Terms of Use

Draft for legal review. A starting point for a lawyer, written from how Mhanzi actually works. It is not legal advice. Everything in [brackets] needs filling in.

Version 2026-11-01. Last updated: [date]

These terms are an agreement between you and [Company legal name] ("Mhanzi", "we"), which runs the Mhanzi app and portal. By creating an account you agree to them and to our Privacy Policy.

1. Your account

• You must be at least [13/16] years old.
• Give true details and keep your password private. You're responsible for what happens on your account.
• You can delete your account at any time in the app or portal.

2. Listening

• Mhanzi is free to listen to and is paid for by banner ads from businesses. Ads never interrupt the music and can't be closed.
• Music is for your personal listening. Don't copy, record, download outside the app, or redistribute it.
• Don't use tricks to inflate plays (bots, scripts, repeated plays to boost a song). We don't count those plays and may close the account.

3. Artists

• Your rights: you may only upload music you own or have permission to release, including samples and featured artists. You confirm this for every upload, and we keep a record of it.
• Collecting societies: you tell us, for every upload, whether any writer is a member of ZIMURA or another collecting society. Songs by members are not published on Mhanzi, because members have usually assigned their rights to the society. If a writer joins a society later, tell us.
• The licence you give us: you let us store, stream, preview (30 seconds in Discover) and display your music, cover art, name and credits on Mhanzi, worldwide, for as long as the music is on Mhanzi. You keep ownership of your music.
• Royalties: each month, [60]% of Mhanzi’s revenue (what businesses paid for ads that month) is paid to artists as royalties, shared between artists by counted plays. A play counts after 30 seconds, up to 10 times a day per listener per song, and an artist's own plays never count. Plays we find to be fraudulent are left out. Statements are made after the month ends and paid after our review, to the payout details you give us.
• Royalty splits: you can share a song's royalties with producers, writers and featured artists. Shares come out of your royalties for that song. A collaborator must accept, and an accepted split can only be ended by the collaborator or by us (for example, in a dispute).
• Taking songs down: you can take your songs down at any time. We may remove songs that break these terms or after a valid copyright complaint.

4. Businesses that advertise

• Ads must be honest, legal and suitable for a general audience. Every ad is reviewed before it runs, and we may refuse or remove any ad.
• Some kinds of ads need proof of a licence before we approve them (for example alcohol, medicines, financial services, betting).
• Plans are paid monthly in advance by the methods shown in the portal, using your payment reference. Ads run while your plan is paid. [Refund terms.]
• You're responsible for the content of your ads and the links in them.

5. What you must not do

Upload or advertise anything illegal, hateful, sexually explicit involving minors, or that infringes someone else's rights; try to break, overload or get around the security of Mhanzi; collect other people's data; or pretend to be someone else.

6. Copyright complaints

If you believe something on Mhanzi infringes your rights, email [copyright@…] with the song or ad, the work you own, and your contact details. We'll take it down while we look into it if the complaint is valid.

7. Ending things

We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms. If we close an artist's account, royalties already earned from genuine plays are still paid [unless the account was closed for fraud].

8. Liability

Mhanzi is provided as it is. As far as the law allows, we're not responsible for indirect losses, and our total responsibility to you is limited to [amount]. Nothing in these terms removes rights you have under Zimbabwean consumer law.

9. Changes

We may update these terms. We'll tell you in the app or by email before important changes take effect, and the version you agreed to is recorded with your account.

10. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe. [Courts / dispute resolution.]

Contact

[Company legal name], [address], [support@…]