Terms of Use

1. Scope

These terms set out the conditions for using the application “Fumenru” and this website (together, the “Service”) provided by MATATABI, K.K. (the “Company”). Anyone who uses the Service (a “user”) is deemed to have agreed to these terms.

If you obtained the app from the App Store, Apple’s Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies. Where that agreement and these terms conflict, these terms prevail to the extent that agreement allows.

Personal information is handled as set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

2. Registering and managing your account

The sample scores and the blank score can be used without an account. An account, which is free, is required to read a photographed score and to save scores.

• Please register accurate information.
• You are responsible for looking after your sign-in details. They may not be lent or transferred to anyone else.
• Minors should use the Service with the consent of a parent or guardian. The same applies to paid features.
• One account per person. Accounts may not be created in order to receive free allocations more than once.

3. Sheet music and copyright

Only the following may be brought into the Service. It is your responsibility to confirm that a score falls into one of these categories.

• Sheet music to which you hold the rights
• Sheet music you have permission from the rights holder to use
• Sheet music whose copyright term has expired

The Company does not supply or distribute sheet music. Results are stored inside your own account. They are not made public or shared with other users unless you yourself use the sharing feature.

Rights in the score data produced by reading belong to you. The Company handles it only as far as is necessary to provide and store the Service and to investigate faults.

Reports of rights infringement are received through our Contact page. We review each report and, where necessary, delete the data concerned or suspend the account.

4. Sharing sheet music

The Service has a feature for sharing a score with other people. When you create a share link, anyone who has the link can open and play that score in the Service. A person who receives a shared score cannot edit or copy it.

• Only sheet music that falls into one of the categories above may be shared. Do not share beyond what the rights holder has permitted.
• You decide who receives a share link and are responsible for that choice. Anyone who has the link can open the score without further permission from you.
• You can stop sharing at any time, after which the link no longer opens the score. The same applies when you delete the score or your account.
• Where necessary, for example when infringement is suspected, the Company may suspend sharing or delete the score concerned, and may also prohibit that user from sharing anything new.
• You may publish a score so that all users of the Service can find and play it (on the public scores pages of this website, people who are not signed in can play it too). Only sheet music that falls into one of the categories above may be published, and when you publish you are asked to confirm that you hold the rights or that it is within the rights holder's permission. The title, description and name you publish must not infringe others' rights or be inappropriate. You can stop publishing at any time, and it also stops when you delete the score or the account. When you publish, you can choose to make it free or paid (viewing the notation then costs tokens). Paid publishing is covered in “Paid scores and earned tokens” below.
• If you believe a shared or published score is problematic, report it with Report in the menu of the received score or the published score. The Company reviews each report and takes the measures above where necessary. We do not send the outcome of a report to individual reporters.

5. How tokens work

“Tokens” held in your account are spent in the following cases. Playback, and viewing, editing and saving your own scores, do not spend tokens.

• When you read a photographed score
• When you view the notation of a score another user has published as paid (see “Paid scores and earned tokens”)
• When you export one of your own scores as a PDF (the amount per export is shown in the app before you export)

For reading photographed scores, the following applies.

• The number of tokens a reading costs is set by the Company, per photographed page. The app shows what a reading will cost before it starts.
• The amount is deducted when the reading request is accepted. The amount spent and the amount remaining can be checked in the app.
• If a reading fails — because of load, a bad connection, or an image that could not be read as sheet music — the Company may return the deducted amount, as it determines. A reading that succeeds but contains mistakes is not eligible for a return; mistakes can be corrected in the app.
• Tokens can be used only within the Service. They cannot be exchanged for cash or transferred to another user.

There are three kinds of tokens: those the Company gives you free of charge, those issued by purchase, and earned tokens, which you receive when a paid score of yours is bought. The app shows the remaining amount of each. When you spend tokens, free tokens are spent first, then earned tokens, then purchased tokens.

The number of tokens required to read one page may be revised as processing costs change. The app shows the current amount before a reading starts.

6. Tokens given free of charge

The Company may give out tokens free of charge from time to time, as a promotion or as an operational adjustment. Whether tokens are given, how many, and on what conditions are determined by the Company, and may be changed or discontinued.

• Tokens given free of charge are tracked separately from tokens issued by purchase and from earned tokens. They are not subject to the clawback that follows a refund (see below).
• They may not be received more than once by creating several accounts. Where we judge that this has happened, we may cancel the tokens concerned or suspend use of the Service.

7. Paid scores and earned tokens

A user who publishes a score (the “publisher”) can make it “paid”. With a paid score, playback stays free for everyone; only viewing the notation costs tokens.

• Price and purchase. The publisher sets the price within a range determined by the Company and shown on the publish screen in the app. A viewer checks the price and their balance before buying. A purchased score stays readable from the same account, including after the publisher withdraws it from sale (except where publication is stopped because of an infringement or similar, or the publisher deletes the score or the account).
• The publisher’s responsibility. Only the following may be published as paid: sheet music to which the publisher holds the copyright or other rights, sheet music the rights holder has permitted the publisher to publish and provide for a charge, and sheet music whose copyright term has expired. Even for an arrangement or a transcription, the rights in the original work remain separate. Do not publish as paid, without permission, anything that requires the permission of the original rights holder. Confirming the rights, obtaining permission, and resolving any dispute with rights holders or third parties are all the publisher’s responsibility.
• The Company’s role. The Company provides a venue (a platform) connecting publishers and viewers. It neither verifies nor warrants the rights, content, accuracy or legality of published scores. The Company provides a reporting mechanism and, where it judges that infringement is possible, stops the publication and makes the returns described below.
• Reward to the publisher. When a paid score is bought, 70% (rounded down) of the purchased tokens and earned tokens the buyer spent is granted to the publisher as earned tokens. Nothing is granted for the part of a purchase paid with tokens given free of charge. The percentage is shown on the publish screen in the app.
• Waiting period. Thirty days after the purchase, the reward is added to the publisher's balance as earned tokens (it shows up when the balance or the sales screen is opened). Until then the reward is pending: it is not part of the balance and cannot be spent. This allows for store refunds during that time.
• When a purchase is cancelled. If a store grants a refund, the Company cancels purchases of paid scores made with purchased tokens, newest first, up to the amount refunded (there is a limit to how far back this reaches). The buyer can no longer read a cancelled purchase and cannot buy it again. Any part paid with tokens given free of charge or with earned tokens is not returned to the buyer. The publisher’s reward is cancelled if still pending, or taken back from earned tokens if already granted. Taking it back can make the earned-token balance negative; it is offset by later sales. A cancelled purchase cannot be bought again.
• When publication is stopped. If the Company stops the publication of a paid score (for example because infringement is possible), or the publisher deletes the score or the account, the tokens that buyers spent are returned to them, as the same kind of tokens they were spent as. The publisher’s reward is cancelled or taken back.

How earned tokens work. Earned tokens are not tokens issued by purchase. The Company grants them to a publisher in response to a paid score being bought.

• Like other tokens, earned tokens can be used only within the Service: for reading photographed scores, viewing other users’ paid scores, and exporting scores as a PDF.
• Earned tokens cannot be exchanged for cash, refunded, or transferred to another user. They are not a payment of money to the publisher.
• Deleting your account forfeits all earned tokens, including pending ones.
• Buying your own score, from your own account or from another account you control, to generate earned tokens, or otherwise generating them improperly, is prohibited. Where we judge that this has happened, we may cancel the earned tokens, stop the publication, or suspend the account.
• The reward percentage, the waiting period and the price range may be changed for operational reasons. We will announce changes in advance, and they apply to purchases made after the change.

8. Paid features and payment

Tokens can be purchased inside the app. What is on sale, and at what price, is shown on the purchase screen in the app. The sales terms are set out in the Commercial Transaction Act notice.

• Purchases are made through in-app purchase on the App Store or Google Play. Payment terms follow the rules of each store.
• Tokens are a consumable product and cannot be restored through a purchase restore.
• Refunds follow the rules of each store. The Company cannot issue refunds directly.
• If a store grants you a refund, the Company withdraws the tokens issued by that purchase from your balance. If they have already been spent, the balance of purchased tokens goes negative and is offset against your next purchase. Tokens given free of charge and earned tokens are not withdrawn. How the owner’s reward is handled when the tokens used for a purchase are refunded is set out in “Paid scores and earned tokens” below.
• Purchased tokens do not expire. Tokens given free of charge may be given an expiry date, which will be shown in the app.
• Deleting your account forfeits all unused tokens, including those you purchased and earned tokens. No refund is made. Please check before deleting. If you have published paid scores, the tokens buyers spent are returned to them before the account is deleted.

Tokens issued by purchase are a prepaid payment instrument for own-business use under Japan’s Payment Services Act. The following is disclosed under that Act.

• Issuer: MATATABI, K.K.
• Where they can be used: within the Service (the “Fumenru” app), for reading photographed sheet music, viewing the notation of scores published as paid, and exporting a score as a PDF
• Expiry: none
• How to check the unused balance: the “Tokens” screen in the app shows the balance, its split between tokens given free of charge, earned tokens and tokens purchased, and the record of increases and decreases
• Complaints and enquiries: our Contact page, or the contact form in the app
• Points to note: no refund in cash is made (except where the Payment Services Act requires one). Tokens cannot be transferred to another person or reissued. Please look after your own sign-in details
• Terms governing use: these terms

9. Prohibited conduct

The following are prohibited when using the Service.

• Bringing in, sharing or publishing (including publishing as paid) sheet music to which you hold no rights, or for which you have no permission
• Conduct that breaks the law or offends public order and morals
• Copying, altering, disassembling, decompiling or reverse engineering the Service
• Interfering with the operation of the Service, including bulk reading by automated means and placing an excessive load on the servers
• Unauthorised access, or attempting it
• Receiving free allocations more than once by using several accounts, buying your own score yourself to generate earned tokens, or otherwise manipulating token balances improperly
• Lending, transferring or selling an account to a third party
• Infringing the rights or interests of other users, of third parties, or of the Company

Where these terms are breached, we may suspend use of the Service, delete the data concerned, or delete the account, without prior notice.

10. Suspension and changes to the Service

We may suspend all or part of the Service without prior notice in the following cases.

• Maintenance or updating of equipment
• A fault, or a suspension of a service we rely on
• Natural disaster or other force majeure that makes provision of the Service difficult

The Company may add to, change or discontinue features of the Service. Changes that materially affect users will be announced in advance.

If the Service is discontinued, we will give at least 30 days’ notice. Unused tokens issued by purchase will be refunded as required by Japan’s Payment Services Act; the method and the period for claiming will be announced together with the notice of discontinuation. Tokens given free of charge and earned tokens are not refunded.

11. Disclaimers

Reading sheet music is performed by AI recognition, and the result can contain mistakes. The Company does not warrant that the result matches the original score. What was read can be corrected in the app.

The Company does not warrant that using the Service produces any particular performance or learning outcome.

Disputes or losses arising from bringing in, sharing or publishing sheet music to which you hold no rights are for that user to resolve. The Company does not warrant the rights, content or accuracy of published scores, including paid ones.

Except where the Company is wilful or grossly negligent, the Company’s liability in connection with the Service is limited to ordinary damages and does not extend to damages arising from special circumstances. In any case, liability is capped at the amount the Company received from that user over the preceding 12 months.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of Japan.

Any dispute between the Company and a user in connection with the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the district court having jurisdiction over the location of the Company’s head office, as the court of first instance.

13. Changes to these terms

The Company may change these terms in accordance with the law. Any change will be announced by publishing the revised text and the date it takes effect on this page.

Changes that are disadvantageous to users will be announced in advance. Using the Service on or after the effective date is deemed agreement to the revised terms.