Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of helical.video (the “Service”), operated by Helical Video(“Helical,” “we,” “us”). By uploading a video, placing an order, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Helical converts a digital video you upload into an authentic analog pass: your file is physically played out and recorded onto real VHS (or S-VHS) tape on a single automated deck, then the tape is rewound and digitized back to a downloadable file. The process runs automatically end to end. Recording, digitizing, and quality checks are unattended, though the operator occasionally intervenes for things like tape changes or deck maintenance. No artificial or software-simulated “VHS effect” is applied; the artifacts you receive (dropouts, tracking noise, color bleed, etc.) come from a real tape pass and will vary between orders.

You place an order by supplying an email address at checkout. To later view, approve, or decline that order, you sign in via a one-time magic link sent to that same email. There is no password for customer accounts. You're responsible for keeping access to that inbox secure, since anyone who can click the link can act on the order.

Only the email address associated with an order may view its details or take approve/decline action on it; possessing the order link or ID alone is not sufficient.

You retain ownership of the video you upload and of the converted file we deliver back to you. We claim no rights to your content beyond what's needed to run it through the conversion process and store it temporarily as described in our Privacy Policy.

You represent that you own the content you upload, or have all rights and permissions necessary to have it reproduced onto physical tape and digitized back on your behalf, and that doing so does not infringe any third party's copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights, and does not violate any law.

You may not upload content that is illegal, that depicts or sexualizes minors, that infringes someone else's intellectual property, that contains malware or is designed to exploit our systems, or that you don't have the rights to have processed in this way. We may refuse, cancel, or fail an order that we reasonably believe violates this section, at our discretion and without a full explanation, given the automated nature of the pipeline.

Price is calculated automatically from the duration of your video at the time you upload it. At checkout, we place an authorization hold on your card for the order total via Stripe. You are not charged at this point. The hold is only captured (i.e., you are actually charged) after your tape pass completes and you approve the preview, per Section 6.

Because the physical round trip can take longer than a standard card hold remains valid, we may automatically re-authorize a fresh hold on the same payment method as an in-progress order approaches that limit, releasing the old hold once the new one is in place. If an automatic re-authorization fails (for example, a declined card or a hold requiring additional verification), we'll email you to update your payment method or contact support; the order will not progress further until that's resolved.

Once your tape pass and quality check are complete, we generate a reduced-quality preview of the result and notify you that it's ready to review. The preview is intentionally not the full-resolution deliverable, so that reviewing it doesn't give you the finished file before payment is captured.

If you approve the preview, your payment hold is captured immediately and you're given a link to download the full-quality file.

If you decline the preview, your payment hold is released and you are not charged. Declined orders do not produce a deliverable file.

Once you approve an order, your download link remains valid for 30 days from the date of approval. We recommend downloading your file promptly. We do not guarantee the file remains available, or that we can reissue a link, after that 30-day window closes.

Typical turnaround is 24–48 hours from upload to preview, including weekends, but this is an estimate, not a guarantee. Because the Service depends on a physical tape deck and queued capacity, actual turnaround can vary with order volume, deck maintenance, or tape/quality issues that require a retry.

If a tape pass has a quality problem (a jam, dropout, or similar), we may automatically retry your order on a later pass. After a limited number of retries, an order that still can't be completed is marked failed rather than retried indefinitely. An order that fails before you've approved a preview is never captured. Nothing is charged for it. If you believe you were charged for an order that did not complete successfully, contact us at [email protected].

Because payment is only captured after you've reviewed and approved a preview of the actual result, orders are generally non-refundable once approved. If you believe there was an error in processing, billing, or the delivered file, contact [email protected], and we'll look into it on a case-by-case basis.

You agree not to, and not to attempt to:

• circumvent, probe, or overload our upload, checkout, or account endpoints, including via automated tools or scripts;
• misrepresent the duration, source, or ownership of a video you upload in order to obtain incorrect pricing;
• access, or attempt to access, an order that is not associated with your own email address;
• use the Service to process content on behalf of someone else without their knowledge and permission; or
• interfere with the operation of the Service or the physical equipment it depends on.

We use automated rate limiting on upload, checkout, and related endpoints to protect the Service from abuse, and we may suspend or terminate access for accounts or activity that violate this section.

We rely on third-party providers to operate the Service, including Stripe for payment processing. Your use of the Service is also subject to those providers' own terms where applicable. See our Privacy Policy for more detail.

The Service is provided “as is.” Because the output comes from a physical, mechanical tape recording and playback process, the specific visual and audio artifacts in your result (dropouts, tracking noise, color shift, and similar) are inherent to the medium, will vary between orders, and are not defects. We make no warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or produce a specific visual outcome.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Helical's total liability for any claim arising from your use of the Service is limited to the amount you paid for the order giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages.

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, including cancelling an in-progress order, if we reasonably believe you've violated these Terms.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated “Last updated” date on this page. Continued use of the Service after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected].