 30 days' notice of any subscription price increase. You may cancel before the new price takes effect.
Payments are handled by Stripe. Cineaste does not store your card details.
All platform elements not constituting User Content — including the ANIMA engine, UI design, branding, proprietary algorithms, and codebase — are the exclusive intellectual property of Cineaste and are protected by copyright, trademark, and trade secret law.
Film titles, posters, cast data, and synopses are sourced from The Movie Database (TMDB) under TMDB's licence. Cineaste does not claim ownership of this third-party content.
Any feedback or feature requests you submit may be used by Cineaste without restriction or compensation.
Cineaste may suspend or terminate your account for violations of these Terms or conduct harmful to the platform or its users. Upon termination:
Your access is immediately revoked.
Your User Content may be removed. Content within collaborative threads may be anonymised to preserve the integrity of others' records.
If your account is terminated for a Terms violation, no refund will be issued for any remaining subscription period.
Personal data is handled as described in our Privacy Policy.
During its beta period, Cineaste is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law:
We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of bugs. Data loss or service interruptions may occur during beta.
Our total liability to you for any claim shall not exceed the total amount you paid to Cineaste in the twelve months preceding the claim, or €100 — whichever is greater.
We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the platform.
Nothing in these Terms limits any statutory rights you have as a consumer that cannot be waived by contract under applicable law.
These Terms are governed by applicable law in the jurisdiction where Cineaste operates. We will always try to resolve disputes informally first — email [email protected] and we will respond within 14 days. If a dispute cannot be resolved informally, it shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts. If you are a consumer in the EU, you may also use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
If you have any questions about these Terms, email us at [email protected]. We aim to respond within 5 business days.