Terms of Service

The purpose of these Terms is to set out the rights, obligations and responsibilities of BlackTiggle (the “Company”) and its users, the conditions and procedures for use, and other necessary matters, in connection with the use of the language learning content and ancillary services that the Company provides through blacktiggle.com and its related applications (collectively, the “Service”).

(1) “Service” means the image-based vocabulary learning content, speech synthesis playback, spaced repetition review, exam preparation vocabulary tracks, learning records and statistics, and all other services incidental thereto provided by the Company, regardless of the type of device used for access.

(2) “User” means a member or non-member who uses the Service under these Terms.

(3) “Member” means a person who has provided personal information to the Company through third-party authentication (such as a Google account), has created an account, and is thereby able to use the Service on a continuing basis.

(4) “Free use” means the use of the Service by a member without consideration within the scope determined by the Company (Article 7). Membership registration is required in order to use the learning features.

(5) “Paid Services” means the services used upon payment of the consideration set by the Company, and includes the monthly plan, the annual plan, the family plan and the lifetime plan.

(6) “Plan” means the entitlement to use the Paid Services and is classified, according to the product, as an automatically renewing subscription (monthly, annual and family) or as a one-time purchase (lifetime).

(7) “Content” means all text, images, audio, video, databases and compilations thereof posted or provided within the Service.

(1) The Company shall post these Terms on the initial screen of the Service or on a linked screen so that users may readily review them.

(2) The Company may amend these Terms to the extent that the amendment does not violate applicable law, including the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions, the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Etc., and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc.

(3) Where the Company amends these Terms, it shall give notice from seven (7) days before the effective date, specifying the effective date and the reasons for the amendment. However, where the amendment is unfavorable to users or is material, the Company shall give notice from thirty (30) days before the effective date and shall additionally notify members by individual means such as electronic mail.

(4) Where, in giving the notice under paragraph (3), the Company has also stated to the effect that “a user who does not consent to the amendment may terminate the service agreement by the day before the effective date, and that, in the absence of any expression of intent, the user shall be deemed to have consented”, and the user has not expressly refused, the user shall be deemed to have consented to the amended Terms.

(1) The service agreement is formed when a user, having consented to these Terms, applies to use the Service and the Company accepts that application.

(2) The Company may refuse to accept, or may subsequently terminate the service agreement in respect of, an application falling under any of the following subparagraphs:

1. where the application is made by misappropriating another person’s name or information;

2. where required information is stated falsely in the application;

3. where the application is made for the purpose of interfering with the Company’s normal provision of the Service;

4. where the applicant’s service agreement has previously been terminated for breach of these Terms;

5. where a person under 14 years of age applies without the consent of a legal representative;

6. where the application otherwise violates applicable law or fails to satisfy the application requirements set by the Company.

(1) A member’s account is linked to an account held with a third-party authentication provider, and a member may not transfer, lend or pledge the member’s account to a third party.

(2) Responsibility for the management of an account rests with the member, and the Company shall not be liable for any damage arising from a member’s negligent management of the account or from a member permitting a third party to use it, unless the Company has acted with willful misconduct or gross negligence.

(3) A member shall notify the Company immediately upon becoming aware of any misappropriation of account information or of any unauthorized use by a third party, and shall follow the Company’s instructions.

(1) The Company shall, in principle, provide the Service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

(2) The Company may temporarily suspend all or part of the Service in the event of system inspection, expansion or replacement, equipment failure, a surge in use of the Service, a national emergency, a power failure, suspension of service by a telecommunications carrier, or any other event of force majeure.

(3) The Company may change the content, method of use and hours of use of the Service, in which case it shall give prior notice of the changes and of the effective date. However, Article 3(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to changes that are unfavorable to users.

(4) The Company may add to, change or discontinue the composition of the Content included in the Service, such as the learning languages, the number of vocabulary items, art styles, voices and exam tracks, for the purpose of improving the Service. However, the Company shall not reduce it in a manner that impairs the essential content of a plan already paid for.

(1) So that users may verify the quality of the Service in advance, the Company provides free use to the following extent:

1. limited to Unit 1 of each language track, the learning of the first 10 word cards and the quizzes on those cards;

2. the entire writing system (alphabet, kana, Cyrillic and the like) learning track;

3. audio playback, playback speed control and art-style change for the cards under item 1.

(2) The scope under paragraph (1) may be changed in accordance with the Company’s service policy, and any such change shall be notified in accordance with Article 3.

(3) The Company does not provide a separate free trial period. The free use under paragraph (1) is provided on a continuing basis with no time limit, and users may therefore fully verify the content and quality of the Service before making any payment.

(1) The types, prices, periods of use and scope of provision of the Paid Services shall be as displayed on the payment screen within the Service.

(2) Payments are processed through Polar Software Inc. and are charged in United States dollars (USD). Where payment is made with a card issued in Korea, the foreign payment exchange rate and fee policy of the card issuer applies, and the amount actually billed in Korean won may therefore differ.

(3) The monthly, annual and family plans are automatically renewing subscriptions and are charged automatically at each billing cycle unless the user cancels.

(4) Cancellation is available at any time on the subscription management screen within the Service, and even after cancellation the user may continue to use the Service until the end of the period already paid for.

(5) The lifetime plan is a one-time purchase and may be used without any time limit for so long as the Company continues to operate the Service. The lifetime plan includes, at no additional charge, the language tracks, vocabulary, art styles and features added to the Service after payment.

(6) The monthly plan provides unlimited learning in one language track selected by the user; the selection is fixed upon first use and may not be changed thereafter. The scope of free use under Article 7 continues to apply to languages not selected.

(7) Where a minor has made a payment without the consent of a legal representative, the minor or the legal representative may cancel that payment.

(1) A user may withdraw a subscription within seven (7) days from the date of payment or from the date on which the Service became available for use, in accordance with Article 17 of the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Etc.

(2) However, pursuant to subparagraph 5 of Article 17(2) of the same Act and Article 21 of its Enforcement Decree, withdrawal of subscription is restricted where the provision of digital content has commenced. In this Service, “where provision has commenced” means the case in which, after paying, the user has viewed one or more learning cards beyond the scope of free use, or has used a premium-only feature (smart review, shuffle mode, Unit 2 or above, or page 2 or above of an exam track) on one or more occasions.

(3) In place of a separate free trial period, the Company enables users to verify the quality of the Service fully before payment by means of free use with no time limit under Article 7. Accordingly, a refund on the ground that the Service “was not what I expected once I tried it” is not granted as a rule.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the Company shall make a full refund in the cases falling under the following subparagraphs:

1. where withdrawal is requested within seven (7) days and no act commencing use under paragraph (2) has occurred at all after payment;

2. where the Service could not be used normally for reasons attributable to the Company;

3. where performance differs from what was labeled or advertised, or differs from the terms of the contract (in which case, within three (3) months from the date on which the Service became available for use and within thirty (30) days from the date on which the user became aware, or could have become aware, of that fact);

4. where the payment was made by manifest mistake, such as a duplicate or erroneous payment.

(5) Where an annual or family plan is terminated early after use has commenced, the Company shall refund the balance remaining after deducting, for the period already elapsed, an amount calculated on the basis of the list price of the monthly plan, together with the payment processing fees. Where the resulting refund amount is nil or negative, no refund shall be made.

(6) The lifetime plan is, by its nature, non-refundable once use has commenced. This shall not apply, however, in the cases falling under any subparagraph of paragraph (4).

(7) Refunds shall in principle be processed to the original method of payment and may take three (3) to ten (10) business days depending on the processing procedures of the payment service provider.

(8) Refund requests are received through the 1:1 inquiry function within the Service, and the Company shall notify the user of the outcome within three (3) business days from the date of receipt.

(9) Where a user has their habitual residence in a country other than the Republic of Korea and the consumer protection laws of that country guarantee, as mandatory rules, rights more favorable to the user than those under this Article (for example, the 14-day right of withdrawal in the European Union and the United Kingdom), those rules shall apply in priority to this Article. Even in that case, where the user has expressly consented to the commencement of the provision of digital content during the withdrawal period and has acknowledged the loss of the right of withdrawal, the matter shall be governed by that law.

(1) A user shall not engage in any of the following acts:

1. using Content posted in the Service by means of reproduction, distribution, transmission, publication, the creation of derivative works or any similar method, without the Company’s prior written consent;

2. using automated means (crawlers, scrapers, bots and the like) to collect the Content of the Service in bulk or to call its APIs;

3. circumventing or disabling the access restrictions or plan verification of the Service;

4. infringing the intellectual property rights, reputation or privacy of the Company or of a third party;

5. interfering with the stable operation of the Service;

6. sharing a single account among multiple persons (excluding the defined scope of the family plan).

(2) Where a breach of paragraph (1) is confirmed, the Company may restrict use of the Service or terminate the service agreement without prior notice, in which case no refund shall be made in respect of the remaining period of use.

(1) Copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Service and the Content belong to the Company.

(2) A user shall not use information obtained through use of the Service for commercial purposes, or allow a third party to use it, by means of reproduction, transmission, publication, distribution, broadcasting or any other method, without the Company’s prior consent.

(3) The Company may use the feedback, error reports and inquiries posted or transmitted by users within the Service for the purpose of improving the Service.

The Company protects users’ personal information in accordance with applicable law, and the specific matters concerning the processing of personal information are governed by the separate Privacy Policy.

(1) The Company shall not be liable where it is unable to provide the Service due to a natural disaster, force majeure, causes attributable to the user, suspension of service by a telecommunications carrier or any similar cause.

(2) The Company exercises considerable care as to the accuracy of the learning content provided in the Service, but does not guarantee any language learning outcome or a pass in any particular examination.

(3) The exam preparation vocabulary tracks have been classified by the Company itself with reference to the published vocabulary standards and question trends of each examination. They are not official materials of the body administering the examination, and the Company is not in any affiliation, sponsorship or certification relationship with that body.

(4) Unless the Company has acted with willful misconduct or gross negligence, the Company’s liability for damages shall be limited to the fees paid by the user concerned to the Company during the preceding twelve (12) months.

(1) Any dispute arising between the Company and a user shall, in principle, be resolved through mutual consultation.

(2) Where consultation is not reached, the user may apply for mediation to a consumer dispute mediation body under the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Etc., or to the Korea Consumer Agency.

(3) These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea, and where an action is brought, the court having jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Act shall be the competent court. However, where the user is a consumer and the mandatory rules of the country of the user’s habitual residence confer jurisdiction on the courts of that country or guarantee the application of that country’s consumer protection laws, those rules shall apply.

(1) These Terms have been drawn up in Korean and may be provided in translation into other languages for the convenience of users.

(2) Where there is any difference in interpretation between a translation and the Korean text, the Korean text shall prevail. However, where the laws of the country of the user’s habitual residence require contractual terms in the language of that country, those laws shall apply.