Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of acapetownstory.com (the "Site") and the documentary film provisionally titled Ubuntu — A Cape Town Story (the "Film"), together with any related materials, downloads, accounts, the affiliate program and any other services we make available (collectively, the "Services").

By using the Site, joining the waitlist, creating an account, purchasing personal access, licensing a public screening, or joining the affiliate program, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

1. Who we are

The Site and Film are operated by No Excuse Films Ltd, a private limited company registered in England & Wales, trading as No Excuse Films ("we", "us", "our"). You can reach us via the contact page.

2. Definitions

• Personal Access — a purchase (e.g. "Own" or "Premiere") that lets a named account holder watch the Film for their own private, non-commercial use.
• Screening License — a paid license that authorises a single public showing of the Film to an audience under the conditions of the tier purchased (Community, Educational or Commercial).
• Affiliate — any registered account holder, who is automatically enrolled in the affiliate program and may earn commission on qualifying referred sales.

3. Eligibility & accounts

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to create an account or make a purchase. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for any activity on your account. Tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised use.

We may suspend or close accounts that breach these Terms, attempt to defraud the Services, or place the Film, our staff or our other users at risk.

4. Personal viewing

Personal Access is granted to a single, named account holder for their own private, non-commercial use. It is non-transferable.

You may not redistribute, re-upload, rebroadcast, stream, sub-license, sell, lend, screen publicly, charge admission for, or otherwise commercially exploit the Film or any part of it without a Screening License or a separate written license from us. Bypassing or removing any digital rights or watermarking measures is prohibited.

5. Public screenings & licensing

The Film may be shown to audiences under a valid Screening License purchased at the appropriate tier for your venue, audience size and admission model. Each Screening License covers a single public screening on a single date at a single venue, for the audience type and approximate size specified at purchase, and includes a downloadable screening file and a license certificate emailed on purchase.

Unless your license expressly says otherwise, a Screening License does not permit: recording, re-screening, on-demand hosting, broadcast, online streaming, embedding in other works, translation/subtitling, modification, or use in advertising outside reasonable promotion of the screening itself.

Larger venues, multi-screening tours, festivals, broadcast, streaming services and corporate licensing require a custom license — please get in touch.

6. Intellectual property

The Film, the Site, the trailer, stills, artwork, copy, logos and all other materials are owned by No Excuse Films Ltd or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Your purchase grants you only the limited rights described above; all other rights are reserved.

7. Pricing, payment & taxes

Prices are shown on the relevant product page and may change before sales open. At checkout, prices may be presented in your local currency by our payment processor. Unless stated otherwise, prices are inclusive of applicable VAT or sales tax where we are required to collect it.

Payments are processed by Stripe. By purchasing, you agree to Stripe's terms and authorise the charge to your selected payment method.

8. All sales final — no refunds

All purchases of Personal Access and Screening Licenses are non-refundable. By completing a purchase, you confirm you want immediate access to the digital content or license and you expressly waive any statutory cooling-off or cancellation right that would otherwise apply to digital content supplied online — including, where relevant, the cancellation right under the UK Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

The only exceptions are: (a) where a refund is required by law in your jurisdiction and we cannot lawfully exclude it; or (b) where a payment is reversed by the bank or card network (chargeback).

9. Affiliate program

Every registered account is automatically an affiliate — there is no application or approval step. As soon as you create an account, your dashboard shows your personal referral link and you can start sharing.

We pay 5% commission on completed sales (film purchases and screening licenses) attributed to your referral link, calculated on the net amount we receive after payment processing fees and any taxes we are required to remit. Commissions become payable 30 days after the sale to cover the dispute window, and are paid monthly on the 1st of each month via Stripe to your registered payout email. The minimum payout is £25 (or local-currency equivalent at payout time); smaller balances roll into the following cycle.

If a referred payment is reversed (chargeback, dispute or fraud), the corresponding commission is forfeited or deducted from your next payout. We may suspend, withhold payment from, or close an affiliate account at our discretion for abuse, fraud, spam, misleading promotion, paid-search bidding on our brand terms, cookie stuffing, self-referrals, or breach of these Terms. Commission rates may be updated from time to time; your current rate is shown in your dashboard.

Affiliates are responsible for clearly disclosing the affiliate relationship wherever required by law or platform rules (for example FTC, ASA, or platform disclosure rules). Affiliates may also create custom link aliases (e.g. acapetownstory.com/r/your-alias) — these are subject to the same rules and we will remove aliases that impersonate the project, our team, sponsors, partners, or any third party, or that are otherwise misleading.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to: (a) misuse the Site or attempt to interfere with its security or availability; (b) scrape, copy or attempt to extract the Film or Site content other than as expressly permitted; (c) use the Services to harass, defame or harm others; (d) impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation; or (e) use the Services in breach of any applicable law.

11. Third-party services

We rely on third parties to deliver the Services, including payment processing (Stripe), email delivery, video hosting and analytics. Your use of those services may also be subject to their own terms and privacy notices. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.

12. Disclaimers

The Services are provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Site or Film will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available in every territory.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with the Services is limited to the amount you have paid us in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill or data.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.

14. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the Services, or your infringement of a third party's rights.

15. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England & Wales. The courts of England & Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms, except that consumers may also bring proceedings in the courts of their country of residence where required by local law.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time — for example before sales open, when we add new tiers, or to reflect legal changes. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when the Terms were last revised. Material changes will be highlighted on the Site. Continued use of the Services after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms, licensing, or your account? Please contact us and we'll come back to you.