Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Fetch Transcript API ("Service"), operated by Fetch Transcript ("Company", "we", "us", or "our"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the Company. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Description of Service

Fetch Transcript API provides programmatic access to publicly available video transcripts, captions, and subtitle data from YouTube. The Service allows developers to retrieve transcript data via RESTful API calls.

Important: We do not host, store, or own the transcript content. All transcript data is sourced from YouTube and remains the property of the respective content creators. We act solely as a technical intermediary to facilitate access to publicly available data.

3. Account Registration

• You must provide accurate, current, and complete registration information
• You must be at least 18 years old or the age of majority in your jurisdiction
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and API keys
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account
• You may not share, sell, or transfer your API keys to third parties without express written authorization
• One person or entity may not maintain multiple free accounts

4. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree NOT to use the Service to:

• Violate any applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights
• Infringe on intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, or patents
• Attempt to circumvent, disable, or interfere with security features or rate limits
• Resell, redistribute, sublicense, or white-label the Service without authorization
• Use the Service for spam, harassment, defamation, or distribution of illegal content
• Overload, disrupt, or attack the Service infrastructure (including DDoS attacks)
• Scrape or harvest data in a manner that violates YouTube's Terms of Service
• Use transcripts to create deepfakes, misleading content, or impersonation without consent
• Use retrieved content to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models without proper licensing from the original content creators
• Store or cache transcripts beyond what is necessary for your immediate use case
• Access or attempt to access transcripts from videos where the creator has disabled captions or set the video to private
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of the Service

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these policies without prior notice or refund.

5. Copyright and Content Ownership

User Responsibility: You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of transcript data complies with applicable copyright laws, including but not limited to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the EU Copyright Directive, and fair use/fair dealing provisions in your jurisdiction.

No Ownership Transfer: Using our Service does not grant you any ownership rights to the transcript content. Copyright remains with the original video creators.

DMCA Compliance: If you believe that content accessed through our Service infringes your copyright, please contact us with a DMCA takedown notice. We will cooperate with legitimate copyright holders and may disable access to specific content.

YouTube ToS Compliance: Your use of transcripts must comply with YouTube's Terms of Service. We are not affiliated with YouTube or Google. Any violation of YouTube's terms may result in termination of your account.

6. API Usage and Rate Limits

• Free tier: 25 API calls per month
• Paid plans: Credit-based system as specified in your purchase
• Rate limiting: 200 requests per minute per API key
• We reserve the right to modify rate limits or usage quotas with reasonable notice
• Unused credits do not expire as long as your account remains active
• Credits are non-transferable between accounts

Fair Use: We may implement additional restrictions if we detect unusual or abusive usage patterns, even within stated limits.

7. Payment Terms

• Payments are processed securely through Stripe Inc.
• All prices are in USD unless otherwise stated
• You are responsible for any applicable taxes in your jurisdiction
• We do not offer refunds for unused credits, partial usage, or any reason

7.1 Immediate Digital Delivery

By purchasing credits, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Credits are digital content delivered immediately upon successful payment
• You expressly request that we begin providing the Service immediately after purchase
• You acknowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal once the digital content has been delivered
• This constitutes your explicit consent to waive the 14-day withdrawal right under EU Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive)

7.2 No Refund Policy

ALL PURCHASES ARE FINAL AND NON-REFUNDABLE.

Due to the immediate delivery of digital credits and the nature of API services:

• No refunds will be issued for unused credits
• No refunds will be issued for partially used credits
• No refunds will be issued if you decide not to use the Service
• No refunds will be issued for dissatisfaction with transcript quality (which depends on YouTube)
• No pro-rata refunds for account termination

Exception: If we are unable to deliver the Service due to a technical failure on our end (not YouTube's), and you contact us within 7 days, we may, at our sole discretion, issue a credit to your account (not a monetary refund).

7.3 Chargebacks and Payment Disputes

WARNING: Filing a chargeback or payment dispute with your bank or credit card company instead of contacting us first will result in:

• Immediate and permanent termination of your account
• Forfeiture of all remaining credits
• Ban from creating new accounts
• Potential collection action to recover the disputed amount plus fees
• You may be liable for our costs incurred in responding to the chargeback, including payment processor fees

If you have a legitimate concern about a charge, please contact us at [email protected] BEFORE initiating a dispute with your bank.

8. Service Availability

We strive to maintain high availability but do not guarantee uptime or provide Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for any plan. The Service may be unavailable due to:

• Scheduled maintenance (we will provide advance notice when possible)
• Technical issues, bugs, or infrastructure failures
• Changes to YouTube's platform, API, or policies
• YouTube blocking or limiting access to transcript data
• Force majeure events (natural disasters, wars, pandemics, etc.)
• Third-party service outages (hosting providers, DNS, etc.)

No SLA: We do not offer Service Level Agreements or uptime guarantees. You acknowledge that transcript availability depends on YouTube, which we do not control.

9. Data Accuracy Disclaimer

We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or quality of transcript data retrieved through our Service. Transcripts may contain:

• Automatic speech recognition errors
• Missing or incomplete sections
• Incorrect timestamps
• Unsupported languages or formatting issues

You should independently verify any transcript data before relying on it for critical applications.

10. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, code, documentation, logos, and trademarks, is owned by the Company and protected by intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works without our express written permission.

API Output: While we do not claim ownership of the transcript content itself (which belongs to content creators), any enhancements, formatting, or transformations we apply are our intellectual property.

11. 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, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

We specifically disclaim any warranty that:

• The Service will meet your requirements or expectations
• The Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free
• Transcript data will be accurate, complete, or reliable
• Any defects will be corrected
• The Service will be compatible with your systems or third-party services

12. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES.

Our total aggregate liability for all claims arising from or relating to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the amounts you paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, or (b) fifty euros (EUR 50).

This limitation applies regardless of the theory of liability (contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or otherwise) and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Company and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Your use or misuse of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any applicable laws or third-party rights
• Your use of transcript data in a way that infringes copyrights or other rights
• Any content or data you submit or transmit through the Service

14. Termination

By You: You may close your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting support. You may request export of your data before closing.

By Us: We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including but not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms or our policies
• Fraudulent, abusive, or illegal activity
• Non-payment or chargeback disputes
• At our sole discretion for any other reason

Effect of Termination: Upon termination:

• Your access to the Service will be immediately revoked
• All unused credits are forfeited and non-refundable
• API keys will be permanently invalidated
• We may delete your data after 30 days (unless legally required to retain)

15. Modifications to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify you of material changes by:

• Posting the updated Terms on this page
• Updating the "Last updated" date
• Sending an email to your registered address for significant changes

Continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the new Terms, you must stop using the Service and close your account.

16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Switzerland, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any disputes arising from these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Zurich, Switzerland. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

Before initiating any legal action, you agree to first contact us to attempt to resolve the dispute informally. If we cannot resolve the dispute within 30 days of your initial contact, either party may pursue other remedies available under applicable law.

17. Dispute Resolution

Before initiating any legal action, you agree to first contact us at [email protected] to attempt to resolve the dispute informally. Most disputes can be resolved quickly through direct communication.

If we cannot resolve the dispute within 30 days of your initial contact, either party may pursue other remedies available under applicable law.

18. Miscellaneous

Entire Agreement: These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign our rights freely.

No Agency: Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship between you and the Company.

19. Contact Information

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

• Email: [email protected]
• Support: [email protected]