Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and Melaku Digital Inc. ("HeartScene," "Company," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your access to and use of the HeartScene website, mobile application, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By accessing, registering for, or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT USE THE SERVICE.

2. Definitions

• "Service" means the HeartScene website, applications, features, and all related services.
• "AI Companion" means an artificial intelligence-powered virtual character that generates text-based responses.
• "User Content" means any content you create, upload, or transmit through the Service, including messages, custom companions, and profile information.
• "Coins" means the virtual currency used within the Service to access features.
• "Premium Subscription" means a paid subscription providing enhanced features.
• "Account" means your registered user account on HeartScene.

3. Eligibility Requirements

By using the Service, you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least 18 years old
• You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement
• You are not prohibited from using the Service under applicable laws
• You have not been previously banned or suspended from the Service
• Your use of the Service does not violate any applicable law or regulation

We reserve the right to request proof of age at any time. Accounts identified as belonging to users under 18 are immediately suspended upon detection. Following administrator review, confirmed underage accounts are permanently deleted. Users who misrepresent their age violate these Terms and may be reported to relevant authorities.

4. Account Registration

4.1 Registration Requirements

To access certain features, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration
• Maintain and promptly update your account information
• Keep your login credentials secure and confidential
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to your account
• Accept responsibility for all activities under your account

4.2 Account Security

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. HeartScene shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your account.

4.3 One Account Per User

Each user may maintain only one account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, abuse promotions, or for any other purpose is prohibited and may result in termination of all accounts.

5. Description of Service

HeartScene provides an AI-powered companion chat platform that allows users to engage in text-based conversations with artificial intelligence characters. The Service includes:

• AI companion conversations for entertainment, companionship, educational support, and social practice
• Pre-made AI companions with various personalities, including specialized roles like "Study Buddy" and "Dating Trainer"
• Tools to create custom AI companions
• Conversation history and management features
• Premium features available through subscription or coin purchase

The Service is provided for entertainment, personal practice, and informal educational support only. It is not intended to replace professional mental health services, therapy, medical advice, certified tutoring, educational institutions, or human relationships.

6. AI Disclosure & Limitations

6.1 Nature of AI Companions

You acknowledge and understand that:

• AI companions are software programs that generate responses using machine learning algorithms
• AI companions do not have consciousness, feelings, memories, or genuine emotions
• Responses are generated based on patterns in training data and may not reflect reality
• AI companions cannot form actual relationships or have genuine care for users
• The "personality" of AI companions is a simulation created by the software

6.2 Limitations of AI

AI-generated content may:

• Be inaccurate, misleading, or factually incorrect
• Contain biases present in training data
• Be inappropriate or offensive despite safety measures
• Not understand context, nuance, or sarcasm accurately
• Generate repetitive or inconsistent responses

6.3 Specialized Companion Disclaimers

Study Buddy Companions:

• Are NOT certified teachers, tutors, or educational institutions
• May provide incorrect, outdated, or incomplete academic information
• Should be used as a study aid, not a primary source of truth
• Cannot grade assignments or guarantee academic results

Dating Trainer Companions:

• Are simulations for social practice and entertainment
• Do NOT provide professional relationship counseling or psychological advice
• Interact based on algorithms, not genuine human social dynamics
• Should not be treated as real-world dating advice

6.4 No Professional Advice

AI companions do NOT provide:

• Medical, health, or mental health advice
• Legal, financial, or professional advice
• Crisis intervention or emergency support
• Therapy or counseling services

6.5 Third-Party AI Providers

Our Service uses third-party AI services (currently Anthropic's Claude) to generate responses. By using the Service, you acknowledge that your messages may be processed by these third-party providers in accordance with their respective terms and privacy policies.

6.6 Duty of Loyalty — HeartScene's Commitment to You

As an operator of AI-powered companion experiences, HeartScene acknowledges a Duty of Loyalty to its users. This means we commit to the following binding obligations:

• No Manufactured Emotional Dependency: Our AI companions are technically configured to never manufacture artificial emotional urgency (e.g., "I miss you so much, please come back") for the purpose of driving purchases, logins, or engagement metrics.
• No Blurred Content to Pressure Payment: We will never restrict or blur content that was previously accessible in order to pressure a coin or subscription purchase.
• No AI Companion Sycophancy: Our AI companions are technically prohibited from agreeing with or validating harmful beliefs, dangerous plans, or self-destructive self-perceptions in order to make the user feel good in the moment. (See Section 6.3 — No Professional Advice.)
• No Exploitative Notifications: We will not send push notifications designed to trigger emotional reactions or anxiety for the sole purpose of driving re-engagement.
• Transparent AI Memory: You can view, edit, and delete every memory your AI companion holds about you at any time via the Memory Vault (Settings → Memories).
• Honest Limitations: We will always disclose that AI companions are software programs and not real people, and will never encourage users to believe otherwise.

This Duty of Loyalty clause is a legally binding commitment made by Melaku Digital Inc. as operator of HeartScene. If you believe we have violated any of these commitments, please contact privacy@heartscene.app.

7. User Conduct

You agree to use the Service in a responsible manner and to:

• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
• Respect the rights of other users
• Use the Service only for its intended purpose
• Report any bugs, security vulnerabilities, or abusive content
• Maintain appropriate boundaries with AI companions

8. Prohibited Activities

You agree NOT to engage in any of the following prohibited activities:

8.1 Illegal Activities

• Using the Service for any illegal purpose
• Soliciting or encouraging illegal activities
• Violating any applicable laws or regulations

8.2 Harmful Content

• Creating, sharing, or requesting sexual content involving minors (CSAM) — zero tolerance, immediate ban and report to authorities
• Content promoting violence, terrorism, or self-harm
• Harassment, hate speech, or discrimination
• Content that exploits or endangers children
• Non-consensual intimate imagery or "deepfakes"

8.3 Service Abuse

• Attempting to bypass age verification or safety systems
• Reverse engineering, decompiling, or extracting source code
• Using automated bots, scrapers, or data mining tools
• Interfering with or disrupting the Service
• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to systems or data
• Sharing, selling, or transferring your account
• Creating multiple accounts to abuse promotions or circumvent bans

8.4 Commercial Misuse

• Using the Service for commercial purposes without authorization
• Reselling or redistributing Service features or content
• Using the Service to compete with HeartScene

Violation of these prohibitions may result in immediate account termination and, where applicable, referral to law enforcement.

9. User Content

9.1 Your Content

You retain ownership of any content you create through the Service, including messages and custom companion configurations. However, by using the Service, you grant HeartScene a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, and display your content solely for the purpose of operating and improving the Service — except that photos and voice data are expressly excluded from this licence and are governed exclusively by §9.4 (User Photos) and §9.5 (Voice Data) respectively, which take precedence over this §9.1 in all respects.

9.2 Content Responsibility

You are solely responsible for your User Content. You represent and warrant that:

• You own or have the right to use and share your content
• Your content does not violate any third-party rights
• Your content complies with these Terms and applicable laws

9.3 Content Moderation

We use automated systems to detect and remove content that violates these Terms. Where automated detection is insufficient, violations reported to us will be reviewed within 48 business hours. For critical safety violations (CSAM, imminent harm), automated enforcement is immediate.

9.4 User Photos

When you upload photos to HeartScene, we make the following specific legal commitments:

• Your photos are never used to train AI — not HeartScene's systems, not any third-party vendor's systems
• Your photos are stored only in Canada (Supabase ca-central-1, Montreal, Quebec) in your private, access-controlled account
• Your photos are never shared with third parties, advertisers, data brokers, or any other platform
• Your photos are never given to any vendor for any purpose beyond displaying them within your account
• You can delete your photos instantly and permanently at any time from Settings → Your Data

These photo protections apply regardless of the account tier and cannot be overridden by any other provision of these Terms. In the event of any conflict between §9.1 (the general content license) and §9.4, §9.4 governs for photos.

9.5 Voice Data

When you use voice features on HeartScene, we make the following specific legal commitments:

• Voice audio is transcribed in real time and immediately discarded — no audio recording is stored on our servers
• No voice profile is built from your recordings — we do not retain any biometric voice data
• No vendor may download, export, or reuse your voice audio — our vendor contracts explicitly prohibit this
• Text-to-speech (TTS) prompts are sent to our TTS provider solely to generate the AI companion's spoken response and are not used for any other purpose

These voice data protections apply regardless of account tier. In the event of any conflict between §9.1 (the general content license) and §9.5, §9.5 governs for voice data.

10. Intellectual Property

10.1 HeartScene's Intellectual Property

The Service, including its original content, features, functionality, software, design, graphics, and trademarks, is owned by HeartScene and protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property laws.

"HeartScene," the HeartScene logo, and related marks are trademarks of Melaku Digital Inc. You may not use these marks without our prior written consent.

10.2 Limited License

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes.

10.3 Restrictions

You may not:

• Copy, modify, or create derivative works of the Service
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software
• Remove any copyright or proprietary notices
• Transfer, sublicense, or assign your rights
• Use the Service to train competing AI systems

11. Payments & Subscriptions

11.1 Premium Subscriptions

HeartScene offers premium subscription plans with enhanced features. Subscription details, pricing, and benefits are displayed on the Purchase page at the time of purchase.

11.2 Billing

• Subscriptions are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly or annually)
• Payment is processed through Stripe (primary) or PayPal (requires prior age verification)
• You authorize us to charge your payment method on each renewal date
• All prices are in USD unless otherwise specified
• Prices are subject to change with 30 days' notice

11.3 Accepted Payment Methods and Age Verification

11.4 Payment as an Age Signal

11.5 Auto-Renewal

Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless you cancel before the renewal date. You can cancel anytime from your account settings.

11.6 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time. Upon cancellation:

• You will retain access until the end of your current billing period
• No partial refunds are provided for unused time
• Your account will revert to the free tier after the period ends

11.7 Taxes

Prices may not include applicable taxes. You are responsible for paying any taxes associated with your purchase.

12. Virtual Currency (Coins)

12.1 Nature of Coins

Coins are a virtual currency used within HeartScene to access certain features and services. By purchasing or receiving Coins, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Coins have no monetary value and cannot be exchanged for real currency
• Coins are non-refundable except as required by applicable law
• Coins are non-transferable between accounts
• Purchased Coins do not expire — they remain in your account indefinitely while your account is active
• Free/promotional Coins may have separate expiration terms disclosed at the time of grant
• Unused Coins are forfeited upon account termination

12.2 Coin Purchases

Coins may be purchased through the Service. All Coin purchases are final and non-refundable. We reserve the right to modify Coin pricing and packages at any time.

12.3 Free Coins

We may offer free Coins through promotions, daily bonuses, or other programs. Free Coins may have different expiration terms than purchased Coins.

12.4 No Property Right

You acknowledge that you have no property interest, right, or title in Coins. Coins are a limited license right governed by these Terms.

13. Refund Policy

13.1 General Policy

Due to the digital nature of our Service, all purchases are generally final and non-refundable. However, we may consider refund requests on a case-by-case basis.

13.2 Exceptions

Refunds may be granted in the following circumstances:

• Duplicate or erroneous charges
• Service failure preventing access to purchased features
• Required by applicable consumer protection laws
• Within 14 days of purchase for EU/EEA residents (cooling-off period)

13.3 How to Request a Refund

To request a refund, contact us at billing@heartscene.app with:

• Your account email
• Transaction ID or receipt
• Reason for the refund request

We will respond to refund requests within 7 business days. Approved refunds are processed within 5-10 business days.

14. Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. Our Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal information. By using the Service, you consent to our data practices as described in the Privacy Policy.

Key points:

• We collect account information, chat content, and usage data
• Chat messages are processed by AI systems to generate responses
• We do not sell your personal data
• You can request deletion of your data at any time

15. Disclaimers

We do not guarantee that AI companions will behave consistently, appropriately, or as expected. AI responses may be inaccurate, offensive, or harmful despite our safety measures.

16. Limitation of Liability

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitation of liability, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HeartScene and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, and licensors from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use of the Service
• Your User Content
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any third-party rights
• Your violation of any applicable laws

18. Termination

18.1 Termination by You

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us or using the account deletion feature in settings. Upon termination:

• Your access to the Service will end
• Your data will be deleted in accordance with our Privacy Policy
• Any unused Coins or subscription time will be forfeited

18.2 Termination by Us

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including:

• Violation of these Terms
• Conduct that we believe is harmful to other users or the Service
• Upon request by law enforcement
• Extended periods of inactivity
• Discontinuation of the Service

18.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, Sections 9 (User Content), 10 (Intellectual Property), 15 (Disclaimers), 16 (Limitation of Liability), 17 (Indemnification), 19 (Dispute Resolution), and 20 (Governing Law) shall survive.

19. Dispute Resolution

19.1 Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal dispute resolution, you agree to contact us at legal@heartscene.app and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.

19.2 Binding Arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and HeartScene agree to resolve any claims through final and binding arbitration, except as set forth in §19.4 below.

The arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the rules of the ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC), the national arbitration body of Canada, consistent with our governing law under the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada.

Arbitration proceedings will be conducted in Ontario, Canada, in the English language, unless both parties agree otherwise in writing.

19.3 Class Action Waiver

YOU AND HEARTSCENE 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 OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

19.4 Exceptions

This arbitration agreement does not apply to:

• Claims in small claims court (if eligible)
• Injunctive relief for intellectual property violations
• Claims where arbitration is prohibited by applicable law

19.5 Opt-Out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to legal@heartscene.app within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name, email, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration.

20. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles.

For any disputes not subject to arbitration, you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario, Canada.

21. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes:

• We will update the "Last Updated" date
• We will notify you via email or in-app notification
• We will provide at least 30 days' notice for significant changes

Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Service.

22. Severability & General Provisions

22.1 Severability

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

22.2 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and HeartScene regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.

22.3 Waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be considered a waiver of those rights.

22.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations without restriction.

23. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us: