Terms of Service

Section 1 — Scope and Provider

(1) These Terms of Service (hereinafter "Terms") govern all contracts between sydacos GmbH, Hasenböge 17, 21514 Klein Pampau, Germany, registered in the Commercial Register of the Local Court of Lübeck under HRB 10411 HL, represented by Managing Director Thomas Wagner, VAT ID DE176831611, email: info@blyven.com, tel.: +49 151 155 316 35 (hereinafter "Provider") and the users of the blyven platform (hereinafter "User" or "Users").

(2) These Terms apply to consumers within the meaning of Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) as well as to entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 BGB. Where special provisions apply to entrepreneurs, this is expressly indicated (see Section 21 of these Terms).

(3) Use of blyven requires a minimum age of 16 years. By registering, the User confirms that they have reached the age of 16.

(4) Any general terms and conditions of the User that deviate from, conflict with, or supplement these Terms shall not become part of the contract unless the Provider expressly agrees to their applicability in writing.

(5) The current version of these Terms is available at https://blyven.com/en/terms.

Section 2 — Subject Matter and Service Description

(1) The Provider operates a web-based platform under the name "blyven" for creating, storing, organising, and sharing voice recordings as family memories (hereinafter "Service" or "Platform").

(2) Depending on the selected plan, the Service includes the following features: recording and storage of voice messages, AI-powered transcription (OpenAI Whisper), circles for sharing recordings, Storybooks, photo attachments, and data export.

(3) The Service is offered in the following plans for consumers (B2C):

• Free: €0, up to 10 minutes of recording time per month, 1 Circle member
• Starter: €5.99/month or €49.99/year, up to 30 minutes of recording time per month, 3 Circle members
• Family: €9.99/month or €89.99/year, up to 60 minutes of recording time per month, 10 Circle members, transcription feature
• Premium: €14.99/month or €129.99/year, unlimited recording time, unlimited Circle members, all features

(4) Separate plans are available for businesses (B2B) (see Section 21). The current service and pricing overview is available at https://blyven.com/pricing.

(5) The Provider endeavours to maintain a Service availability of 99.5% on an annual average. This excludes scheduled maintenance windows, which will where possible be carried out during night-time hours (CET 02:00–06:00) and, where foreseeable, announced at least 48 hours in advance, as well as disruptions beyond the Provider's control.

(6) The Provider is entitled to expand and improve the functionality of the Service as part of its ongoing technical development, provided that the core contractual service is not materially impaired.

Section 3 — Formation of Contract

(1) The presentation of the Service on the website does not constitute a legally binding offer but rather an invitation to submit an offer (invitatio ad offerendum).

(2) The User submits a binding offer to enter into a service agreement by completing the registration process and — for paid plans — by clicking the "Place binding order" button.

(3) The contract is formed when the Provider accepts the registration by sending a confirmation email to the email address provided by the User.

(4) Formation of the contract is contingent upon acceptance of these Terms and the Provider's Privacy Policy.

(5) The contract text is stored by the Provider and is accessible to the User in their account after the contract is formed. These Terms are available at all times at https://blyven.com/en/terms.

Section 4 — Right of Withdrawal (Consumers)

(1) Consumers are entitled to a statutory right of withdrawal pursuant to Sections 312g and 355–357 BGB.

(2) Right of withdrawal: You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the date of conclusion of the contract. To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us (sydacos GmbH, Hasenböge 17, 21514 Klein Pampau, email: legal@blyven.com) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or an email). You may use the attached model withdrawal form (Annex 1), but it is not mandatory. To comply with the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient that you send the notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

(3) Consequences of withdrawal: If you withdraw from this contract, the Provider shall reimburse all payments received from you without undue delay and no later than fourteen days from the day on which the Provider received notice of your withdrawal. The Provider shall use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise; in no event shall you be charged any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

(4) Premature expiry of the right of withdrawal: The right of withdrawal shall expire in the case of a contract for the supply of digital content not on a tangible medium if the Provider has begun performance of the contract after the consumer has expressly consented to the Provider commencing performance before the expiry of the withdrawal period, and the consumer has acknowledged that their consent results in the loss of their right of withdrawal upon commencement of performance (Section 356(5) BGB).

(5) The model withdrawal form can be found in Annex 1 to these Terms.

Section 5 — Prices and Payment Terms

(1) All prices stated on the Platform are in Euros (EUR) and include the applicable statutory value-added tax (currently 19%).

(2) Payment processing is handled by the payment service provider Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. The User may use the payment methods offered by Stripe (in particular credit card, SEPA direct debit, and other locally available methods).

(3) For monthly billing, the amount is due at the beginning of each billing period. For annual billing, the annual amount is due in advance.

(4) If a payment fails, the User will be notified by email. The Provider will make up to three further collection attempts within 14 days. If payment remains unsuccessful thereafter, the Provider is entitled to suspend access to the paid features and downgrade the User to the Free plan until the outstanding payment is settled.

(5) The Provider is entitled to change the prices for existing subscriptions with a notice period of at least six (6) weeks before the next renewal date. The User will be notified of the change by email. In such case, the User has a special right of termination effective as of the date on which the price change takes effect. If the User does not exercise this special right of termination, the new price shall apply from the next billing period.

Section 6 — Subscription and Automatic Renewal

(1) Paid plans are offered as subscriptions with monthly or annual billing periods.

(2) Subscriptions renew automatically for the selected billing period (month or year) unless the User cancels before the end of the current billing period. In accordance with Section 309 no. 9(c) BGB (as amended since 1 March 2022), the Provider shall notify the User in good time before automatic renewal by email of the upcoming renewal, the renewal period, and the option to cancel.

(3) Cancellation may be made at any time through the account settings on the Platform or by email to legal@blyven.com. The cancellation takes effect at the end of the current, already paid billing period.

(4) Once the cancellation takes effect, the account will be downgraded to the Free plan. The User retains access to their stored content; however, the features of the paid plan will no longer be available.

(5) A downgrade to a lower plan is possible at any time and takes effect at the end of the current billing period. If the existing usage exceeds the limits of the new plan (e.g. number of Circle members), the User will be prompted to adjust their usage before the switch.

(6) In the event of cancellation of an annual subscription before the end of the annual term, there shall be no entitlement to a pro-rata refund, unless the cancellation is based on a special right of termination or the statutory right of withdrawal.

Section 7 — Vouchers and Promotions

(1) The Provider may from time to time issue voucher or promotional codes. Unless otherwise stated, these apply exclusively to new subscriptions.

(2) Vouchers may not be combined with other promotions or discounts, are non-transferable, and are not redeemable for cash.

(3) If a validity period is specified, the voucher expires at the end of that period. Unredeemed vouchers do not give rise to any claim for compensation.

(4) The Provider reserves the right to revoke vouchers in the event of misuse (in particular multiple registrations, automated redemption, or distribution to third parties for trading purposes) and to reclaim the benefit granted.

Section 8 — User Content and Rights

(1) The User retains all copyrights and ownership rights in the content they create and upload (in particular voice recordings, photos, and texts).

(2) The User grants the Provider a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence, limited to the term of the contract, solely for the purposes required to provide the contractually owed services (storage, processing, transcription, provision within the circle). This licence is granted in accordance with the purpose-of-transfer doctrine pursuant to Section 31(5) of the German Copyright Act (UrhG).

(3) The Provider shall not use User content for its own commercial purposes, in particular not for advertising, for the creation of user profiles, or for sale to third parties.

(4) The User is responsible for ensuring that they hold all necessary rights and consents from persons audible in recordings or depicted in photos. The User shall indemnify the Provider against any third-party claims arising from a breach of this obligation.

(5) The Provider is entitled to remove content or restrict access if there are concrete indications that the content violates applicable law or these Terms. The User will be notified without undue delay and given the opportunity to respond.

Section 9 — AI Transcription and Data Processing

(1) The Platform offers AI-powered transcription of voice recordings in certain plans. Transcription is performed using OpenAI Whisper technology.

(2) The transcription feature is available only upon explicit activation by the User (opt-in). Without the User's active consent, no recordings will be transmitted for transcription.

(3) To perform the transcription, audio data is transferred to OpenAI servers in the USA. The data transfer is carried out on the basis of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

(4) In accordance with the contractual agreement with the Provider, OpenAI does not use the transmitted audio data to train its own AI models. The data is processed solely for the purpose of providing the transcription service and is subsequently deleted.

(5) The AI-generated transcription constitutes automated processing and may contain inaccuracies. The Provider assumes no liability for the accuracy, completeness, or correctness of the transcription results. The User may edit or delete transcriptions at any time.

(6) In compliance with the transparency obligations under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (EU AI Act), the Provider notes that the transcription constitutes an AI-generated output. This is indicated to the User accordingly on the Platform.

Section 10 — Data Protection

(1) The protection of personal data is of great importance to the Provider. Details on the collection, processing, and use of personal data are set out in the separate Privacy Policy, available at https://blyven.com/en/privacy.

(2) The controller within the meaning of the GDPR is sydacos GmbH, Hasenböge 17, 21514 Klein Pampau, Germany.

(3) The User has the rights under Articles 15–22 GDPR, in particular the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection. Requests should be directed to privacy@blyven.com.

(4) The Provider engages sub-processors to provide the Service (in particular AWS for hosting and data storage, Clerk for authentication, Stripe for payment processing, and OpenAI for transcription). A current list of sub-processors is available in the Privacy Policy.

(5) User data is stored and processed within the European Union as a matter of principle, with the server location in Frankfurt am Main (AWS Region eu-central-1). Where transfer to third countries is necessary (see Section 9), such transfer is carried out exclusively on the basis of appropriate safeguards pursuant to Article 46 GDPR.

Section 11 — User Obligations and Prohibited Use

(1) The User is required to keep their access credentials (in particular their password) confidential and to protect them from access by third parties. If unauthorised access is suspected, the User must notify the Provider immediately at info@blyven.com.

(2) The User is required to provide truthful and complete information during registration and to update such information without undue delay in the event of any changes.

(3) The User is prohibited from:

• Uploading or sharing content that violates applicable law, in particular content that incites hatred, glorifies violence, is pornographic, or infringes personality rights
• Using the Platform for the purpose of harassing, threatening, or intimidating other persons
• Reverse-engineering, decompiling, or extracting the source code of the Service or any part thereof
• Performing automated access (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to the Platform without prior written consent of the Provider
• Circumventing or manipulating technical safeguards or plan-based restrictions (e.g. recording limits, member limits)
• Using third-party accounts without their consent or accessing their data

(4) In the event of a breach of the foregoing obligations, the Provider is entitled to temporarily suspend the User's access, remove content, and — in the case of serious or repeated violations — terminate the User account without notice. The right to claim damages remains unaffected.

Section 12 — Warranty and Defect Remedies

(1) The provision of digital content and digital services is subject to Sections 327–327u BGB.

(2) The Provider owes provision of the Service in a condition that meets the contractual requirements (subjective requirements) and the requirements that the User may expect based on the nature of the product and the Provider's public statements (objective requirements).

(3) The Provider is obliged to maintain the Service in a condition conforming with the contract by means of updates throughout the contract term, insofar as this is necessary to maintain contractual conformity (Section 327f BGB).

(4) The User is encouraged to report defects of the Service to the Provider without undue delay after discovery at info@blyven.com or through the support function of the Platform.

(5) In the event of a defect, the User has the statutory rights. The Provider is initially entitled to remedy the defect within a reasonable period. If the remedy fails or is unreasonable for the User, the User may reduce the consideration (Section 327n BGB) or terminate the contract (Section 327o BGB).

(6) Claims for defects become time-barred two (2) years after provision of the digital product. In the case of continuous provision (as with subscriptions), the limitation period for defects occurring during the contract term runs until twelve (12) months after the end of provision.

Section 13 — Liability

(1) The Provider shall be liable without limitation for damages caused by intent or gross negligence on the part of the Provider, its legal representatives, or vicarious agents.

(2) The Provider shall be liable without limitation for damages arising from injury to life, body, or health caused by negligent breach of duty by the Provider or intentional or negligent breach of duty by its legal representatives or vicarious agents.

(3) In the event of slightly negligent breach of material contractual obligations (cardinal obligations), the Provider's liability shall be limited in amount to the fees actually paid by the User in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the damage. Material contractual obligations are those whose fulfilment is essential for the proper performance of the contract and on whose compliance the User may regularly rely.

(4) Liability for slight negligence is otherwise excluded.

(5) The foregoing limitations of liability shall not apply to claims under the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG), to the assumption of a guarantee, or to claims by the User arising from data protection breaches pursuant to Article 82 GDPR.

(6) The foregoing liability provisions shall also apply in favour of the Provider's legal representatives, vicarious agents, and employees.

Section 14 — Termination and Contract Expiry

(1) The User may cancel a paid subscription at any time without giving reasons, effective at the end of the current billing period. Cancellation can be made through the account settings or by email to legal@blyven.com.

(2) The Provider may terminate the contract with four (4) weeks' notice effective at the end of the current billing period. The right to immediate termination for good cause pursuant to Section 314 BGB remains unaffected. Good cause exists in particular in the event of serious or repeated violations of these Terms, fraudulent conduct, or default in payment despite a reminder.

(3) Termination must be made in text form (email is sufficient). The Provider shall confirm receipt of the termination and the date of contract expiry by email.

(4) After the termination takes effect, the User has a period of thirty (30) days to download their data using the Platform's export function. The Provider shall make the export function available during this period.

(5) After the expiry of the 30-day export period, User data will be irrevocably deleted, unless statutory retention obligations preclude deletion.

(6) Reactivation of the account is possible upon request within the 30-day export period, provided the data has not yet been deleted.

Section 15 — Discontinuation of the Service

(1) Should the Provider permanently discontinue the Service or material parts thereof, the User will be notified at least ninety (90) days in advance by email and by a notice on the Platform.

(2) For the period between the notification and the discontinuation, the Provider shall make the full export function available to the User, enabling the download of all User data (recordings, transcriptions, photos, metadata) in a commonly used format.

(3) Amounts already paid for periods following the discontinuation of the Service shall be refunded to the User on a pro-rata basis (pro rata temporis).

(4) The Provider shall make reasonable efforts to assist Users in transitioning to an alternative service.

Section 16 — Digital Legacy

(1) The User has the option to designate a trusted person (legacy contact) in their account settings who will be granted access to the account in the event of the User's death.

(2) In the event of the account holder's death, the legacy contact or an authorised heir may request access to the account by presenting a death certificate and a certificate of inheritance or comparable proof of legitimation. Requests should be directed to legal@blyven.com.

(3) Authorised heirs will be given the opportunity to download the account data using the export function.

(4) If an account remains inactive for a period of twelve (12) months and the account holder does not respond to contact attempts by the Provider, the account will be placed in a dormant state. The Provider is entitled, after further contact attempts and the setting of a reasonable deadline, to close the account and delete the data.

(5) Content that has been shared in a circle shall remain accessible to the remaining circle members after the death of the account holder, provided the Circle remains active.

(6) The Provider handles digital legacy enquiries with particular care and discretion and typically processes them within thirty (30) business days.

Section 17 — Intellectual Property

(1) The blyven platform, including all associated software, designs, texts, graphics, logos, and trademarks, is the copyright- and trademark-protected property of sydacos GmbH.

(2) For the duration of the contractual relationship, the User receives a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right to use the Platform for its intended purpose in accordance with these Terms.

(3) Any use beyond this, in particular reproduction, distribution, making available to the public, or modification of the Platform or its content, requires the prior written consent of the Provider.

(4) To the extent that the User communicates feedback, suggestions for improvement, or ideas regarding the Service to the Provider, the User grants the Provider a free-of-charge, non-exclusive licence, unlimited in time and territory, entitling the Provider to use such contributions for the further development of the Service.

Section 18 — Force Majeure

(1) Neither party shall be liable for the non-performance or delayed performance of contractual obligations to the extent that such non-performance or delay is attributable to force majeure.

(2) Force majeure within the meaning of these Terms includes, in particular, natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics, war, terrorism, strikes, governmental orders, large-scale cyberattacks, and the failure of essential infrastructure (internet, power supply, third-party cloud services), provided that these events are beyond the reasonable control of the affected party.

(3) The affected party is obliged to inform the other party without undue delay of the occurrence and expected duration of the force majeure event and to take all reasonable measures to mitigate its effects.

(4) The performance obligations of the affected party shall be suspended for the duration of the force majeure event.

(5) If the force majeure event persists for more than ninety (90) days, either party is entitled to terminate the contract with immediate effect. In such case, the Provider shall refund the User pro rata for amounts already paid for services not rendered.

Section 19 — Amendment of Terms

(1) The Provider is entitled to amend these Terms with effect for the future, provided the amendment is reasonable for the User having regard to the Provider's interests.

(2) The Provider shall inform the User of the intended amendments by email at least six (6) weeks before the planned effective date and shall advise the User of their right to object and the consequences of failure to object.

(3) If the User does not object to the amendments within six (6) weeks of receipt of the amendment notice, the amended Terms shall be deemed accepted (deemed consent). The Provider shall specifically draw the User's attention to this legal consequence in the amendment notice.

(4) If the User objects in a timely manner, the contractual relationship shall continue under the existing terms. In such case, the Provider shall have a special right of termination effective as of the planned effective date of the amendment, provided that it is unreasonable for the Provider to continue the contract under the existing terms.

(5) Amendments that materially alter the core scope of the Service to the detriment of the User require the User's express consent and may not be introduced by way of deemed consent pursuant to paragraph (3).

Section 20 — Modification of the Scope of Services

(1) The Provider is entitled to modify the scope of the Service as part of its ongoing technical and commercial development, in particular to add new features, improve existing features, or discontinue features that are no longer up to date.

(2) Modifications that constitute a material deterioration of the contractually agreed scope of services shall be announced to the User at least six (6) weeks in advance by email. In such case, the User has a special right of termination effective as of the date on which the modification takes effect. This applies in accordance with Article 19 of Directive (EU) 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services.

(3) Modifications to the Free plan (in particular adjustments to the included recording time or available features) may be made by the Provider with a notice period of four (4) weeks.

(4) Minor modifications that do not materially impair the scope of use (e.g. changes to the user interface, bug fixes, security updates) do not require prior notice.

Section 21 — B2B Special Provisions

(1) This Section applies in addition to the remaining provisions of these Terms to Users who use the Service as entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 BGB (hereinafter "Business Customers"). In the event of a conflict, the provisions of this Section shall prevail.

(2) The following plans are available for Business Customers: Team Starter (€29/month or €249/year, 5 rooms) and Team Pro (€79/month or €699/year, 15 rooms). The current services and prices are available at https://blyven.com/pricing.

(3) To the extent that the Business Customer has personal data of its employees or customers processed via the Platform, a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) pursuant to Article 28 GDPR is required. The Provider shall make a template available for this purpose. The Provider acts as a data processor within the meaning of the GDPR in this respect; the Business Customer remains the data controller.

(4) The Business Customer is responsible for the management of user access within its organisation, in particular the assignment and revocation of access rights.

(5) By way of derogation from Section 13(3), the Provider's liability towards Business Customers in the event of slightly negligent breach of material contractual obligations shall be limited to the amount of fees actually paid by the Business Customer in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the damage.

(6) The statutory warranty rights under the BGB (Sections 327–327u BGB) shall apply to Business Customers with the proviso that the limitation period for defect claims is reduced to one (1) year from provision, to the extent permitted by law.

(7) The exclusive place of jurisdiction for disputes with Business Customers shall be Berlin.

(8) For Business Customers on the Team Pro plan or above, a separate Service Level Agreement (SLA) with enhanced availability guarantees and response times may be agreed upon request.

Section 22 — Dispute Resolution

(1) The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (ODR), which is available at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

(2) The Provider is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body within the meaning of the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG).

(3) The statutory jurisdiction rules apply to consumers. Actions against a consumer may only be brought at the consumer's place of domicile.

(4) The place of jurisdiction for Business Customers is Berlin (see Section 21(7)).

Section 23 — Final Provisions

(1) Should any provision of these Terms be or become invalid in whole or in part, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by the statutory provision (Section 306(2) BGB). The same applies to any gaps in these Terms.

(2) These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between the User and the Provider with respect to the use of the Service and supersede all prior oral or written agreements on this subject matter.

(3) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the conflict-of-law rules of private international law, provided that this does not result in the withdrawal of protection afforded to the consumer by mandatory provisions of the law of the consumer's habitual residence (Article 6(2) of the Rome I Regulation).

(4) Any assignment of the User's rights and obligations under this contract to third parties requires the prior written consent of the Provider.

(5) The German version of these Terms is solely authoritative and legally binding. Translations into other languages are provided for the User's information only and have no legal effect.

(6) Communication between the Provider and the User is generally conducted by email. The User is required to ensure that the email address stored in their account is current and that emails from the Provider can be received. Legally relevant declarations by the Provider shall be deemed received when sent to the email address most recently provided by the User.

Annex 1: Model Withdrawal Form

(If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please complete this form and return it.)

• To: sydacos GmbH, Hasenböge 17, 21514 Klein Pampau, Germany, email: legal@blyven.com
• I/We (*) hereby withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service (*) / the supply of the following digital content (*)
• Ordered on (*) / received on (*)
• Name of consumer(s)
• Address of consumer(s)
• Date
• Signature of consumer(s) (only for notification on paper)

(*) Delete as appropriate.

Annex 2: Service and Pricing Overview

The current price list and service description for each plan is available at https://blyven.com/pricing.