Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Niva Games (“Niva Games”, “we”, “us”, “our”) governing access to and use of:

• The video game Mentalist Detective and related apps (the “Game”);
• Our website nivagames.com (the “Site”);
• Online services operated for the Game (authentication, case storage, image hosting, AI dialogue, in-app purchases, optional advertising, and support) (together with the Game and Site, the “Service”).

Please read these Terms carefully. They include important provisions about user-uploaded images and cases, copyright (including U.S. DMCA procedures), limitation of liability, and dispute resolution.

By tapping “I agree”, creating an account, uploading content, submitting a case for publication, or continuing to use the Service after we post updated Terms, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Definitions

• “User Content” — Any material you submit through the Service, including images (PNG/JPEG/WebP), text, case metadata, suspect/location/evidence descriptions, and assembled case packages submitted for publication.
• “Published Case” — A player-created case that we approve and make available to other players (e.g. in the case browser).
• “Store Platforms” — Apple App Store, Google Play, and any other official distribution channel for the Game.
• “DMCA” — The U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512 et seq.).

2. Eligibility and account

2.1 Age

Our Age Suitability page recommends the Game for players 12+. The Game may include murder-mystery themes. You must meet the minimum age required in your country to enter into these Terms, or use the Service only with verifiable parental or guardian consent.

2.2 Account responsibility

You must provide accurate registration information, complete required profile fields (including age where prompted), and keep credentials secure. You are responsible for all activity under your account, including uploads and case submissions.

2.3 One account

You may not create multiple accounts to evade enforcement, restrictions, or bans.

3. License to use the Service

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for private entertainment. You may not:

• Copy, modify, or distribute the Game or our proprietary assets except as allowed by law;
• Reverse engineer or circumvent technical protections except where statutory law expressly permits;
• Use the Service commercially, to operate a competing service, or to scrape data at scale;
• Remove copyright or proprietary notices.

All rights not expressly granted are reserved by Niva Games and its licensors.

4. User Content and player-created cases

4.1 How uploads work

The create-case wizard lets you upload images (portraits, locations, evidence, crime-scene art, etc.). Those files are stored on our cloud storage (Supabase) in publicly addressable buckets so the Game and other devices can load them by URL.

When you submit a new case for publication, it is queued as pending_review. Manual review occurs before a Published Case may go live. Review is a courtesy filter, not a legal clearance of your content.

4.2 Visibility and risk

Published Cases and their images may be visible to and playable by other users worldwide. Do not upload anything you would not want publicly associated with your account.

4.3 Your representations and warranties

Whenever you upload or submit User Content, you represent and warrant that:

1. You are the author or have obtained all licenses, permissions, and consents necessary for the uses described in these Terms (including copyright, trademark, design rights, and publicity/privacy rights for recognisable persons).
2. Your User Content does not infringe any third party’s intellectual property or other rights.
3. Your User Content complies with applicable law and these Terms.
4. Your User Content is appropriate for a general-audience mystery game (no illegal, hateful, sexually explicit, exploitative, or gratuitously violent material beyond the Game’s narrative frame).
5. You will not upload images you know or should know are infringing (e.g. copyrighted characters, watermarked stock photos without licence, movie stills, logos, or photos of real people used without permission).

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR USER CONTENT YOU SUBMIT.

4.4 Licence you grant to Niva Games

By submitting User Content, you grant Niva Games and its service providers a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid-up, sublicensable, transferable licence to:

• Host, store, cache, reproduce, encode, resize, and display User Content;
• Perform, communicate, and distribute User Content as part of the Service (including to you, reviewers, other players, and in reasonable promotional materials for the Game);
• Moderate, annotate, relocate, or remove User Content;
• Create technical derivatives (thumbnails, transcoded formats) solely to operate the Service.

This licence continues for as long as the content remains on our systems or in active use, plus a reasonable period for backups, logs, and disputes. If you delete content or close your account where deletion is supported, we will cease new public distribution within a commercially reasonable time, except where retention is required by law, dispute resolution, or copies already distributed to other players’ devices.

You retain ownership of your User Content. Nothing here transfers ownership of your copyright to us.

4.5 Prohibited User Content (non-exhaustive)

• Copyrighted or trademarked material without authorisation
• Non-consensual intimate imagery; sexual content involving minors; grooming content
• Real-person photos used as game characters without that person’s consent (especially minors)
• Malware, phishing, or deceptive material
• Harassment, hate, or threats toward protected groups or individuals
• Instructions for illegal activity
• Spam or misleading case metadata designed to deceive players

The in-game “Before you add images” notice summarises key rules; the notice is not a complete list.

4.6 No obligation to publish

We may reject, delay, or remove any submission or Published Case at any time, for any reason or no reason.

4.7 Platform status

You acknowledge that Niva Games hosts User Content at your direction. We are not the publisher or speaker of your User Content, and we do not endorse User Content from other players. Our editorial review does not convert your uploads into our own works.

5. Copyright, DMCA, and trademark complaints

We respect intellectual property. This Section 5 describes how rights holders may request removal and how U.S. law applies to qualifying notices.

5.1 Designated copyright agent (DMCA)

Our designated agent for notice of claimed copyright infringement under the DMCA is:

After you register with the U.S. Copyright Office, add your registration reference here if desired.

Only notices that substantially comply with Section 5.2 will be treated as DMCA notices. Misrepresentations in a DMCA notice may expose the sender to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

5.2 DMCA takedown notice — required elements

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a written notice to the agent above containing all of the following (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)):

1. Physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple works, a representative list.
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it (e.g. direct image URL, case title, suspect name, submission date, or screenshot with in-game location).
4. Your contact information — address, telephone number, and email.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
7. If you are a U.S. rights holder, confirmation you understand that knowingly materially misrepresenting infringement may make you liable for damages (17 U.S.C. § 512(f)).

We will respond to valid notices by expeditiously removing or disabling access to the material and may notify the uploader.

5.3 Counter-notification (U.S. users / DMCA)

If we remove material based on a DMCA notice and you believe removal was mistaken or you have permission, you may send a counter-notification to the same agent containing:

1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the material removed and its former location;
3. Your name, address, phone, and email;
4. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification;
5. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if outside the U.S., any judicial district in which Niva Games may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the original DMCA notice or their agent;
6. Confirmation you understand false counter-notifications may incur liability under § 512(f).

If we receive a compliant counter-notification, we may restore the material after 10–14 business days unless the complainant notifies us that they have filed a court action seeking to restrain infringement.

5.4 Repeat infringer policy

In accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 512(i), we maintain a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers of copyright. Factors include the number of valid DMCA notices, severity, and good-faith uploads. We may terminate after one egregious infringement or after multiple substantiated notices.

5.5 Trademark and other IP complaints

If you believe content infringes your trademark or other rights (not covered by a DMCA notice), email [email protected] with subject Trademark complaint and include: your mark, registration or use details, the infringing material’s location, and why use is likely to cause confusion. We will review and respond as appropriate.

5.6 No safe-harbor guarantee

Posting these procedures does not by itself guarantee eligibility for DMCA safe harbor. Compliance also requires agent registration, prompt action on notices, and repeat-infringer enforcement. Non-U.S. rights holders may rely on local notice-and-takedown laws; we will handle good-faith reports under Section 6 as well.

6. Other illegal or harmful content (EU/EEA and worldwide)

If you are not sending a formal DMCA notice but believe content is illegal, non-consensual, defamatory, or harmful, email [email protected] with subject Illegal content report and:

• A description of the content and its location in the Game;
• The reason you believe it violates law or these Terms;
• Your contact email.

We will review reports and may remove content, reject cases, or suspend accounts without admitting fault or undertaking to monitor all User Content. Nothing in this Section creates a general obligation to proactively monitor all uploads (subject to applicable law, including the EU Digital Services Act where it applies to us).

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Violate law or third-party rights;
• Cheat, automate play, exploit bugs, or attack our infrastructure;
• Harass players or staff; send abusive interrogation content;
• Attempt to access another user’s account or non-public data;
• Upload viruses or malicious code;
• Impersonate Niva Games, rights holders, or other users;
• Circumvent case-review or publication controls;
• Harvest data from the Service except via documented APIs we provide.

8. Moderation and enforcement

We may investigate violations and take any action we deem appropriate, including:

• Removing or disabling User Content;
• Rejecting or delisting Published Cases;
• Warnings, feature limits, temporary suspension, or permanent ban;
• Reporting to law enforcement where required.

Enforcement decisions are in our sole discretion unless mandatory law requires otherwise.

9. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Niva Games, its owners, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, demands, suits, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your User Content or Published Cases;
• Your breach of these Terms;
• Your violation of law or third-party rights (including intellectual property and privacy);
• Any dispute between you and another user.

We may assume exclusive defence of any matter subject to indemnification; you will cooperate.

Consumer carve-out: If you are a consumer in the EU/EEA, Norway, or another jurisdiction where indemnification of consumers is restricted, this Section applies only to the extent your local law permits, and does not cover claims arising solely from our own intentional misconduct or gross negligence.

10. Niva Games intellectual property

The Game, Site, software, default art, audio, trademarks, and branding are owned by Niva Games or licensors. AI-assisted outputs generated by our systems during your licensed play are provided as part of the Service; you receive no ownership in our models, prompts, or underlying technology.

User Content does not include our proprietary materials. Feedback you voluntarily send may be used by us without restriction or compensation.

11. Third-party services

The Service integrates third parties (including Supabase, OpenAI, Google [Sign-In, Play, AdMob], and Apple [Sign-In, App Store]). Their terms and privacy policies apply to their handling of data. Store Platforms are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms as they relate to your use of the Game obtained through them.

We are not responsible for third-party outages, policy changes, or acts.

12. In-app purchases and virtual items

Purchases are processed by Store Platforms. All sales are final except where Store Platform policy or mandatory law requires refunds. Virtual items (tokens, hints, energy, subscriptions) have no real-world monetary value, are non-transferable, and may be modified or discontinued. Prices may change with notice where required.

13. Disclaimers

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT:

• THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE;
• CASES WILL BE APPROVED OR REMAIN AVAILABLE;
• USER CONTENT FROM OTHER PLAYERS IS ACCURATE, SAFE, LAWFUL, OR NON-INFRINGING;
• AI DIALOGUE IS FACTUALLY CORRECT OR SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES.

Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of implied warranties; in those cases, disclaimers apply to the maximum extent allowed.

14. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

1. EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES — NIVA GAMES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.
2. CAP — OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF:
   • (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO NIVA GAMES (THROUGH STORE PLATFORMS) IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM; OR
   • (B) USD $50 (OR EQUIVALENT IN LOCAL CURRENCY) IF YOU MADE NO SUCH PAYMENTS.
3. USER CONTENT — WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR USER CONTENT OR ACTIONS OF OTHER USERS, SUBJECT TO MANDATORY LAW THAT IMPOSES LIABILITY ON HOSTING PROVIDERS.
4. MANDATORY RIGHTS — NOTHING IN THESE TERMS EXCLUDES OR LIMITS LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY OUR NEGLIGENCE, FRAUD, OR ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW (INCLUDING STATUTORY CONSUMER RIGHTS IN YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE).

15. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access immediately for breach, risk, inactivity, legal demand, or discontinuation of the Service.

Upon termination, your licence ends. Sections that by nature survive (including Sections 4.4, 5, 9, 13, 14, 17, and 18) survive.

16. Changes to the Service and Terms

We may modify the Service or these Terms. Material changes will be posted at nivagames.com/terms/ with an updated date. Where required, we will provide additional notice (in-Game or email). Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance where permitted by law. If you disagree, stop using the Service and contact us to close your account.

17. Governing law and disputes

17.1 Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Norway, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except that mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of habitual residence in the EU/EEA/UK remain applicable where they give you non-waivable rights.

17.2 Informal resolution

Before filing a claim, contact [email protected] and allow 30 days for informal resolution.

17.3 Courts

Subject to mandatory consumer law, exclusive jurisdiction for disputes arising from these Terms lies with the Norwegian courts, with venue in [insert city, e.g. Oslo], unless you are an EU/EEA consumer entitled to bring proceedings in your home country.

17.4 EU Online Dispute Resolution

EU consumers may use the ODR platform: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

17.5 No class actions (where permitted)

To the extent permitted by law, disputes are brought only in an individual capacity, not as a class or representative action. This does not apply where prohibited (e.g. certain EU consumer claims).

18. General provisions

• Entire agreement — These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement regarding the Service.
• Severability — If any provision is unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect.
• No waiver — Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
• Assignment — You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, sale, or reorganisation.
• Force majeure — We are not liable for delays or failures due to events beyond reasonable control.
• Export — You may not use the Service in violation of export control or sanctions law.
• Language — The English version controls if translated.

19. Contact

Quick reference — uploads & copyright

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