Terms of Service

Effective Date: March 2026

Welcome to City in Frames. By registering an account, booking a shoot, accepting an assignment, or utilizing our platform in any capacity, you agree to be bound by the following Terms of Service. City in Frames operates as a managed digital marketplace connecting Clients with independent Professional Photographers, while managing all post-production and delivery internally.

1. User Roles & Responsibilities

• Clients (Users): You are authorized to book sessions, authorize deposits via Stripe, and communicate with your assigned Photographer. You agree to provide accurate scheduling and location details.
• Photographers (Pros): You act as vetted independent contractors. You are responsible for maintaining your availability calendar, executing the shoot professionally, and uploading uncompressed RAW files to the platform immediately following the session.
• Editing Team & Admin: City in Frames retains total control over the post-production process. Internal editors handle all color grading and retouching, subject to final Quality Assurance (QA) review by the Command Center before delivery.

2. Bookings, Payments & Cancellations

The platform relies on a secure financial infrastructure to protect both Clients and Professionals:

• Deposits: A non-refundable 20% deposit, securely processed via Stripe, is required to confirm a booking and dispatch the assignment to a Professional. The remaining balance is handled according to your specific package terms.
• 48-Hour Cancellation Policy: To protect the time and travel commitments of our Photographers, Clients cannot independently cancel a booking within 48 hours of the scheduled shoot time. Cancellations requested within this 48-hour window require direct Admin intervention and may result in forfeiture of the deposit.

3. Photographer Payouts & Escrow

City in Frames acts as the secure financial intermediary for all assignments:

• The Wallet System: Upon completion of a job, funds are credited to the Photographer's internal digital wallet. Payouts are calculated dynamically minus the agreed-upon platform commission.
• Clearance Policy: To ensure client satisfaction, funds are held in escrow. Earnings are officially cleared and made available for withdrawal after the RAW files have been uploaded and the final gallery is approved by our QA team.

4. The Post-Production Workflow

To guarantee an elite, standardized aesthetic across the City in Frames brand, the production workflow is strictly managed:

• No Freelance Editing: Photographers are prohibited from editing the photos themselves. All RAW files must be uploaded to our cloud servers via the Pro Terminal.
• Quality Assurance: Galleries are not released to the Client until they pass internal Command Center QA, ensuring the highest visual fidelity.

5. Intellectual Property Rights

For Photographers: You retain the foundational copyright to your raw images. By uploading them to our servers, you grant City in Frames an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to edit, color-grade, host, and distribute these specific deliverables to the Client.

For Clients: Upon receiving your secure gallery link, City in Frames grants you a broad, non-exclusive license to download, print, and display the final images for personal use. Commercial licensing must be negotiated via separate agreements.

6. Independent Contractor Relationship

Photographers utilizing the platform are strictly independent contractors. City in Frames is a technology platform and marketplace; we are not an employer, photography agency, or talent management firm. Photographers are solely responsible for their own equipment, travel, safety, taxes, and conduct during a shoot. City in Frames assumes no liability for the actions, omissions, or conduct of any user or Photographer, either online or offline.

7. Limitation of Liability (Disclaimer)

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, City in Frames, its owners, administrators, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from (a) your access to or use of or inability to access or use the platform; (b) any conduct or content of any third party on the platform, including any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users or photographers; (c) any physical injury, property damage, or dispute arising during an in-person photography session; or (d) the loss, corruption, or failure to store any images, files, or media assets.

In no event shall the aggregate liability of City in Frames exceed the total amount paid by you to City in Frames for the specific service giving rise to the claim.

8. Force Majeure & Data Loss

City in Frames is not liable for failure to perform its obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, server outages, cloud infrastructure failures (e.g., AWS downtime), or corrupted digital storage media (e.g., a Photographer's SD card failing). Users and Photographers are highly encouraged to maintain their own personal backups of all media assets.