Provisional founding-period terms. Version 1.4 of 8 September 2026, amended 9 September 2026. Draft pending counsel review. Highlighted items are still to be settled.

Universal Terms of Service

Effective date · Provisional founding-period terms.

These Universal Terms bind every person who uses any part of the Platform. Each planet, being Marketplace, Charts, Showcase, Events and Awards, carries its own Manifesto with additional terms for that planet. A planet term may add to these Universal Terms and may make them stricter. A planet term may never silently contradict them; where it needs to depart, it says so expressly and names the clause it overrides.

1. Who we are, and the limits of what we do

1.1 The House. The Global Ikon operates an online venue where independent third parties offer, present, sell, license, perform, enter, attend and discuss music and the work around it.

1.2 We are not a party to any transaction between members. TGI does not perform any listed service, does not manufacture, own, store, inspect or take possession of any listed item, does not promote any event it has not expressly declared it is promoting, and is not a party to, guarantor of, or insurer of any transaction, engagement, booking, entry or arrangement between members. The contract for any service, sale, rental, licence, booking or engagement is formed directly and exclusively between the members concerned.

1.3 What we are not. TGI is not, and does not act as: a talent agency; a talent-listing, talent-counselling, talent-training or advance-fee talent representation service; an employment agency; a personal manager; a booking agent; an auctioneer in the traditional sense; a broker; an escrow agent; a bank, money transmitter or trustee; an insurer; a record label or music publisher, except through separately identified affiliates operating under their own separate agreements as described in the Showcase Manifesto; or a promoter of any event except where the Events Manifesto expressly says we are. Any provision of these Terms that would require or permit TGI to act in any of those capacities without the corresponding licence or authority is void and severable under California Civil Code § 1599, and the remainder of these Terms continues in full force.

1.4 Payments. Payments on the Platform are processed by Stripe. On the Marketplace, TGI's engine uses Stripe Connect direct charges on the seller's connected account: the seller is the merchant of record, the seller's business name appears on the buyer's statement, Stripe's processing fee is borne by the seller, and TGI's commission rides as an application fee. On the Marketplace, TGI does not hold, escrow or adjudicate member funds. The one exception on the Platform today is Events, where TGI collects ticket proceeds as the organiser's disclosed limited payment collection agent under Events Manifesto Part 2.2, which expressly varies this clause to that extent. Where any TGI service does hold funds, TGI acts, and is appointed by the receiving member, as that member's limited payment collection agent under a written agreement, and payment to TGI in that capacity discharges the payer's obligation to that member.

2. Membership and accounts

2.1 Age, and it is a two-tier rule rather than one line. One person, one account, accurate information at all times.

(a) A Platform account requires you to be 18 or older, or the age of majority where you live, whichever is greater. The Platform is not directed to and may not be used by anyone under 18.
(b) A person under 18 may nonetheless submit material to the Showcase for assessment, where a parent or legal guardian completes the Parent or Guardian Submission Consent and holds the record. This is safe only because a submission is material in which TGI takes no rights at all, per § 3.5 and Production Agreement Part 4.1, so there is nothing in it capable of being taken back. It confers no Platform account, no profile and no public presence.
(c) On-camera participation in any TGI production is 18 and over for season one.
(d) Entrants under 13 are not admitted to any flow until verifiable parental consent to the COPPA standard is built and live. Build item.

2.1a Nothing is charged to enter, anywhere on the Platform. There is no entry fee, submission fee, assessment fee, consideration fee, shortlisting fee or appearance fee, in the Showcase, the Charts, the Awards or anywhere else. TGI does not take money from an artist in exchange for being considered, ranked, selected, featured or promoted, and it never will.

2.2 You are responsible for your credentials and for everything done under your account.

2.3 Suspension and termination. Without limiting any other remedy, TGI may refuse, restrict, suspend, modify or terminate all or part of the Platform, or any account, at any time, for any reason, or for no reason, in its sole discretion, and without liability to you, save as follows. Where TGI terminates an account other than for breach of these Terms, for fraud, or where required by law, TGI will give not less than thirty days' notice, will allow the member to complete or wind down open transactions, and will pay out any earned and undisputed balance that TGI holds. On the Marketplace, TGI holds no seller funds, and a seller's earned money sits in the seller's own Stripe account and is unaffected by termination of the TGI account. Subject to that, TGI will not be liable to you for any effect that a change to, or termination of, the Platform may have on you, including on your income or your ability to generate revenue through the Platform.

2.4 Membership is by invitation during the founding period, and the founding-period banner at Part 17 applies.

3. Your content, and the licence you grant

3.1 You keep what is yours. You retain all ownership of everything you upload, submit, enter, list or post ("Your Content"), including all sound recordings, musical works, lyrics, artwork, photographs, video and text.

3.2 The licence, which the Content, Likeness and Promotion Consent varies. This Part is subject to the TGI Content, Likeness and Promotion Consent, which expressly overrides §§ 3.2 and 3.3 as to duration, revocability and promotional use beyond the planet submitted to, and which governs where the two differ. You grant TGI a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, reformat, excerpt, publicly perform, publicly display, transmit and make available Your Content, and to use your name, likeness, voice, biography, professional credits and image, solely for the purposes of operating, presenting, archiving and promoting the Platform and the planet to which you submitted it. The licence lasts for as long as Your Content remains on the Platform plus a reasonable wind-down period, except that the archival and factual record of your participation, of a chart placement, a showcase appearance, an award or an event, is perpetual.

3.3 What the licence is not. It is not an assignment. It is not exclusive. It does not permit TGI to sell, sync, license to third parties for their own use, or commercially exploit Your Content outside the Platform without your separate written consent. It does not imply your endorsement of anything.

3.4 No AI training, in either direction. TGI does not use Your Content to train, fine-tune, or evaluate any generative artificial-intelligence model, and TGI does not license, sell or otherwise make Your Content available to any third party for that purpose. Machine learning used for search, recommendation, content identification, metadata, moderation and fraud prevention within the Platform is permitted and is not generative model training. This commitment is a term of this contract and TGI is accountable for it.

3.5 How work reaches us, and why it reaches us that way. Where the Platform asks for a recording, a performance or a video, it asks for a link to material you have already published on a service you chose, and it does not ask you to upload the file to TGI. TGI stores the link and the information you give with it. It does not host, copy, reproduce or make the underlying material available to the public.

Where a submission is taken for internal assessment only, being editorial review, eligibility checking or judging, TGI does not publish it, embed it, stream it or use it in any promotional context, and Part 3.2's licence extends no further than what is needed to receive it, look at it and keep the record.

4. The truth obligations

4.1 Universal warranty. For everything you upload, list, submit, enter or declare anywhere on the Platform, you represent and warrant that:

(a) you own or have licensed every element of it, including every sound recording, musical work, lyric, sample, interpolation, replay, artwork, photograph, video, font and any third-party material;

(b) you have obtained every consent, clearance and release required, including from featured artists, producers, session musicians, co-writers, rights-holders and every identifiable person appearing or heard in it;

(c) nothing in it infringes or misappropriates any copyright, trade mark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other right of any person;

(d) you have the right to use every name, likeness, voice and mark that appears in it;

(e) every credential, qualification, credit, split, statistic and biographical claim you state is true and not misleading;

(f) you have accurately declared whether and to what extent any part of it was generated or materially assisted by artificial intelligence, wherever the Platform asks;

(g) it contains no voice, vocal style, name, image or likeness of any identifiable person, living or deceased, other than your own or one for which you hold written consent meeting the standard in Part 9; and

(h) it complies with these Terms, the applicable planet Manifesto, and all law.

4.2 These warranties are the backbone of your indemnity at Part 14. Every claim that arrives at this House because one of them was false is yours, not ours.

5. What we do not check, and what a badge means

5.1 TGI does not screen, vet, verify, investigate, inspect, test, audit or approve members, listings, submissions, entries, content, credentials, declarations, goods, services, rentals or events, other than to meet specific compliance and legal obligations. Information collected to satisfy a legal obligation is collected for that purpose alone and is not a representation by TGI about any member.

5.2 Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, TGI has no control over and does not guarantee: the existence, quality, safety, condition, authenticity, provenance or legality of anything listed, submitted or transacted; the truth or accuracy of any listing, profile, credential, declaration, credit, split or statement made by a member; the ability of any member to perform, deliver, pay, attend or complete; or that any transaction will be completed at all.

5.3 The critical sentence, which applies even where we do check something. TGI does not warrant that any verification, identity check, background check, screening or review conducted on any member, listing or submission, if any is conducted at all, will identify past misconduct or prevent future misconduct. Any badge, tick, tier, label, "verified" marker or status indicator on the Platform signifies only that the corresponding form was completed and the corresponding self-certification was made by the member. It is not a statement by TGI that anything is true, safe, cleared, authentic or approved.

5.4 Nothing TGI says or does, and nothing TGI has chosen to check on any occasion, creates any duty to check anything on any other occasion, or any continuing duty of any kind.

5.5 to 5.10 · THE DISCRETION OF THE HOUSE

5.5 The rule, stated once and applying everywhere. The Global Ikon is a private company operating a private platform. Everything submitted to it, entered into it, suggested to it or proposed to it, of whatever kind and by whomever, is received, considered, accepted, declined, ranked, published, withheld, edited, removed or acted upon entirely at the discretion of The Global Ikon and the companies associated with it. The decision of The Global Ikon is final.

5.6 What that discretion covers, without limitation. Whether an account is opened or closed; whether a listing, submission, entry, nomination, application, proposal or suggestion is accepted, declined or withdrawn; whether anything appears on the Platform, where, for how long and in what form; who is selected, shortlisted, advanced, featured, invited or eliminated at any stage of anything; whether any chart, ranking, award, showcase, event or programme runs at all, and on what terms; and how any of it is presented. No member acquires a right to be listed, ranked, selected, featured, judged, published or continued, and none of it is a promise.

5.7 No reasons are owed, and none given is a commitment. TGI is not obliged to give reasons for any decision under 5.6, and where it chooses to give one, it does so as a courtesy. Giving a reason on one occasion creates no obligation to give one on any other, and no reason given is a representation, a warranty or a variation of these Terms. (Subject always to 5.10.)

5.8 Decisions are not a review process and finality is internal. "Final" means that TGI's decision concludes the matter within TGI's own processes and that there is no appeal, re-hearing, re-count or re-review as of right. It does not, and cannot, purport to remove any right a member has to go to a court or to arbitration, which is governed by § 15. A clause drafted to oust adjudication altogether is void and, worse, is the kind of overreach that invites a court to strike the surrounding provisions with it under the reasoning in Ramirez. The version that says the true thing is the version that survives, and it gives the House everything it actually needs.

5.9 Nothing here is a waiver of TGI's own protections. The exercise or non-exercise of any discretion is not a warranty, does not create a duty of care, does not amount to any undertaking to check anything, and does not make TGI a party to anything between members. §§ 5.1 to 5.4 continue to apply to every act of discretion.

5.10 THE LIMITS THAT EXIST WHATEVER THIS SAYS, stated here because they exist whether or not they are written down.

(a) Good faith. California implies a covenant of good faith and fair dealing into every contract and it cannot be disclaimed. A contractual discretion is read subject to it, so a discretion exercised arbitrarily, or exercised to deprive a member of the benefit of what they actually paid for, is not protected by this section however broadly it is drafted. TGI exercises its discretion in good faith, and says so.
(b) Non-discrimination. No discretion under this section is exercised on any basis prohibited by law, including under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51. No clause anywhere permits that, and none is intended to.
(c) Money already taken. Discretion over participation is not discretion over money. Where a member has paid for something and TGI declines to provide it, the position is governed by the refund terms applying to that payment, not by this section.
(d) Members in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Where TGI removes or restricts content or an account for a member in those territories, the Digital Services Act requires a statement of reasons and an internal complaint-handling route, and 5.7 yields to that to the extent it applies. Counsel to confirm the scope of TGI's obligations by size and category of service, and the build to carry the notice and the complaint route before EU members are admitted.

6. The Authorised Representative Standard

6.1 Who may speak. Only a rights-holder or an authorised representative may submit a work, claim an artist profile, supply credits, splits or licences as authoritative data, make a declaration, or accept terms on an artist's behalf. "Authorised representative" includes a manager, label, publisher, distributor, administrator, agent or estate executor who holds actual written authority from the rights-holder to do the specific thing being done.

6.2 The Representation. By submitting on another's behalf, you represent and warrant, on your own account and on that of every entity you act for, that:

(a) you hold current, actual, written authority from the rights-holder to make this submission and to grant every right and licence granted in it;

(b) you will produce documentary evidence of that authority within five business days of TGI's request, and TGI may suspend, withdraw, delist, disqualify or rescind anything submitted if you do not;

(c) every item of information you supply, including artist identity, credits, splits, ownership, territory, release date, chart eligibility data, classification of artificial-intelligence involvement, and any statistic or achievement claimed, is true, complete, current and not misleading;

(d) no other person has a competing or superior claim to make the submission, and you are not aware of any dispute over the work or the artist identity; and

(e) you will notify TGI promptly and in writing if any of the above ceases to be true.

6.3 TGI relies, and does not verify. You acknowledge and agree that TGI relies on your representations without independent verification, in classifying, ranking, publishing, judging, listing, presenting and distributing the work, and that TGI would not do so but for those representations.

6.4 The consequence. A false, incomplete or misleading representation under this Part is a material breach. TGI may, without liability and in its sole discretion: remove or delist the work; disqualify the entry; rescind, revoke or withhold any placement, honour, nomination or award and require the return of any trophy or benefit; reclassify the work retrospectively; suspend or terminate the account; withhold or set off any sum owing; and state publicly that the item has been withdrawn, delisted, disqualified or rescinded because it did not meet the requirements of these Terms.

6.5 The indemnity for a knowingly false representation stands outside the cap. The indemnity at Part 14 applies in full to every claim arising from a breach of this Part 6. Where the breach consists of a representation you made knowing it to be false, or recklessly as to whether it was true, your liability under that indemnity is not capped. Where the breach was innocent, your total liability under this indemnity will not exceed the greater of the fees you paid TGI in the twelve months before the claim arose, or five thousand United States dollars (US$5,000). In either case the indemnity excludes any claim to the extent caused by TGI's own negligence, wilful misconduct or violation of law. This Part survives termination.

7. Prohibited content and conduct

7.1 You may not post, list, submit or transmit anything that: infringes any intellectual-property, likeness, voice or privacy right; is unlawful, dangerous, fraudulent or deceptive, including fake credentials, manufactured reviews, manipulated statistics and impersonation; sexualises or endangers a minor, on which the House has zero tolerance and reports as the law requires; involves regulated goods TGI has not approved, including weapons, drugs and counterfeits; or constitutes harassment, hate or a threat.

7.2 You may not: circumvent or attempt to circumvent TGI's fees; solicit or accept off-platform payment for a deal originated here; share, sell or transfer your account; manipulate any ranking, chart, vote, review, engagement metric or award; create or use multiple accounts to do any of those things; buy, sell or use fake followers, votes or engagement indicators; or offer, solicit or accept any payment or benefit in exchange for a chart placement, an award, a nomination or an editorial mention.

7.3 Messages stay on the Platform. Member-to-member messages exist so that members can complete their dealings here. No personal contact details may be shared in messages by either side, including phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, social or messaging handles, payment handles, and links or images carrying them. Messages are screened automatically before delivery, and by our team where flagged. A detected exchange is flagged and messaging for both parties to that conversation may be frozen pending review, whichever side sent it. Repeated attempts are treated as fee circumvention. Your consent to this screening is given at Part 16.4 and is a condition of using messaging.

7.4 Enforcement. Removal, restriction, suspension, termination, reversal, forfeiture, and reporting to the authorities where the law requires it, at TGI's sole discretion, without liability.

8. Automated access, scraping and machine learning

8.1 You may not, without TGI's prior written permission: access the Platform by any automated means, including bots, scrapers, crawlers and agents; harvest, copy, index or compile listings, profiles, media, prices, charts, credits or any Platform data, in bulk or systematically; use any Platform content or data to train, fine-tune, evaluate or otherwise develop any machine-learning or artificial-intelligence system; circumvent any technical protection, including rate limits, bot checks, signed URLs and access gates; probe, scan or test the Platform's security; frame, mirror or republish the Platform; or interfere with its operation.

8.2 Reservation of rights for text and data mining. TGI, on its own behalf and on behalf of every member whose content it hosts, expressly reserves all rights in respect of text and data mining, web scraping and artificial-intelligence training, including as a reservation of rights under Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790. This reservation is expressed in machine-readable form at /robots.txt, /ai.txt and by TDMRep and C2PA assertions where supported, and is additionally a contractual prohibition binding on every party that accesses the Platform.

8.3 Search engines may index public pages in accordance with robots.txt. Every other automated access is forbidden. You agree that TGI would suffer irreparable harm from scraping or training use, entitling it to injunctive relief in addition to damages.

9. Voice, likeness and digital replicas

9.1 You may not upload, submit or distribute any content containing a digital replica, clone, simulation or deliberate imitation of the voice, vocal style, name, image or likeness of any identifiable person, living or deceased, without written consent meeting Part 9.2.

9.2 The consent standard. Consent must be in writing, signed and dated by the individual, or for a deceased personality by the person holding documented authority over the estate; must identify the individual and be supported by verified identification; and must describe the intended uses with reasonable specificity, together with territory and term. Consent obtained from a person who was neither represented by counsel nor by a union, and which does not describe the uses with reasonable specificity, does not meet this standard.

9.3 Notice and removal. TGI operates a notice-and-removal route for unauthorised digital replicas at address, removes on notice as soon as practicable, and terminates repeat violators under Part 18.

9.4 A work classified anywhere on the Platform as wholly generated by artificial intelligence may attract no copyright protection under United States law. Where you submit such a work, you grant only such rights as exist, TGI makes no representation that any right exists, and no exclusivity is represented by anyone.

10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

THE PLATFORM AND EVERYTHING ON IT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", "AS AVAILABLE" AND "WITH ALL FAULTS". TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TGI DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT: (I) THE PLATFORM WILL BE SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY OR AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION; (II) ANY DEFECT OR ERROR WILL BE CORRECTED; (III) THE PLATFORM WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL MATERIAL; OR (IV) ANY RESULT OF USING THE PLATFORM WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW SOME OF THESE EXCLUSIONS. IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM EXTENT THE LAW PERMITS, AND NOTHING IN THIS PART LIMITS ANY RIGHT YOU HAVE UNDER MANDATORY CONSUMER LAW.

11. Assumption of risk between members

11.1 You are solely responsible for evaluating and determining the suitability of any member, listing, service, item, rental, engagement, opportunity, event or entry, and for verifying any information about any member, before you deal with them.

11.2 Any default, deficiency, delay, non-delivery, damage, misrepresentation or dispute arising between members is a matter between those members. TGI may, entirely at its discretion, offer information, assistance or informal mediation. Offering it once creates no duty to offer it in any other case, is not an assumption of responsibility, and is not an admission of any kind.

12. RELEASE BETWEEN MEMBERS

12.1 You release TGI, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, successors and assigns from all claims, demands, damages, losses and liabilities of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any dispute, dealing, interaction or transaction between you and any other member. This release is limited to disputes between you and another member. It does not release, and nothing in this Part limits, any claim you may have against TGI arising from TGI's own conduct, and nothing in this Part excludes liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, wilful injury to the person or property of another, gross negligence, any violation of law, death or personal injury caused by TGI's negligence, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

12.2 In entering into this release you expressly waive any protection, whether statutory or otherwise, that would otherwise limit the coverage of this release to claims which you know or suspect to exist in your favour at the time of agreeing to it, including California Civil Code § 1542, which reads: "A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party."

13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

13.1 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TGI WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OPPORTUNITY, REPUTATION OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, WHETHER OR NOT FORESEEABLE AND WHETHER OR NOT TGI WAS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

13.2 TGI'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE PLATFORM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL FEES TGI ACTUALLY RECEIVED FROM YOU IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$100).

13.3 Exceptions, which apply across the whole of these Terms and every planet Manifesto. Nothing in these Terms, in any planet Manifesto, in any release, waiver or consent given anywhere on the Platform, and nothing in any acceptance screen, limits or excludes, and TGI does not seek to limit or exclude, liability for: fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; wilful injury to the person or property of another; gross negligence; any violation of law, whether wilful or negligent; death or personal injury caused by TGI's negligence; or any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded. This clause overrides every other provision of these Terms and of every planet Manifesto, and no release, waiver or consent given by a member is effective to the extent it would conflict with it.**

14. INDEMNIFICATION

14.1 You will defend, indemnify, reimburse, compensate and hold harmless TGI, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any allegation, claim, demand, proceeding, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense of any kind, including reasonable attorneys' fees, and any civil penalty imposed on TGI as a direct result of your breach, arising out of or relating to: Your Content; your listings, submissions, entries, declarations or statements; your transactions, dealings or interactions with any other member or third party; items or services you buy, sell, license or supply through the Platform; your breach of these Terms or of any planet Manifesto; your breach of any of the warranties at Part 4 or the representations at Part 6; your violation of any law; or your infringement of any third party's rights.

14.2 TGI may assume control of the defence of any such claim at your expense, with counsel reasonably acceptable to you, and will keep you informed. TGI will not settle any claim in a way that imposes a non-monetary obligation on you, or that admits your fault, without your prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. You may not settle any claim imposing any obligation on TGI without TGI's prior written consent.

14.3 The mutual limb. TGI will indemnify you against any third-party claim that TGI's own materials, being the Platform's own design, branding, code and editorial text authored by TGI, infringe that third party's intellectual-property rights. This limb is subject to Part 13.

14.4 Your indemnity excludes any claim to the extent it is caused by TGI's own negligence of any degree, wilful misconduct or violation of law.

14.5 This Part survives termination.

15. DISPUTES WITH THE HOUSE

15.1 Talk to us first. Before commencing any proceeding, you and TGI each agree to send a written, individualised Notice of Dispute to the other describing the claim and the relief sought, and to confer in good faith for sixty days. A Notice of Dispute must be signed by the individual claimant, or by counsel on that individual's behalf. The limitation period for the claim is tolled while this process runs.

15.2 Scope, drawn narrowly on purpose. This Part applies only to a dispute concerning your use of, payment for, or TGI's provision of, the specific planet and the specific transaction out of which the dispute arises. A dispute arising on one planet is not subject to this Part by reason of your use of another. It does not apply to any other agreement, affiliate, product or transaction, and it does not apply to any separately signed agreement, including any Label or Publishing agreement or any TGI-promoted event agreement, each of which carries its own dispute-resolution provision.

15.3 Arbitration. If the dispute is not resolved under § 15.1, it will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS or AAA under its then-current consumer rules and its published mass-arbitration procedures, before a single arbitrator, in county California or, at your election, remotely or in the county where you live. TGI pays the arbitration filing and arbitrator fees except where the arbitrator finds a claim frivolous. The full limitation period applies; no shortened period is imposed. Both parties have identical rights of appeal and of arbitrator disqualification. TGI may not change these procedures mid-dispute or apply any change retroactively.

15.4 Where many similar claims are filed together, the administrator's published mass-arbitration procedures apply, claims may be batched by common issue for efficiency only, and any bellwether or test case is expressly non-binding and non-precedential on any claimant who did not participate in it. The limitation period for every queued claim is tolled from the date its Notice of Dispute was served until its arbitration concludes. Ordinary discovery is not curtailed.

15.5 Class-action waiver. You and TGI each waive any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, consolidated or representative action. The arbitrator may award relief only to the individual party seeking it and only to the extent necessary to provide relief on that party's individual claim.

15.6 The public-injunctive carve-out. Nothing in this Part waives any right to seek public injunctive relief, and any claim for public injunctive relief is expressly excluded from arbitration and reserved to the courts.

15.7 Small claims. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court instead.

15.8 Opt-out. You may opt out of §§ 15.3 to 15.5 by sending written notice to address within thirty days of first accepting these Terms. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms and will not be held against you in any way.

15.9 Delegation clause, to be settled by counsel, and to be checked for consistency against every other TGI agreement, including planet Manifestos, entry rules and any label or publishing agreement, so that no later forum clause conflicts with it.

16. Privacy, data and message screening

16.1 TGI's Privacy Policy is incorporated into these Terms by reference and describes what we collect, why, on what lawful basis, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

16.2 What we do not do. We do not sell your personal information. We do not give brands raw member data; aggregated, de-identified insight only. We do not train generative artificial intelligence on your content.

16.3 Payment card data goes to Stripe and is never stored by TGI.

16.4 CONSENT TO AUTOMATED MESSAGE SCREENING. Messages you send and receive through the Platform are automatically scanned by us and our service providers, at the time they are sent and before delivery. We scan for contact details, being email addresses, phone numbers, messaging handles and links, and for content that may breach these Terms, in order to enforce our rules, prevent fraud and fee circumvention, and protect the security and integrity of the Platform. By creating an account, and by sending or receiving any message on the Platform, you consent to this scanning and to our review of message content for these purposes, and you confirm you give this consent both as a sender and as a recipient of messages. We do not use message content for advertising or to build marketing profiles. California residents: this consent is given under California Penal Code § 631. You may withdraw it by closing your account; messaging is not available without it.

16.5 Your rights over your own data. You may request access to, correction of, a portable export of, and deletion of your personal information, through route. TGI responds within the period the applicable law requires. Deletion is subject to records TGI must keep by law, including transaction, tax and moderation records, which are pseudonymised rather than destroyed where the law allows.

16.6 Security and breach. TGI maintains administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information it holds. TGI does not warrant that the Platform or any system is secure, and Part 10 applies. Where a breach of security affecting personal information occurs, TGI notifies affected members and the relevant authorities within the periods the applicable law requires, and nothing in these Terms limits any right or remedy arising from a breach that cannot lawfully be limited, including under California Civil Code § 1798.150.

16.7 Accessibility. TGI builds the Platform to the WCAG 2.1 AA standard and publishes an accessibility statement with a route to report a barrier. This is a commitment about how TGI builds, and it is not a warranty that every page conforms at every moment.

17. The founding period

17.1 The Platform is in an invitation-only founding period. The following banner is displayed until The Global Ikon declares general availability:

"The Global Ikon is in an invitation-only founding period. These terms are provisional and will be updated before general availability. By participating you accept the current terms and that they may change with notice."

17.2 During the founding period, transactions may run at symbolic prices to demonstrate the full flow. A symbolic-price transaction is a real transaction under these Terms, with real processing, real payout and real records, may be initiated by TGI itself for demonstration, and confers no expectation as to future pricing. TGI may refund a symbolic transaction at any time. A transaction that TGI initiates itself for demonstration is recorded as such and is excluded from every count, badge, tier, ranking, chart input, review, reputation signal and regulatory threshold on the Platform.

18. Copyright, and the repeat-infringer policy

18.1 Designated agent. TGI's designated agent for copyright notices is registered with the United States Copyright Office and reachable at agent details.

18.2 Notices must contain the six elements required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), and the good-faith statement must use the statutory words "not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law". Before submitting, a notifier must consider in good faith whether the use is a fair use or otherwise authorised. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees.

18.3 Counter-notices are accepted under § 512(g)(3) and material is restored not less than ten and not more than fourteen business days after receipt unless the complainant files suit.

18.4 THE REPEAT-INFRINGER POLICY, published as required by § 512(i) and reasonably implemented. A strike is issued on each takedown notice that is facially compliant and is neither withdrawn nor successfully counter-noticed. Strikes attach to the account holder. Strike one: removal, written warning and a link to this policy. Strike two: warning, mandatory acknowledgement and an upload restriction. Strike three: termination of the account, forfeiture of monetisation, and removal from Charts, Showcase and Awards eligibility. Strikes lapse after twelve months of clean conduct. Wholesale commercial infringement or deliberate re-upload permits immediate termination. Terminated members may not re-register, and TGI blocks matched email addresses, payment instruments and device signals. Any decision not to terminate at strike three must be recorded by a named decision-maker with the reason. TGI audits this policy quarterly.

18.5 Editorial review does not extend to legality. TGI's editorial reviewers assess artistic and production merit only. They are instructed not to form or record any view on the licensing, clearance or legality of any work. Where a reviewer nonetheless notices apparent infringement, they must escalate it, and TGI removes the material expeditiously and issues a strike.

19. Changes to these Terms

19.1 TGI may amend these Terms. Material amendments take effect only after: thirty days' advance notice by email to your registered address; and an interstitial re-consent screen presented at your next sign-in, requiring a fresh affirmative acceptance. Continued use alone is not acceptance of a material amendment.

19.2 Amendments apply prospectively only, to disputes arising after the effective date. You may close your account at any time rather than accept an amendment.

19.3 The founding period, which works differently and says so. During the founding period declared under Part 17, an amendment takes effect on notice together with a re-consent screen at your next sign-in, without the thirty-day period, and applies to the whole of your relationship with TGI from the date you accept it. This is what the founding-period banner means when it says the terms are provisional and will be updated. If you do not accept an amendment you may close your account, and any transaction already completed remains governed by the terms in force when it completed. This Part 19.3 ceases to apply when TGI declares general availability, after which 19.1 and 19.2 govern.

19.4 TGI publishes a versioned changelog of these Terms at URL, and retains every superseded version.

20. General

20.1 SAVINGS CLAUSE. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, and, for members in the European Union and the United Kingdom, mandatory national consumer law. Where any limitation in these Terms exceeds what the law allows, it applies only to the maximum lawful extent.

20.2 Severability with reformation. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable and to reflect the parties' intent; if it cannot be, it will be severed and the remainder continues in full force.

20.3 Survival. Parts 1, 2.3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.2, 18, 19.2, 20 and Schedule A survive termination.

20.4 Governing law. California law governs, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, subject always to any mandatory consumer-protection law of your country of residence. Venue, where a court is competent, is county, California.

20.5 Entire agreement. These Universal Terms, together with the applicable planet Manifesto, the Privacy Policy and any policy incorporated by reference, are the entire agreement between you and TGI on their subject matter.

20.6 Notices. Notice to you is given by email to your registered address and is deemed received on the next business day after sending, or by a persistent in-Platform notice. Notice to TGI must be in writing to notice address and is deemed received on actual receipt. Any address given as bracketed in these Terms must be filled before these Terms are published.

20.7 Electronic records and signatures. You consent to transact electronically and to receive all notices, agreements, disclosures and records electronically, under the federal E-SIGN Act and the California Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. You may withdraw that consent by closing your account.

20.8 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including epidemic or pandemic, government order, act of terrorism, civil unrest, extreme weather, utility or network failure, and failure of a third-party service on which the Platform depends, whether or not foreseeable at the date of acceptance. This does not excuse an obligation to pay money already due.

20.9 Compliance by you. You warrant that you are not located in, and are not a person or entity subject to, any sanctions administered by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control or any equivalent authority, and that you will comply with all export-control, anti-bribery and anti-corruption law.

20.10 Taxes. Each party bears its own taxes. Where TGI is required to withhold or to collect and remit a tax, it may do so and will account for it. You are responsible for determining and paying your own tax obligations arising from your activity on the Platform.

20.11 Feedback. Any suggestion or feedback you give TGI about the Platform may be used by TGI without restriction or obligation.

20.12 Equitable relief. Damages may not be an adequate remedy for a breach of Parts 4, 6, 7, 8 or 9, and TGI may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other remedy.

20.13 No waiver. No assignment by you without TGI's written consent. Assignment by TGI permitted, including on a change of control, with notice. No third-party beneficiaries except the parties indemnified under Part 14 and Stripe as to Part 1.4. Headings for convenience only.

20.14 Integration and no reliance. These Terms are the entire agreement on their subject matter and supersede every prior discussion. You have not relied on any statement not set out in them, except that nothing in this clause excludes liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Schedule A · What we cannot promise

A1. Your bank's chargeback rights exist independently of these Terms. No contract can defeat them. They run between you and your card issuer under rules TGI is not a party to. The windows are long, commonly up to 120 days and in some circumstances substantially longer. Part 15 governs how a dispute with TGI is resolved, and the Marketplace Manifesto Part 6 governs refunds. Neither governs what your bank may do. TGI will never ask you to agree not to initiate a chargeback, because such a term is unenforceable and asking for it would itself be a violation.

A2. Some consumer rights cannot be waived, anywhere, by anyone. These include rights under the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, which expressly voids any waiver as contrary to public policy; the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act; the California Unfair Competition Law; the right to seek public injunctive relief in California; state unfair and deceptive practices statutes; and for members in the European Union and the United Kingdom, the Unfair Terms Directive and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

A3. We cannot limit liability for fraud, wilful injury, gross negligence, violation of law, or death or personal injury caused by our negligence. California Civil Code § 1668 says so, and we do not try.

A4. We do not verify anything except where the law requires it, and no badge, tick or tier on this Platform is a statement by us that anything is true. See Part 5.

A5. We cannot promise that any dispute between two members will be resolved. We can provide the room, the record and, at our discretion, our help. We cannot compel a member to perform.

A6. Our charts, awards and showcase selections are opinions, not findings of fact. Where they report a classification, that classification is the submitter's declaration reported as theirs, not our verified conclusion.

A7. A work generated wholly by artificial intelligence may carry no copyright at all, which means nobody, including its submitter, may be able to grant or enforce rights in it.

A8. We cannot guarantee the Platform will always be available, and we cannot guarantee any commercial outcome, income, placement, audience or opportunity from participating in it.