Terms & Conditions of Use

Welcome to SurfLink

SurfLink is a digital marketplace purpose-built for the surf community, headquartered in Australia and serving users worldwide. Our platform connects surf photographers and videographers ("Creators") with surfers and ocean enthusiasts ("Buyers"), providing a dedicated space where surf media can be uploaded, discovered, previewed, and purchased.

These Terms & Conditions of Use ("Terms") form a legally binding agreement between you and SurfLink (operated via surf-link.com.au). By creating an account, browsing content, or completing a transaction, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms. If you do not accept them, please refrain from using the platform.

Key Definitions

Throughout these Terms, the following definitions apply:

• "Creator" refers to any photographer or videographer who uploads media to the platform for display or sale.
• "Buyer" refers to any user who browses, previews, or purchases media through the platform.
• "Content" refers to any photographs, videos, or other media files uploaded to SurfLink by a Creator.
• "Platform" refers to the SurfLink website at surf-link.com.au and any associated mobile applications or services.
• "Transaction" refers to any purchase of Content by a Buyer from a Creator, facilitated through the platform.

Who Can Use SurfLink

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, to register for an account and use the platform independently. Individuals under 18 may use SurfLink only under the direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian who has reviewed and accepted these Terms on their behalf.

By registering, you confirm that you have the legal capacity to enter into this agreement, and that all information you provide is accurate and complete.

Your Account

Each user is responsible for maintaining a single, truthful account. When you register, you agree to:

• Provide accurate personal details and keep them current as circumstances change.
• Choose a strong password and keep your login credentials private.
• Contact us without delay at hello@surf-link.com.au if you suspect your account has been accessed without your permission.
• Accept responsibility for everything that happens through your account, regardless of who performed the action.

What SurfLink Does (and Does Not Do)

SurfLink is a technology platform. We build and maintain the tools that allow Creators to showcase and monetise their surf media, and Buyers to find and purchase it. That is the extent of our involvement in any given Transaction.

To be clear about what we are not:

• We are not the seller, author, or owner of any Content listed on the platform.
• We are not the employer, agent, insurer, or representative of any Creator or Buyer.
• We do not organise, supervise, or attend surf sessions or photography shoots.
• We do not guarantee that any particular surf session will be photographed, or that a Buyer will be identifiable in any uploaded Content.

The contractual relationship for each Transaction exists directly between the Creator and the Buyer. SurfLink facilitates the payment and delivery process but is not a contracting party to the sale itself.

Ocean Safety & Assumption of Risk

The surf environment is inherently unpredictable. Surfing, swimming, and working in or near the ocean carry real risks including, but not limited to, physical injury, equipment damage, encounters with marine life, and exposure to hazardous conditions.

Whether you are a Creator entering the water to capture footage or a Buyer whose surf session may appear on the platform, you acknowledge that:

• You voluntarily participate in ocean activities at your own risk.
• You are solely responsible for assessing your own fitness, skill level, and the prevailing conditions before entering the water.
• You will comply with all local beach regulations, lifeguard directions, weather warnings, and surf etiquette.

SurfLink bears no responsibility for any accident, injury, loss, or damage that occurs during or in connection with any surf session, photography activity, or ocean outing — regardless of whether Content from that activity is later uploaded to the platform.

Content Ownership

Creator Ownership

Creators retain full intellectual property ownership of every piece of Content they upload. SurfLink does not claim ownership of any user-generated media at any time.

Licence to SurfLink

By uploading Content, Creators grant SurfLink a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, watermark, and promote the Content within the platform and through our marketing channels (such as social media and email newsletters) for the purpose of operating the service and facilitating sales. This licence persists for the duration that the Content remains on the platform and for a reasonable wind-down period after removal to allow for cache clearance and backup processes.

Creator Warranties

Creators represent and warrant that they are the rightful owner of all Content they upload, or that they hold all necessary licences and permissions to distribute and sell it. Creators further warrant that their Content does not infringe upon the intellectual property, privacy, or any other rights of any third party.

Image Rights & Consent of Photographed Individuals

Surf photography frequently captures identifiable individuals in public settings. This section addresses the rights of those individuals and the responsibilities of Creators.

Creator Responsibilities

Creators must comply with all applicable laws regarding the commercial use of a person's likeness. Where required by law, Creators should obtain appropriate consent or model releases from identifiable individuals before listing Content for sale. Creators acknowledge that the legal requirements around image rights vary by jurisdiction, and that compliance is their sole responsibility.

Removal Requests by Photographed Individuals

Any person who is identifiably depicted in Content on the platform and who did not consent to its publication may submit a removal request to hello@surf-link.com.au. We will review such requests on a case-by-case basis and may remove or restrict access to the Content at our discretion. We may request the Creator to provide evidence of consent before deciding on the request.

SurfLink's Position

SurfLink does not independently verify whether Creators have obtained consent from photographed individuals. We rely on the warranties provided by Creators under the Creator Warranties section. However, we take removal requests seriously and will act promptly when notified of a legitimate concern.

Licence for Purchased Media

A purchase on SurfLink grants the Buyer a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to use the Content for the following purposes:

• Personal enjoyment, viewing, and archival storage on personal devices.
• Sharing on personal social media channels, provided the Creator is credited where reasonably practicable.
• Printing for personal display in non-commercial settings (e.g., your home, personal office).

The following uses are expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Creator:

• Resale, redistribution, or sublicensing of the Content in any form.
• Use in commercial advertising, corporate materials, editorial publications, or merchandising.
• Uploading to stock media libraries or any competing platform.
• Altering, cropping, or manipulating the Content in a way that removes or obscures the Creator's credit or watermark.

Buyers who require broader commercial usage rights should contact the Creator directly to negotiate a separate commercial licence.

Content Storage, Retention & Deletion

How We Store Content

Content uploaded to SurfLink is stored using third-party cloud infrastructure (currently Google Firebase / Google Cloud). While we implement reasonable security measures to protect stored Content, we do not guarantee that Content will be preserved indefinitely or that storage will be free from disruption, data loss, or corruption.

Creator Control Over Content

Creators may remove their own Content from the platform at any time through their account dashboard. Once removed, the Content will no longer be available for purchase or preview. However, Buyers who purchased the Content prior to removal retain their licence to the purchased files.

Retention After Account Closure

If a Creator closes their account or has their account terminated, we will make reasonable efforts to remove their unpurchased Content from the platform within 30 days. Previously purchased Content that has already been delivered to Buyers is not subject to recall.

Limitation of Storage Liability

SurfLink is not liable for any loss, corruption, or accidental deletion of Content stored on the platform. Creators are strongly advised to maintain their own independent backups of all original media files.

Content Standards & Community Guidelines

SurfLink is a platform dedicated to surf culture and ocean photography. All Content must be relevant to this purpose and comply with applicable laws in your jurisdiction. The following is not permitted:

• Material that is unlawful, defamatory, threatening, harassing, or obscene.
• Content that infringes any third-party intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights.
• Non-consensual imagery of identifiable persons.
• Content that promotes violence, hate speech, discrimination, or illegal activity.
• Files containing malware, viruses, tracking scripts, or any form of malicious code.
• Spam, misleading metadata, or Content unrelated to surf photography or videography.

To enforce these standards, SurfLink employs automated content moderation powered by Google Cloud Vision SafeSearch. All uploaded media is automatically scanned for inappropriate content, including explicit nudity, pornography, and graphic violence. Content that is flagged by our automated systems is removed immediately and will not appear on the platform. Photographers whose content is rejected will be notified via their dashboard.

We reserve the right to remove non-compliant Content at any time, without prior notice and without obligation to provide a reason. Repeated violations may result in account suspension or termination under our Repeat Infringer Policy.

Payments, Pricing & Payouts

How Payments Work

All Transactions are processed securely through Stripe. By making a purchase through SurfLink, you agree to comply with Stripe's terms of service. SurfLink is not responsible for payment failures, delays, or errors attributable to Stripe or your financial institution.

Payment processing services for Creators on SurfLink are provided by Stripe and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Services Agreement (collectively, the "Stripe Services Agreement"). By agreeing to these Terms or continuing to operate as a Creator on SurfLink, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as the same may be modified by Stripe from time to time. As a condition of SurfLink enabling payment processing services through Stripe, you agree to provide SurfLink accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you authorise SurfLink to share it and transaction information related to your use of the payment processing services provided by Stripe.

Pricing

Creators set their own prices. All prices are displayed in Australian Dollars (AUD) by default, though we may introduce additional currency options as the platform expands. SurfLink does not control or approve individual pricing decisions made by Creators.

Platform Commission

SurfLink retains a commission on each completed Transaction. The applicable commission rate is disclosed to Creators during onboarding and is visible within the Creator dashboard. We may adjust commission rates from time to time, with reasonable advance notice provided to affected Creators before any change takes effect.

Payout Schedule

Creator earnings are disbursed via Stripe Connect to the bank account or payment method configured in the Creator's Stripe profile. Payout timing depends on Stripe's processing schedule and may be delayed due to identity verification, fraud review, open disputes, or pending chargebacks.

Tax Obligations

Each Creator is independently responsible for understanding and meeting their tax obligations in their country of residence. SurfLink does not withhold, calculate, or remit taxes on behalf of any user. We recommend seeking advice from a qualified tax professional regarding your obligations under the tax laws applicable to you.

Refunds & Chargebacks

General Refund Policy

Because the products sold through SurfLink are digital files delivered electronically, all Transactions are considered final under normal circumstances. We may, however, approve a refund at our discretion if:

• The Content was materially different from its preview or description.
• The delivered file was technically defective, corrupt, or unreadable.
• The Content was not delivered within a reasonable timeframe after purchase.

Refund requests must be submitted to hello@surf-link.com.au within 14 days of the original purchase, including your order reference and a description of the issue.

Your Consumer Rights

These Terms do not exclude, restrict, or modify any guarantee, right, or remedy available to you under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2, Competition and Consumer Act 2010), the EU Consumer Rights Directive, or any other mandatory consumer protection legislation that applies in your jurisdiction. Where a consumer guarantee applies, you are entitled to the remedies prescribed by that law, regardless of any other provision in these Terms.

Chargebacks

If you file a chargeback or payment dispute with your bank or card issuer instead of contacting us first, we reserve the right to suspend your account while the matter is investigated. Chargebacks found to be fraudulent or without legitimate basis may result in permanent account termination. Fees and costs arising from a chargeback may be recovered from the party responsible, to the extent permitted by law.

Prohibited Conduct

You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

• Attempt to strip, alter, bypass, or reverse-engineer watermarks, metadata, DRM protections, or copyright notices on any Content.
• Deploy automated tools, bots, scrapers, or crawlers to harvest data, images, or other information from the platform.
• Engage in fraudulent purchases, payment manipulation, or any scheme designed to exploit the platform's payment or payout systems.
• Create fake accounts, impersonate another person, or misrepresent your relationship with any individual or entity.
• Arrange off-platform transactions to circumvent SurfLink's commission structure.
• Interfere with or attempt to compromise the platform's servers, databases, security mechanisms, or operational integrity.
• Use the platform for any purpose that is unlawful under the laws of Australia or the laws of the jurisdiction in which you reside.

Repeat Infringer Policy

SurfLink maintains a policy of terminating the accounts of users who repeatedly violate these Terms or who are the subject of multiple valid intellectual property complaints. We track reported violations and may, at our sole discretion, issue warnings, temporarily suspend, or permanently terminate accounts based on the frequency and severity of infractions. This policy exists to protect the integrity of our Creator community and the broader platform.

Platform Intellectual Property

The SurfLink platform — including its brand name, logo, visual identity, user interface design, underlying source code, and all associated proprietary materials — is owned exclusively by SurfLink and is protected under applicable intellectual property laws in Australia and internationally. No part of the platform may be reproduced, modified, distributed, decompiled, or used to build competing products or services without our prior written authorisation. User-generated Content remains the property of its respective Creators, subject to the licences described in the Content Ownership section.

Copyright & Takedown Requests

We take copyright infringement seriously. If you believe that Content on our platform infringes your copyright, please send a written notice to hello@surf-link.com.au containing:

• A description of the copyrighted work you believe has been infringed.
• The URL or specific location of the allegedly infringing Content on the platform.
• Your full name, contact details, and a statement confirming that you are the rights holder or are authorised to act on their behalf.

We will investigate all substantiated claims and take appropriate action in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the DMCA for eligible US-based notices, and any other applicable copyright legislation in the relevant jurisdiction.

Electronic Communications & Notifications

By creating an account, you consent to receive communications from SurfLink electronically, including account notifications, transaction confirmations, platform updates, promotional offers, and service announcements. These communications may be delivered via email, in-app notifications, or push notifications.

You may opt out of promotional communications at any time through your account settings or by following the unsubscribe instructions included in our emails. However, transactional and account-related communications (such as purchase confirmations and security alerts) cannot be opted out of while your account remains active, as they are essential to the operation of the service.

Third-Party Services & Integrations

SurfLink relies on a number of third-party providers to deliver its service, including Stripe for payment processing, Firebase and Google Cloud for authentication and data storage, and Vercel for application hosting. These services operate under their own terms and privacy policies, which we encourage you to review.

We are not responsible for the availability, performance, accuracy, or security of any third-party service. Any links to external websites or resources provided through the platform are offered as a convenience and do not imply endorsement or affiliation by SurfLink.

Disclaimers

SurfLink is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all express, implied, and statutory warranties, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, reliability, and non-infringement. Without limiting the foregoing, we make no representation that the platform will be available at all times, that it will function without errors or interruptions, that any defects will be corrected within a specific timeframe, or that the platform is free from vulnerabilities. We do not verify or endorse the identity, qualifications, or reliability of any Creator or Buyer. All use of SurfLink is at your sole risk.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SurfLink and its founders, directors, employees, contractors, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, revenue, data, business opportunities, or goodwill, arising from or in connection with your use of or inability to use the platform, any Content, any Transaction, any interaction with other users, or any reliance on third-party services.

Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising under or in connection with these Terms will not exceed the greater of: (a) the total platform commissions retained by SurfLink from your Transactions during the 12 months preceding the claim; or (b) AUD $100.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law, EU consumer protection regulations, or any other mandatory consumer protection framework applicable in your jurisdiction.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SurfLink and its founders, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, demands, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from or relate to your use of the platform, any Content you upload, publish, or sell, any Transaction you are involved in, any breach of these Terms, any violation of applicable laws, or any dispute between you and another platform user.

Privacy & Data Protection

Your privacy is important to us. Our Privacy Policy, available on the platform, explains in detail how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information. By using SurfLink, you acknowledge that you have reviewed our Privacy Policy and consent to our data practices as described therein.

You also acknowledge that certain third-party providers integrated into the platform (such as Stripe and Firebase) may independently collect and process your personal data in accordance with their own privacy policies.

Account Suspension & Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or permanently close your account at any time if we reasonably determine that you have breached these Terms, engaged in fraudulent, abusive, or illegal conduct, created a risk to the platform, its users, or our reputation, or where required to do so by law or regulation.

Upon termination, your right to access and use the platform ends immediately. Outstanding payouts owed to Creators will be processed according to our standard schedule, subject to any active disputes, chargebacks, or compliance investigations.

Sections of these Terms that are intended to survive termination — including Content Ownership, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Governing Law, and Dispute Resolution — shall remain in full force and effect.

Dispute Resolution

If a dispute arises between you and SurfLink, we ask that you first contact us at hello@surf-link.com.au to give us the opportunity to resolve the matter informally. Both parties agree to make a genuine good-faith effort to settle any disagreement before pursuing formal legal action.

If an informal resolution cannot be reached within 30 days, either party may escalate the matter to the courts specified in the Governing Law & Jurisdiction section, unless the mandatory laws of your jurisdiction require otherwise.

Force Majeure

SurfLink will not be held liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms to the extent that such failure or delay is caused by events outside our reasonable control. Such events include, without limitation, natural disasters, severe weather, hazardous ocean conditions, pandemics or public health emergencies, government orders or regulatory changes, internet or hosting infrastructure outages, cyberattacks, power failures, and disruptions to third-party services on which the platform depends.

Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of Queensland, Australia. Any legal proceedings arising under or in connection with these Terms shall be brought exclusively in the courts of Queensland, Australia, unless mandatory laws in your jurisdiction require otherwise.

SurfLink operates from Australia and serves users globally. If you access the platform from outside Australia, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws that apply to your use of the service. If the mandatory consumer protection laws of your country grant you the right to bring a claim in your local courts, those rights are preserved and not excluded by these Terms.

Modifications to These Terms

We may update these Terms periodically to reflect changes in our service, business operations, or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Where practicable, we will also notify registered users via email or in-app notification prior to the changes taking effect.

Your continued use of the platform after updated Terms have been published constitutes your acceptance of those changes. We encourage you to review this page from time to time.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unenforceable, or contrary to law, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if modification is not possible. The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect, unaffected by the invalidity of the severed clause.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or feedback about these Terms, or if you need to report an issue with the platform, please contact us:

• Email: hello@surf-link.com.au