Terms of Service

These Terms govern your use of DawForge, a software service operated by Disme SRL (Belgium). By creating an account or using the Service you agree to these Terms.

1. The Service

DawForge is a web application that helps composers search a curated knowledge base of orchestral sample libraries, author Cubase expression maps, and, where enabled, drive a running Cubase session in real time. Features available to you depend on your account tier and credit balance.

DawForge generates files in formats compatible with third-party digital audio workstations, including Cubase expression maps (.expressionmap) and track archives (.xml), solely to enable interoperability with software you have legally licensed. DawForge does not include, redistribute, or derive from any proprietary code, samples, presets, or documentation owned by third parties. You are responsible for holding valid licences for any DAW, virtual instrument, or sample library with which you use files generated by the Service.

2. Accounts

You need an account to use most of the Service. Authentication is handled by our identity provider (Clerk). You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure and for all activity on your account. Accounts are for individual humans; do not share them. You must be at least 16 years old to create an account.

3. Credits, Fees, and Refunds

DawForge uses a credit-based model at launch. You may purchase one-time credit packs through our payment processor (Stripe). Creating certain kinds of content (for example, saving an expression map) spends credits from your balance. Prices are shown in euros and may include VAT where applicable, collected by Stripe Tax.

• Non-expiring. Unused credits do not expire so long as your account is active.
• Non-transferable. Credits cannot be transferred between accounts, sold, or converted to cash.
• Refunds of unused credits. You may request a refund of unused credit packs within 14 days of purchase by emailing billing@dawforge.com. We will process eligible refunds via the original payment method.
• Digital-content waiver. For services that are delivered and consumed immediately (credits spent on map creation), you expressly request immediate performance and acknowledge that, to the extent permitted by EU consumer law (Directive 2011/83/EU), you lose the right of withdrawal once performance has begun and credits have been consumed.
• Chargebacks. Credit packs purchased by a buyer who later initiates a chargeback may be reversed from the balance.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• use the Service in violation of applicable law;
• attempt to probe, scan, reverse-engineer, or circumvent security features;
• interfere with other users or the Service's infrastructure (including scraping at volume, systematic extraction of the knowledge base, automated credit farming, or denial of service);
• resell, sublicense, or repackage the knowledge base, library calibration data, or any other DawForge-provided content, including any extraction or re-utilisation that would violate the sui generis database right under EU Directive 96/9/EC;
• upload, contribute, or generate content that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyrighted text excerpted from manuals, documentation, websites, or marketing materials of DAW or virtual-instrument manufacturers;
• use the Service to create files for software, instruments, or libraries you do not legally own or licence;
• use the trademarks, logos, or brand assets of third parties in your contributions in a manner that suggests endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation;
• upload malware or content you do not have the right to submit.

4a. Knowledge Base — Permitted Use

The DawForge knowledge base is provided for personal, interactive use through the DawForge interface. You may not (a) systematically extract, copy, or store substantial portions of the knowledge base, (b) use automated tools, scripts, scrapers, or headless browsers to access the knowledge base, (c) circumvent or attempt to circumvent rate limits, the single-library-open enforcement, daily-expansion caps, or other technical measures the Service uses to protect the knowledge base, (d) make the knowledge base or substantial portions of it available to third parties, or (e) use the knowledge base to train, build, or augment any competing dataset, model, or product. Each of these prohibitions stands independently of the sui generis database right reserved in Section 7.

Violation may result in the Service automatically restricting your account (a “soft block”), and may result in Disme SRL suspending or terminating your account in accordance with Section 13. Disme SRL reserves the right to seek legal remedies including damages and injunctive relief.

5. Your Content

Expression maps and related content that you create inside DawForge belong to you. You grant Disme SRL a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to store, process, and display your content solely as needed to operate and improve the Service for you (for example: hosting the file, rendering it in the editor, and producing the downloadable XML). We do not claim ownership of your expression maps, and we do not use them to train machine learning models.

6. Knowledge Base Contributions

The Service includes a knowledge base of virtual instruments and articulation names. You may contribute entries corresponding to products you own or use.

Your warranties. By contributing to the knowledge base you represent and warrant that:

• you hold valid licences for any software, virtual instruments, or sample libraries referenced in your contributions;
• your contributions consist solely of factual, functional information (such as product names, articulation names, and technical identifiers) necessary for interoperability, and do not include copyrighted descriptions, marketing copy, documentation excerpts, images, or other protected expression from third parties;
• you have the right to contribute such information and to grant the licence set out below.

Licence to Disme SRL. You grant Disme SRL a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and irrevocable licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, distribute, and display your knowledge-base contributions solely for the purpose of operating, improving, and promoting the Service. This licence survives closure of your account with respect to contributions already integrated into the knowledge base.

7. Our Content

The DawForge platform, the curated knowledge base, library calibration data, and all trademarks and branding associated with DawForge are owned by Disme SRL or its licensors. The compiled knowledge base, as a collection, constitutes a database in which Disme SRL holds the sui generis database right under EU Directive 96/9/EC. Your account does not grant you any right to redistribute the knowledge base or calibration data outside the Service.

8. Service Availability

We aim to keep the Service available and working well, but we do not offer a formal uptime SLA at launch. We may perform maintenance, introduce changes, or suspend specific features at any time.

9. Third-Party Software and Trademarks

Disme SRL does not own, and claims no rights in, the sample content, presets, patches, documentation, artwork, or trademarks of any third-party DAW, virtual instrument, or sample-library vendor. All such material remains the property of its respective rights holders.

DawForge interoperates with third-party products including Cubase and the Steinberg logo (trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH); BBC Symphony Orchestra and other Spitfire titles (trademarks of Spitfire Audio Holdings Ltd); Vienna Symphonic Library and Synchron (trademarks of VSL GmbH); and Kontakt and Native Instruments (trademarks of Native Instruments GmbH). All other product names, logos, and trademarks referenced in the knowledge base are the property of their respective owners.

DawForge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to Steinberg or any virtual-instrument manufacturer. References to third-party products are made solely for the purpose of identifying compatibility and enabling interoperability, under the principle of nominative fair use. If you are a trademark owner and believe your marks are being used inappropriately on the Service, please contact billing@dawforge.com and we will respond promptly.

10. Copyright Complaints and Takedown

Disme SRL respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright or other rights, please send a notice to billing@dawforge.com containing:

• identification of the allegedly infringing material and its location on the Service;
• identification of the work you claim is infringed;
• your contact information (name, address, email);
• a statement of good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorised by the rights holder, its agent, or the law;
• a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the rights holder or authorised to act on their behalf.

We will review notices promptly and may remove or disable access to the reported content pending review. Repeat infringers' accounts will be terminated. Counter-notices can be sent to the same address.

11. Warranty Disclaimer

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Disme SRL disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that calibration values, knowledge base entries, or generated expression maps are error-free or suitable for any specific project. Your statutory rights as a consumer under EU and Belgian law are unaffected by this section.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Disme SRL's aggregate liability arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the Service shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total amounts you paid to us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to liability, and (b) €100. In no event shall we be liable for lost profits, lost data, loss of goodwill, or indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law (including liability for fraud, gross negligence, or death or personal injury caused by negligence).

13. Termination

You may close your account at any time by emailing billing@dawforge.com. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that create undue risk to the Service or other users. On termination, your access to the Service ends; unspent credit packs purchased within 14 days may be refunded in accordance with Section 3.

14. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced by email or in-product notice at least 14 days before taking effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Belgium, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The courts of Brussels have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights of residents in other EU member states.

16. Contact

Disme SRL
Rue Leopold Procureur 20, 1090 Bruxelles, Belgium
KBO: 0753.504.413 · VAT: BE 0753.504.413
billing@dawforge.com