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Easel Terms of Service

Last updated 27 February 2025

These Terms govern your access to and use of Easel, operated by Made with Easel Limited, New Zealand company no. 9298080 – that’s us! Please read these Terms together with our Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.

We can update these Terms from time to time by publishing an updated version on the Easel website.

If you use Easel without a user account, or you sign up a new user account, the latest Terms will apply to you immediately.

If you already have a user account when the updated Terms are published on the Easel website, they will apply to your account from the date that is 14 days after they are published. However, if you upgrade or downgrade your plan before the end of the 14 days, the updated Terms will apply to your account as soon as you confirm the change to your plan.

If you close your account before the end of the 14 days, the updated Terms will not apply to your account. If you do this because we’ve changed the Terms in a way that makes them significantly worse for you, and as a result you are unable to use part of a subscription period you’ve paid for under one of our paid plans, then if you ask, we’ll refund a portion of what you paid us for that subscription period, matching the part of that period you’re unable to use.

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In these Terms, some words have special meanings:

Easel means the online platform currently accessible at easel.games. This also includes all future versions of that platform, including any mobile apps or downloadable software that might in future form part of the platform.

Content means any content created, edited or uploaded through Easel as part of creating or editing a Project, including code, graphics and other files.

Project means a project created or published through Easel.

Remix means a copy, adaptation or derivative of any Project or Content.

1
Rights in Your Content
​

1.1
This Section 1 applies only if you create, edit or upload Content in Easel.
1.2
We do not claim ownership of Content. Any and all rights in Content remain with the owner of those rights, whether that’s you or a third party, subject only to the limited permissions granted under these Terms.
1.3
Whenever you create, edit or upload Content in Easel, you give us permission to store, process and transmit that Content to enable your use of Easel.
1.4

Whenever you publish a Project in Easel, you give:

(a)
Platform Rights: Permission for us to make the Project and its Content available for other users to play on the Easel platform, which may include widgets that enable the Project to be embedded on external websites.
(b)
Replay Rights: Permission for anyone to record and share gameplay of the Project, in the form of ‘replays’ created and shared through the Easel platform, which may also be embeddable on external websites.
(c)
Media Rights: Permission for us to capture and share screenshots, video and audio of the Project for the purposes of marketing, reviews and/or tutorials. This permission extends to any media and format, including livestreaming. This includes permission for us to grant the same permissions to anyone else.
(d)
Remix Rights: Permission for anyone to make Remixes of the Project and its Content, and publish those Remixes through the Easel platform, subject to the published Remix giving credit for any Content copied, adapted or derived from the Project, in line with any credit guidelines we publish from time to time. This also includes any permissions relating to the Project or its Content that are needed to enable the person publishing the Remix to grant Platform Rights, Replay Rights, Media Rights and Remix Rights in relation to the Remix.
1.5
These Platform Rights, Replay Rights, Media Rights and Remix Rights are worldwide and non-exclusive, do not require the payment of any royalties or other amounts, and are not subject to any terms or conditions other than as set out in these Terms.
1.6
If you publish a Project on Easel without being logged in to an Easel user account, the Platform Rights, Replay Rights, Media Rights and Remix Rights will continue indefinitely, and cannot be taken back or cancelled for any reason.
1.7
If you publish a Project on Easel through an Easel user account, the Platform Rights, Replay Rights, Media Rights and Remix Rights will continue indefinitely, and cannot be taken back or cancelled for any reason, except that if you later unpublish or delete the Project or close the user account, our Platform Rights and Media Rights for the Project and its Content will come to an end, without affecting the Replay Rights or Remix Rights.
1.8
You can re-use Content published on Easel by other users in accordance with the Remix Rights granted by those users under these Terms. You agree not to do anything else with that Content that would infringe intellectual property rights, unless you have permission from the owners of those intellectual property rights.

2
Responsibility for Your Content
​

2.1
This Section 2 applies only if you create, edit or upload Content in Easel.
2.2
You are responsible for extracting and backing up any Content you create, edit or upload in Easel. You accept we have no liability for any deletion or corruption of, or loss of access to, that Content.
2.3

If you create, edit or upload Content in Easel, you promise us that:

(a)
You own or control all the rights in that Content.
(b)
The Content does not infringe intellectual property rights owned by anyone else.
(c)
You have all the rights and authority needed to give the permissions described in the Platform Rights, Replay Rights, Media Rights and Remix Rights above, and nothing done in accordance with those permissions will infringe any intellectual property rights that encumber that Content.
(d)
The Content is not defamatory, fraudulent or deceptive.
2.4
You will not be held responsible for any breach of these promises that arises from Content copied from other Easel users in accordance with the Remix Rights granted by those users under these Terms, except where you knew about the breach at the time you edited or uploaded that Content.
2.5
We can remove Content from Easel at any time if we become aware of any risk or allegation that the Content infringes any person’s intellectual property rights or other rights, or may violate any law or regulation.
2.6

If a third party takes legal action against us, based on an allegation that any Content created, edited or uploaded by you or through your Easel account infringes intellectual property rights, you must pay us for the following amounts, as soon as we ask for them:

(a)
any out-of-pocket costs we reasonably incur in responding to, defending, and/or settling the action, including reasonable legal fees and court costs;
(b)
any payments we agree to make to a third party in order to settle the action, and/or any reasonable direct costs we incur in complying with any steps we agree to take in order to settle the action;
(c)
amounts we are order to pay in relation to the action by an arbitrator, court or other tribunal that has legal authority over us, including any damages and legal costs; and
(d)
any fines or penalties we are required to pay any law or regulation as a result of the action.
2.7
We will take reasonable steps to mitigate our liability and costs relating to any such legal action, including reasonable steps to remove the Content in question from Easel. You will not be liable under the clause above to the extent the amounts claimed by us are due to our failure to take such reasonable steps, or due to us agreeing a settlement that is clearly excessive in the circumstances. You will not be liable under the clause above to the extent the alleged infringement arises from Content copied from other Easel users in accordance with the Remix Rights granted by those users under these Terms, except where you knew about the alleged infringement at the time you edited or uploaded that Content.

3
Your Use of the Easel Platform
​

3.1
You must ensure all your activity on Easel, and any Content you create, edit or upload in Easel, complies with our Code of Conduct. We can change the Code of Conduct from time to time, by posting an updated version on the Easel website.
3.2

You must not:

(a)
use Easel for any unlawful activity;
(b)
use Easel to send or store infringing, obscene, threatening, or otherwise unlawful or tortious material, including material that violates privacy rights;
(c)
use Easel to send or store malicious code of any kind (e.g. viruses, worms);
(d)
knowingly interfere with or disrupt the operation of Easel;
(e)
avoid or work around, or attempt to avoid or work around, any access controls on Easel or its related systems or networks.
4.1
We don’t currently charge for access to Easel. In the future, we may introduce paid plans for access to certain features or benefits. You’ll need to be logged in to an Easel user account to access the features and benefits associated with a paid plan.
4.2
If you chose a paid plan, you’ll need to pay the charges stated in that plan in order for the features and benefits of that plan to be activated for your Easel user account. If your payment is accepted but later charged back to us by the card scheme (e.g. Visa or Mastercard), we may cancel your paid plan and downgrade you to a free plan.
4.3
Each plan continues for the period stated in the plan, e.g. monthly or yearly. If you have set your plan auto-renew, we will automatically charge your card on the renewal date for the next subscription period, at the price for that plan as shown on the Easel website at the time, and your plan will automatically renew for that subscription period. If you haven’t set your plan to auto-renew, or you cancel your plan, or we’re unable to charge your nominated credit card for the renewal, your plan will come to an end.
4.4
If your paid plan comes to end, we can downgrade you to a free plan and remove your access to any Easel features or benefits for which a paid plan is required. If you downgrade your plan, we can remove your access to any Easel features or benefits that are not included in your new plan. If your Easel user account exceeds our then-current storage limits for your plan, we may delete Content stored in your account as needed to bring your account within those limits.
4.5
When you purchase a paid plan, you agree your purchase is not made in expectation of delivery of any future functionality or features, or in reliance on any announcement, commentary or discussion from us regarding future functionality or features.
4.6
If you have a paid plan with a specific service level commitment, we will credit your Easel user account for any downtime or suspension that falls short of that service level commitment. The credit will be calculated and applied as outlined in your plan. The credit can be applied against any future charges billed for Easel, but cannot be converted to cash.
4.7

Unless stated otherwise in your plan, any downtime or suspension will not be counted against any service level commitment where:

(a)
we suspend your access because of your breach of these Terms; or
(b)
we reasonably consider the downtime or suspension is necessary to protect the integrity or security of the platform, or the interests of one or more users; or
(c)
the downtime or suspension is required by law.

5
Closing Your Easel User Account
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5.1
This Section 5 applies only if you have an Easel user account.
5.2
You can close your account at any time, by logging in to Easel and navigating to the account settings page.
5.3
We can close your account at any time. If we do this because you have breached these Terms or the Code of Conduct, we are not required to give you any warning or notification ahead of time. Otherwise, we will let you know at least 30 days ahead of time by sending an email to the email address listed in your account.
5.4
If your account is closed, we will delete all Content stored in your account, but we are not required to delete any Remixes of that Content stored in other Easel accounts.
5.5
If you are subscribed to a paid plan, and we close your account because you have breached these Terms or the Code of Conduct, we are not required to refund you any charges paid for your plan. If we close your account for any other reason, we will refund you a portion of the charges paid for the current subscription period, reflecting the portion of that period that you lose because your account is closed.

6
Limitations on the Service We Provide, and Our Liability to You
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Easel is a labour of love. We do our best to make the platform great, but we’re a small outfit. The limitations and exclusions in this Section 6 reflect where we’re at and what we charge. The limitations and exclusions in this Section 6 do not affect any obligations or liability we may have to you under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986. You can find out more about your rights under these consumer laws here.

6.1
You accept that Easel may be affected by downtime, errors or performance issues from time to time. We do not promise that Easel will be continuously available or error-free. As far as permitted by law, we specifically exclude all warranties and guarantees, whether implied by law or arising by custom, usage in trade, or course of dealing.
6.2
We can change any aspect of Easel at any time, including by removing or modifying existing features or functionality. We don’t need to notify you of these changes.
6.3
We can suspend access to Easel at any time, for any reason. We can do this for some or all parts of the platform, and some or all users, as determined by us at the time.
6.4
Except for any credit entitlements specifically set out in a paid plan, you accept we have no liability for any downtime, errors, performance issues or suspension.
6.5
Our total liability to you, for all events that occur in any 12 month period, will not exceed the greater of NZ$50 or the total charges you have paid us for that 12 month period.
6.6
Neither you nor we have any liability under or in connection with these Terms for any loss of profits, business opportunity, or goodwill, or for any indirect, consequential, special, incidental, or punitive losses or damages.
6.7

The limitations and exclusions of liability in this Section 6 do not apply to:

(a)
any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded by contract;
(b)
any liability you may have to us under Section 2.6;
(c)
any non-contractual liability you or we may have for infringement of intellectual property rights (e.g. copyright damages for breach of copyright).
6.8
Otherwise, the limitations and exclusions in this Section 6 apply to all liability arising under or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), equity, or under any other law or other cause of action, regardless of whether this might result in a failure of the essential purpose of any other provision of these Terms, and regardless of whether the party seeking to rely on the limitation or exclusion caused, or was advised of the possibility of, the relevant loss or damage.

7
Our Rights in the Easel Platform and Documentation
​

7.1
We and our licensors retain all rights in the Easel platform and documentation, including but not limited to the code, graphics, designs, trademarks and logos.
7.2
If you provide us with suggestions, examples or designs for enhancements or additions to the Easel platform or documentation, we are free to re-use and commercialize them without restriction and without the need for any further permission or payment.
7.3
You must not reverse engineer, copy or modify any part of the Easel platform or documentation, except that we give you permission to use the Easel platform and documentation to make tools and tutorials for Easel, so long as these are distributed solely on a non-commercial basis, and are not used or licensed for any purpose other than assisting or enhancing the use of Easel. For this purpose, distribution of these tools and tutorials behind a paywall (e.g. as a paid subscriber benefit on Patreon) is considered ‘commercial’, but free distribution on ad-supported media (e.g. YouTube) is not.
7.4
You must not access the Easel platform or documentation in order to build any commercially available game-making software or commercially available programming language.
7.5
You must not sublicense, resell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, timeshare, offer in a service bureau, or otherwise make the Easel platform or documentation available to any third party.
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If you want to do something that is not permitted by this Section 7, please get in touch. We are always happy to consider requests for additional permissions on a case-by-case basis, once we understand your project and how it might make use of Easel.

8.1
Any notice or other communication given by you or us for the purposes of these Terms will be of no effect unless given in writing, which may include email, SMS and messaging apps, as well as notifications served through the Easel platform.
8.2
If you have an Easel user account, we can communicate with you by sending an email to the email address supplied as part of your account details. You are responsible for ensuring that the email address is valid, your email service is working, and you check your emails. You’ll be taken to have received our emails at that address even if the address is invalid, your email service is not working, or you don’t check your emails.
8.3
Unless we agree otherwise, you cannot assign (transfer) your rights under these Terms to anyone else. Unless you agree otherwise, we cannot assign our rights under these Terms to anyone else, except to an entity that acquires all or a substantial part of our business or assets, or as part of our financing arrangements.
8.4
Nothing in these Terms or our relationship with you gives rise to any fiduciary obligations, or creates a legal relationship of partnership or joint venture, or gives any party any right to act on behalf of or bind the other party in any way.
8.5
We can amend these Terms as stated at the start of these Terms. Otherwise, no amendment to these Terms is effective unless signed by both parties.
8.6
No waiver of any provision of these Terms is effective unless signed by the waiving party. If a party fails to exercise, or delays or holds off exercising, a power or right under these Terms, that is not a waiver. A single or partial exercise of a power or right does not preclude further exercises of the same or any other power or right.
8.7
Together with your Plan, these Terms are the entire understanding between you and us concerning your access to and use of Easel, and supersede all prior discussions, representations, and understandings. We will not be bound by any other terms put forward by you, even if we might otherwise be taken to have accepted them by conduct.
8.8
If any part of these Terms is held by any court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, void, or unenforceable, this will not affect the remainder of these Terms.
8.9
These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand, ignoring its ‘conflict of laws’ provisions. The courts of New Zealand have non-exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any disputes or proceedings arising out of or in any way connected with these Terms. You agree you cannot bring any claim or proceedings against us in the courts of any other country.