These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and Velys Software, a technology company specializing in web access engineering and large-scale automated data extraction ("Company," "we," "our," or "us"), governing your access to and use of the Tornado API service, including all associated APIs, documentation, tools, and infrastructure (collectively, the "Service").
By creating an account, generating an API key, or making any API request, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms in their entirety. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service.
If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and "you" and "your" shall refer to both you individually and the organization you represent.
Tornado API is a media ingestion infrastructure service that provides programmatic tools enabling users to download publicly available media content and deliver it directly to cloud storage destinations. The Service functions as neutral technical infrastructure, similar to a content delivery network (CDN), cloud transfer service, or data pipeline tool.
Our infrastructure capabilities include:
Infrastructure Neutrality: Tornado API is a technical tool. The Service does not host, curate, recommend, or index any media content. We process download requests initiated solely by users. The Service has no editorial function and exercises no judgment over the content of any individual download request.
To use the Service, you must:
You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your account, including all API requests made using your API keys, regardless of whether those requests were authorized by you. Sharing API keys with unauthorized parties constitutes a violation of these Terms.
We reserve the right to refuse registration, suspend accounts, or revoke API keys at our sole discretion if we reasonably believe account information is inaccurate or that the account is being used in violation of these Terms.
Your use of the API is subject to the rate limits, quotas, and usage restrictions associated with your subscription plan. We reserve the right to:
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION OF THESE TERMS. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU ACCEPT FULL AND SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERY DOWNLOAD YOU INITIATE.
Each time you submit a download request through the Tornado API — whether via direct API call, SDK method, webhook trigger, or any other integration — you automatically represent and warrant that:
You are solely and entirely responsible for:
You acknowledge and agree that:
Tornado does not provide legal advice regarding copyright, fair use, or content licensing. If you are uncertain about your right to download specific content, you should consult a qualified legal professional before initiating a download request. The Company expressly disclaims any responsibility for users who fail to verify their rights before using the Service.
Velys Software respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects all users of the Service to do the same. We comply with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and respond promptly to notices of alleged infringement.
If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that content downloaded through our Service infringes upon your copyright, you may submit a written DMCA takedown notice to our designated agent. Your notice must include:
DMCA notices should be sent to our designated copyright agent:
Velys Software — DMCA Agent
Email: dmca@velys.software
If you believe that content associated with your account was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification, you may submit a counter-notification to our designated agent. Your counter-notification must include:
We maintain a policy for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of users who are determined to be repeat infringers. Users who receive multiple valid DMCA notices or who repeatedly violate intellectual property rights will have their accounts suspended or permanently terminated at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to terminate any account at any time if we reasonably believe the user is engaging in infringing activity, even in the absence of a formal DMCA notice.
You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in compliance with these Terms, all applicable laws, and all applicable third-party terms of service. The following activities are strictly prohibited:
You are responsible for reviewing and complying with the terms of service of every source platform from which you download content, including but not limited to:
Violation of source platform terms of service may result in the suspension or termination of your Tornado API account, in addition to any consequences imposed by the source platform. For the complete Acceptable Use Policy, please refer to our Acceptable Use Policy page.
This Section governs pay-as-you-go accounts. Where you have signed a committed plan or order form, the commercial terms of that document (volume, rate, billing cadence, and any service level or money-back commitment) prevail over this Section for the accounts it covers.
Eligible accounts may activate a limited trial without a card. A valid payment method is required to continue with paid usage or when additional verification is requested. We register a card through our payment processor with a zero-amount setup authorization, which may require you to authenticate with your bank. By providing the card you authorize us and our payment processor to store it and to charge it, without further action from you, for all amounts that become due under your account, including amounts that become due after the free allowance described in Section 8.2 is exhausted or has expired. This authorization remains in effect for as long as your account exists and until all amounts due have been settled. You may withdraw it by closing your account and settling any outstanding balance.
No holds and no deposit: we do not place authorization holds on your card, and we do not take a deposit, security, or any other collateral. The only amounts that ever reach your card are invoices for billable usage as defined in Section 8.3.
Eligible accounts may receive a one-time allowance of billable volume (as defined in Section 8.3) at no charge. The amount, duration and expiry applied to your account are shown during activation and in your dashboard. A cardless trial starts when its key is issued. If an account instead receives a new allowance on paid activation, its applicable delivery-based start and expiry are shown in the dashboard. Unused volume expires at the stated deadline. Existing accounts retain their recorded allowance terms. Adding a payment method does not reset a cardless trial’s consumed volume or expiry. Without paid activation, reaching the trial limit or expiry stops access; it does not automatically create a charge. After paid activation, usage beyond the remaining allowance or after its expiry is billed at the account rate. The allowance has no cash value, is not transferable, and is not renewed by closing or reactivating an account. Eligibility checks use account, network, browser and payment signals described in our Privacy Policy. A refused free allowance may require verification before paid access.
Usage is measured per completed download job. The billable volume of a job is the volume of the file we successfully deliver to your storage destination or, where the delivered file is smaller, the reference volume of the same source content at 720p quality. That reference volume is the combined size of the video and audio streams the source platform reports for 720p (or the nearest available quality below it), or, where the platform reports no such size, an estimate based on the content's duration. The billable volume of a job is never less than 1 MB. Failed deliveries are never billed. Volume is measured in decimal units (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes and 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes) and is billed per megabyte, rounded up to the next whole megabyte, at the rate shown in your dashboard. Your dashboard shows both the volume delivered and the billable volume of your usage.
We evaluate your account daily and issue an invoice once the unbilled amount reaches the minimum invoicing threshold applied to all accounts, and in any event on the last day of each calendar month. We may invoice sooner where the unbilled amount would otherwise exceed the exposure limit we apply to all accounts. Each invoice is charged automatically to the card on file under the authorization in Section 8.1. Your current rate, thresholds, usage, and invoice history are available in your dashboard at any time.
If a charge is declined, we may suspend your access to the Service on the same day. Where a payment fails because your bank requires you to authenticate the transaction, we will attempt to charge again and email you a payment link before suspending, and suspension takes effect at the end of that day at the latest.
Because we hold no deposit and no collateral against your account, prompt suspension is our only protection against non-payment, and we apply it accordingly. Suspension does not relieve you of amounts already due. We restore access once all amounts due are settled. For pay-as-you-go accounts, suspension is the remedy we apply to non-payment, and the late-payment fee described below does not apply. Late payment on committed plans: for invoices issued under a signed plan or order form, we reserve the right to charge a late-payment fee on any amount remaining unpaid more than thirty (30) days past its due date, at a rate of 1.5% per month (or the maximum rate permitted by applicable law, whichever is lower), together with reasonable costs of collection.
All prices are in US dollars and are exclusive of any taxes, duties, or levies. We do not collect or remit any tax through the Service. You are responsible for any such amounts applicable to your purchase and for providing any tax identification required in your jurisdiction. We may change our prices at any time. A change takes effect for usage delivered after we publish it and never applies retroactively to usage already invoiced.
Pay-as-you-go accounts have no volume limit, no monthly cap, and no hourly cap. You are responsible for all usage generated with your API keys, including usage resulting from your own automation, from a misconfigured job, or from a key you have exposed. We may apply a temporary limit to a new account, or contact you before very large volumes are incurred, in order to protect the Service and prevent fraudulent use.
Payments are final and non-refundable, except where we have charged you in error. Where we have billed usage that was not due under these Terms, or charged an amount in error, we will correct it by refund or by credit on your next invoice. Service dissatisfaction, unused allowance, account termination, or a change of plan do not give rise to a refund.
This Section does not affect any money-back guarantee, service credit, or opt-out right expressly stated in a signed plan or order form, which applies according to its own terms. Chargebacks or payment disputes raised without first contacting us may result in immediate account suspension.
Where a signed plan or order form expressly states an uptime commitment, that commitment applies to the accounts it covers for the duration of its term, together with the remedies it provides (such as service credits, a money-back guarantee, or an opt-out right). Those remedies are your sole and exclusive remedy for failure to meet the stated commitment. In case of conflict, the signed document prevails over Section 9.2 for those accounts.
No service level agreement: pay-as-you-go accounts, usage under the free allowance, and any account not covered by a signed uptime commitment are provided on an "as available" basis. We do not guarantee any specific uptime, availability, or performance level for those accounts.
You acknowledge that internet-based services are inherently subject to interruptions and you accept all risks associated with service availability.
The Tornado API service, including its source code, object code, design, architecture, documentation, branding, and trademarks, is owned by Velys Software and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You receive only a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to use the Service as permitted by these Terms.
You retain all rights to your own data and configurations. By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to process your API requests and associated metadata as necessary to provide the Service.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.
WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETELY SECURE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY CONTENT DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE SERVICE.
WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY ARISING FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICE FOR DETERMINING THE COPYRIGHT STATUS OR LEGALITY OF DOWNLOADING ANY PARTICULAR CONTENT. THE AVAILABILITY OF CONTENT THROUGH THE SERVICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A REPRESENTATION BY TORNADO THAT DOWNLOADING SUCH CONTENT IS LAWFUL.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, VELYS SOFTWARE AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE.
WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM: SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS, DOWNTIME, ERRORS, BUGS, DATA LOSS, FAILED DOWNLOADS, INCOMPLETE TRANSFERS, THIRD-PARTY SERVICE FAILURES, SECURITY BREACHES, CONTENT-RELATED CLAIMS, COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS AGAINST USERS, OR ANY OTHER SERVICE-RELATED ISSUES.
IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY EXCEED THE GREATER OF FIFTY US DOLLARS ($50.00) OR THE TOTAL AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO US IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM.
You agree to fully indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Velys Software, its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, partners, successors, and licensors (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, suits, proceedings, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees, court costs, and expert witness fees) arising out of or in connection with:
This indemnification obligation includes the duty to reimburse the Indemnified Parties for any and all costs of defense, regardless of the outcome of any claim or proceeding. The Indemnified Parties reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate fully with our defense of such claims.
Survival: This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination or expiration of these Terms and your use of the Service.
Our Right to Terminate: We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately, at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, at our sole discretion. Reasons may include but are not limited to: suspected violation of these Terms, receipt of a DMCA notice, suspected illegal activity, non-payment, or any conduct we deem harmful to our business or other users.
Effect of Termination: Upon termination:
Survival: Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including but not limited to: Content Responsibility (Section 5), DMCA Compliance (Section 6), Payment Terms (Section 8), Disclaimer of Warranties (Section 11), Limitation of Liability (Section 12), Indemnification (Section 13), and Governing Law (Section 16).
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time, with or without notice. Changes become effective immediately upon posting to our website. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your binding acceptance of the modified Terms. If you do not agree with the modified Terms, you must stop using the Service immediately.
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction where Velys Software is incorporated, without regard to conflict of law principles.
Mandatory Arbitration: Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising from or relating to these Terms, the Service, or your relationship with Velys Software shall be resolved exclusively through binding arbitration, not in court. You waive your right to a jury trial and your right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, or representative proceedings of any kind.
Legal Fees: In any legal proceeding related to these Terms, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees, court costs, and all associated expenses from the non-prevailing party.
If any provision of these Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, invalid, or illegal, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect. The invalidity of any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision.
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Velys Software regarding the use of the Service and supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements, representations, warranties, and understandings, whether oral or written. No oral or written statement by any representative of Velys Software shall create any obligation not expressly stated in these Terms.
For questions about these Terms, please contact us:
Velys Software
General Inquiries: support@velys.software
DMCA Notices: dmca@velys.software
Abuse Reports: abuse@velys.software
Website: velys.software