h@ndle Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding contract between you and Handle App, LLC ("Handle", "we", "us", or "our"), a Montana limited liability company. They govern your access to and use of the h@ndle app, myhandle.app, and any related services (collectively, the "Service").

Please read Section 16 carefully. It requires you to resolve disputes with Handle through binding individual arbitration and waives your right to participate in a class action, unless you opt out within 30 days as described in that Section.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms, and "you" refers to both you and that entity.

2. Eligibility

You may use the Service only if you:

• Are at least 18 years old.
• Are a resident of the United States.
• Are legally able to enter into a binding contract under US law.
• Are not barred from using the Service under any applicable law.

By registering, you represent and warrant that all of the above are true and that all information you provide is accurate and complete.

3. Description of the Service

Handle is a marketplace that connects content creators ("Creators") with brands and businesses ("Brands") for paid collaborations, sponsorships, and content campaigns. Handle provides the platform; the actual collaboration agreements are between the Creator and the Brand.

Handle reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time, with or without notice.

4. Accounts and Account Security

To use most features of the Service you must register an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information.
• Maintain and promptly update your account information.
• Maintain the confidentiality of your password and any other authentication credentials.
• Be solely responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
• Notify us immediately at support@myhandle.app of any unauthorized access or use.

You may not share, transfer, or sell your account without our prior written consent. We may suspend or terminate your account if we suspect unauthorized access or violation of these Terms.

5. Connecting Third-Party Accounts

The Service lets you connect external platforms (such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, Twitch, and Kick) to verify your identity and display follower counts. By connecting an account you authorize Handle to access information from that platform as described in our Privacy Policy. You may disconnect any platform at any time from your Edit Profile page.

Your use of any third-party platform remains subject to that platform's own terms of service. Handle is not responsible for third-party platforms or for changes they make to their APIs, terms, or features.

6. Roles of Creators and Brands

Creators and Brands are independent parties. Handle is a neutral marketplace that facilitates introductions, agreements, payments, and communication between them. Specifically:

• Handle is not an employer, agency, talent manager, or representative of any Creator.
• Handle is not a marketing agency, agent, or representative of any Brand.
• Handle does not draft, supervise, or guarantee the quality of content produced by Creators.
• Handle does not guarantee that any Brand will pay, that any Creator will deliver, or that any campaign will succeed.
• Each party is solely responsible for their own tax reporting, withholding, and compliance with applicable laws (including but not limited to the FTC Endorsement Guides for influencer disclosures).

Disputes between Creators and Brands are between those parties. Handle may, at its discretion, hold escrow funds while a dispute is investigated, but Handle is not obligated to resolve disputes and any decision Handle makes regarding escrow is not a legal judgment.

7. Payments, Fees, and Payouts

7.1 Payment processing

All payments on the Service are processed by Stripe, Inc. ("Stripe") and Stripe Connect. By using payment features, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Connected Account Agreement (Creators) and the Stripe Services Agreement (Brands). Stripe handles card data and identity verification; Handle does not store full card numbers or government identifiers.

7.2 Escrow and release

When a Brand funds a paid contract, the funds are authorized by Stripe and held in escrow. Funds are captured and released to the Creator's connected payout account when:

• The Brand approves all deliverables on a non-milestone contract (auto-release), or
• A milestone is released (manual or trigger-based, depending on the contract's milestone configuration), or
• Handle, at its discretion, releases funds in resolution of a support ticket or dispute.

Authorized but not-yet-captured funds may be cancelled by the Brand at any time before capture. Once captured, refunds are at Handle's discretion and may be limited by Stripe's refund window.

7.3 Platform fee

Handle charges a platform fee on completed paid transactions. The current fee schedule is shown to the Brand at funding time and to the Creator on each payout receipt. Fees are non-refundable once a payment has been released to the Creator.

7.4 Tax responsibility

Each user is solely responsible for their own taxes. Stripe will issue applicable IRS forms (e.g., 1099-K) to Creators who meet the reporting thresholds. Handle does not provide tax advice.

7.5 Off-platform payments

Once a Creator and Brand have been introduced through the Service, you agree not to circumvent the Service by conducting payments outside of Handle for collaborations that began on the Service. Off-platform payment arrangements forfeit the protections (escrow, dispute resolution, transaction records) that the Service provides and may result in account suspension.

8. User Content

"User Content" means any content you post, upload, transmit, or otherwise make available through the Service — profiles, posts, messages, briefs, deliverables, case studies, and so on.

8.1 You retain ownership

You retain all rights, title, and interest in your User Content. We do not claim ownership of any of it.

8.2 License to Handle

By submitting User Content to the Service, you grant Handle a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (e.g., for formatting), display, and distribute that User Content solely for the purpose of operating, providing, and improving the Service. The license ends when you delete the User Content from the Service, except for copies retained as described in our Privacy Policy Section 8.

8.3 Your warranties

You represent and warrant that:

• You own or have the necessary rights to your User Content.
• Your User Content does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other rights of any third party.
• Your User Content does not violate any law or these Terms.

9. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

• Misrepresent your identity, affiliation, follower counts, engagement metrics, or any other material fact about you, your account, or your offerings.
• Use the Service for any fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful purpose.
• Conduct payments outside of Handle for collaborations originating on the Service (see Section 7.5).
• Harass, threaten, defame, or harm other users.
• Post or transmit content that is unlawful, harmful, hateful, sexually explicit (other than as legitimately required by an adult-themed campaign disclosed at signup), defamatory, or that infringes third-party rights.
• Spam users with unsolicited promotional content.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code from the Service, except to the extent permitted by law.
• Scrape, crawl, or use automated tools to access the Service except via official APIs we expressly authorize.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or breach any security or authentication measure.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, the servers or networks it uses, or other users' enjoyment of it.
• Create multiple accounts to evade enforcement actions.

We may, at our sole discretion, remove content, suspend or terminate accounts, refuse Service, and cooperate with law enforcement in response to violations.

10. Intellectual Property

The Service — including its software, design, "Handle" name, logo, branding, and any content we create ourselves — is owned by Handle and protected by US and international intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right or license to use Handle's trademarks, logos, or branding except as explicitly authorized in writing by us.

We welcome feedback and suggestions. If you submit any, you grant Handle a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use that feedback for any purpose without compensation to you.

11. Copyright Complaints (DMCA)

Handle responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent including:

• Your physical or electronic signature.
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information sufficient to locate it on the Service (e.g., a URL).
• Your contact information (address, telephone number, email address).
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

Send notices to:
DMCA Designated Agent — Handle App, LLC
legal@myhandle.app
67 Piney Point Rd, Anaconda, MT 59711

Counter-notices may be sent to the same address and must comply with 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3). Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated. Knowingly submitting false claims of infringement may subject you to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

12. Termination

By you. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time from your account settings or by emailing support@myhandle.app.

By Handle. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms or applicable law, or if we determine in our sole discretion that doing so is necessary to protect the Service, other users, or our business interests.

On termination, your right to use the Service ends immediately. Sections 7 (for completed transactions), 8.2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 19 survive termination.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. HANDLE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT IT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS.

Handle does not warrant the conduct of any user of the Service, the accuracy of any information posted by users, or the success of any collaboration or campaign arranged through the Service.

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HANDLE AND ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF HANDLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

HANDLE'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL FEES YOU PAID TO HANDLE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of certain warranties or liability for incidental or consequential damages, so portions of these limitations may not apply to you.

15. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Handle and its officers, members, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your use of or access to the Service.
• Your User Content.
• Your violation of these Terms or any applicable law.
• Your violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights.
• Any dispute or interaction between you and any other user of the Service.

16. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

Please read this Section carefully. It affects your legal rights. It requires you to resolve disputes with Handle through binding arbitration on an individual basis, unless you opt out within 30 days as described below.

16.1 Agreement to arbitrate

You and Handle agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or related to the Service, these Terms, or our Privacy Policy ("Dispute") will be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, except as modified here.

16.2 Class action waiver

You and Handle agree that each may bring claims against the other only in your or its individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

16.3 Arbitration procedure

Arbitration will take place in Anaconda, Montana, or by video or telephone conference if you prefer. The arbitrator's decision will be final and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitrator has the authority to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including injunctive and declaratory relief, but only on an individual basis.

16.4 Exceptions

Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdiction. Either party may also seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property rights without first proceeding to arbitration.

16.5 30-day right to opt out

You can opt out of this Section 16 (Arbitration and Class Action Waiver) within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. To opt out, send a written notice to legal@myhandle.app with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" and including your name, account email, the date you first accepted these Terms, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

16.6 Severability

If the class action waiver in Section 16.2 is found unenforceable as to any specific claim, that claim must proceed in court rather than in arbitration, and the rest of this Section 16 will remain enforceable as to all other claims.

17. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms and any Dispute are governed by the laws of the State of Montana, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Subject to the arbitration agreement in Section 16, any judicial action permitted under these Terms must be brought exclusively in the state courts of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana, or in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision. For material changes, we will notify you by email and/or by an in-Service notice at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Continued use of the Service after the changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you may delete your account before they take effect.

19. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Handle regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements between us on the subject.

Severability. If any part of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any of your rights or obligations under them without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction without notice.

Force majeure. Handle is not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, pandemics, civil unrest, labor disputes, internet outages, or failures of third-party services.

Notices. We may give notices to you by email (to the address on your account), by posting them on the Service, or by in-Service notification. You may give notices to us at legal@myhandle.app.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and have no legal effect.

20. Contact Us

For questions about these Terms or to give legal notice:

Email: legal@myhandle.app
Mail: Handle App, LLC
67 Piney Point Rd
Anaconda, MT 59711