Article 1 Purpose
These LINE Official Account API Terms of Use (these “Terms”) set forth the terms and conditions for use of APIs under the LINE Official Account service (the “Service”) provided by LY Corporation and LINE Plus Corporation and its affiliates as the distributor (collectively, the “Company”).
Article 2 Definitions
The terms used herein shall have the corresponding meanings assigned to them below:
(1) “LINE” means the “LINE” messenger service and related services operated by the Company.
(2) “LINE Official Account Terms of Use” means the terms of use applied to LINE Official Accounts used by the Customer.
(3) “ID, etc.” means the ID and password for the LINE account used by the Customer for use of the Service and other information necessary for use of the Service.
(4) “Customer“ means a person who consents to these Terms and develops and provides programs or systems which operate in conjunction with LINE by using the Service (such programs or systems, collectively, the “Contents Provider Server”).
(5) “User” means a person who uses LINE via the Contents Provider Server provided by the Customer.
(6) “Development Environment” means the “LINE Developers” website operated by the Company which provides necessary information for Customer to develop the Contents Provider Server, etc.
Article 3 Contractual Relationship
1. These Terms shall apply in conjunction with the LINE Official Account Terms of Use. If there is any conflict between these Terms and the LINE Official Account Terms of Use, these Terms shall be given priority.
2. The Company may modify these Terms by providing Customers with an announcement or notification to such effect, as needed.
3. A person or entity who desires to use the Service shall consent to the LINE Official Account Terms of Use and these Terms, and apply for use of the Service via the method separately designated by the Company.
4. If the agreement for use of the LINE Official Account Service with respect to the use of the Service has been terminated or the agreement has been modified such that the Service can no longer be used, the provision of the Service shall automatically terminate at the same time.
Article 4 Service; Management
1. The Customer shall manage the ID, etc. and use the Service with the due care of a prudent manager.
2. The Customer shall refer to or download the technical specifications and documents, etc. of the API, etc. (collectively, the “Company Documents, etc.”) necessary for developing the Contents Provider Server via the Development Environment or other method prescribed by the Company.
3. The Customer may designate a person who will manage the development and operations of the Service ( the “Operator”) by entering necessary items in the Development Environment. In such case, the Customer shall be liable for all acts performed by the Operator in respect of the Service, and the Company will deem the acts performed by the relevant Operator as those performed by the Customer and hold the Customer responsible under these Terms.
4. The Customer shall not permit any third parties other than the Operator to use the ID, etc. (including granting access to the Development Environment and any other operation of the Service) without obtaining prior written consent (including by e-mail) from the Company.
5. The Customer shall handle all information obtained through the use of the management tools and ID, etc. (including, without limitation, personal information; collectively, the “Information”) as confidential information and shall use the Information only within the scope necessary for using the Service.
Article 5 Matters Concerning the Contents Provider Server
1. The Customer shall develop the Contents Provider Server and make it publicly accessible at its own expense and responsibility.
2. Upon the Company’s request, the Customer shall report the project and function, etc. with respect to the development of the Contents Provider Server (the “Project Information”) in advance in writing (including by e-mail), and obtain prior consent from the Company. When instructed by the Company to make any changes, etc., the Customer shall comply with such instructions. The Company shall handle the Project Information as confidential information of the Customer.
3. The Customer shall develop the Contents Provider Server so that the conduct of the Contents Provider Server on LINE (not limited to automatically-generated conduct, and including messages, etc. which the Customer sends to Users by directly operating the Development Environment) will not be contrary to the prohibited activities, etc. as set forth in the LY Corporation Common Terms of Use. The Customer must not include, in the messages sent to Users, any links to web pages which the Customer does not substantially control and manage.
4. The Customer shall implement functions on the screen of the Contents Provider Server that can be recognized by Users (including notification by messages, etc.) to display the following items, and to obtain consent from Users where necessary. The Customer shall also comply with the items indicated to Users pursuant to items (2) to (4) of this Article 5.4.
(1) Display the Customer’s name or, if the Customer has a trade name, the trade name as the provider of the Contents Provider Server;
(2) The Customer is responsible for managing any information of Users collected through the Contents Provider Server (including, without limitation, personal information; the “User Information”) and the Customer shall, upon obtaining consent from the Users, use such User Information within the scope necessary to use the Service;
(3) If the Customer has multiple LINE Official Accounts on LINE, the Customer shall manage the User Information of each LINE Official Account separately, and will not use any User Information obtained through a particular LINE Official Account in another LINE Official Account for which the Customer has not obtained the particular User Information, unless otherwise permitted by the Company; and
(4) User Information shall be handled in accordance with the privacy policy set forth by the Customer, and functions will be implemented to enable Users to access the Customer’s privacy policy at any time.
5. The Customer shall represent and warrant the matters listed in the following items in respect of the development and operations of the Contents Provider Server:
(1) The development and operation of the Contents Provider Server meet the specifications and guidelines of the Contents Provider Server set forth in the Company Documents, etc. (including any documents or notifications issued to the Customer for similar purposes regardless of their names; the “Guidelines, etc.”) and do not fall under prohibited activities set forth in any of the Guidelines, etc.;
(2) There is no infringement of any third-party rights (including, without limitation, copyrights, moral rights, patent rights, trademark rights, design rights, utility model rights, trade secrets, honor rights, portrait rights, privacy rights, and publicity rights);
(3) The Contents Provider Server does not contain any contents which may be contrary to public order or morals (including, without limitation, excessively violent expressions, explicitly sexual expressions, and other antisocial content), or violate any laws or regulations;
(4) The system related to the Contents Provider Server developed, operated or managed by the Customer satisfies the items of the “System Management Standards” set forth by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, or the Customer implements an equivalent management system in relation to the Contents Provider Server;
(5) The information collected by the Contents Provider Server is limited to only such information as the Company determines to be necessary for the operation of the Contents Provider Server, and the Contents Provider Server shall not obtain any passwords, PIN numbers, credit card information, or other highly confidential information, or deliberately obtain any information relating to Users’ privacy; and
(6) The Information shall not be provided or publicly disclosed to any third parties other than the Operator and shall be managed separately with respect to each LINE Official Account.
6. In the event that the Company determines that the actions of the Contents Provider Server may violate or be inappropriate in light of any terms of use or Guidelines, etc., the Company may instruct the Customer to rectify such violations or inappropriate actions, or require an examination of the Contents Provider Server, even after the Contents Provider Server commences the operation. The Customer must accept and provide the necessary cooperation with such examination, and must promptly comply with instructions from the Company.
7. In the event that the Customer receives complaints, etc. from any third party (including a User), or a security incident or an accident such as a leakage of personal information, etc. arises from the Contents Provider Server which is made public by the Customer, the Customer shall promptly notify the Company of such matters in writing (including by e-mail). If separately requested by the Company, the Customer shall provide a reasonably detailed report to the Company on the claim or the event.
8. If a dispute arises between a Customer and a third party (including a User) due to the Contents Provider Server developed by such Customer, such dispute shall be processed and resolved by the Customer at its own responsibility and expense. The Company shall not be involved in such dispute in any way, including through intermediation.
9. The Customer shall comply with the LINE User Data Policy for matters not set forth in these Terms regarding treatment of User Information. If these Terms conflict with the LINE User Data Policy, these Terms shall be given priority.
Article 6 Ownership and Use of Rights
1. Intellectual property rights, including copyrights to the Company Documents, etc., shall belong to the Company, and the Customer shall not reprint, transfer, copy, disclose, transmit, distribute, assign, lend, translate or adapt the Company Documents, etc. without the Company’s prior consent.
2. The rights to the information on LINE regarding Users obtained by the Customer through the use of the Service, including the Development Environment (including, without limitation, Users’ names, nicknames, LINE IDs, images for icons, status messages, images and identifiers of Users, etc.), shall belong to the Company, and the Customer may only use such information within the scope of the purpose of the Service.
3. The rights to the information obtained by the Customer through the Contents Provider Server (messages and other additional information sent and received between Users and the Contents Provider Server via LINE (but excluding information held by the Company as stipulated under the preceding two paragraphs; the “Contents Provider Server Communicated Information”) shall belong to the Customer, and the Company shall not be obliged to protect any Contents Provider Server Communicated Information.
4. In the event that the Customer makes any inventions, devices or creations in connection with the development or operation of the Contents Provider Server (each, an “Invention, etc.”), the Customer shall notify the Company of such Invention, etc. in writing, and the parties shall separately discuss and decide the ownership of the rights relating to the Invention, etc. (including patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, and copyrights, etc.). In the event of filing an application for a patent, etc. (including filings for patents, utility models and designs, etc., and including foreign applications) regarding any Invention, etc., the applicant shall be determined by discussion between the Customer and the Company in advance.
5. Even if it is determined that the right to an Invention, etc. belongs to the Customer, the Customer shall, upon the Company’s request, grant the Company or any other third party designated by the Company (the “Licensee”) a right to work or use the Invention, etc. (including for the Licensee’s development and use of their own software, etc. or allowing other third parties to use such software, etc.), without geographical or term limitation and free of charge, and the Customer shall not exercise its moral rights against the Company or the Licensee.
6. In the event that the development and operation management of the Service is to be conducted by the Operator, the Customer shall set forth necessary provisions in the contract between the Customer and the Operator to avoid any interference with the treatment pursuant to the preceding two paragraphs.
7. The Customer shall consent in advance to the fact that the Contents Provider Server Communicated Information may be stored in the Users’ devices, and used by Users on a continuous basis.
Article 7 Suspension and Discontinuance
1. The Company provides no express or implied guarantee that the Service is free from factual or legal defects (including, without limitation, those in relation to safety, reliability, accuracy, completeness, validity, fitness for a certain purpose, legal compliance to use for certain purposes, defects related to security, etc., errors and bugs, or infringement of rights).
2. The Company may suspend or discontinue all or part of the Service if any of the items listed below occur. In such event, the Company shall make reasonable efforts to minimize the effect of the suspension or discontinuance of the Service on the Customer and Users.
(1) When conducting inspection, maintenance, or construction, etc. of the equipment used for the Service;
(2) If a failure of the equipment used for the Service occurs; or
(3) If it becomes impossible to use telecommunications services for reasons attributable to the services provided by telecommunications carriers.
3. In the event that the Company determines that the Customer falls or is likely to fall under any of the following items, the Company may suspend or discontinue the provision of all or the part of the Service without the need to provide any notification to the Customer:
(1) If the Customer falls under any of the prohibited matters under the LY Corporation Common Terms of Use, the LINE Official Account Terms of Use, or these Terms, or any other prohibited matters prescribed by the Company;
(2) If the Customer fails to pay any of the usage fees for the Service;
(3) If the Customer has used the Service for any illegal purpose;
(4) If the Company believes that the Customer has fallen under credit impairment, including, without limitation, cases where the Customer files for or becomes subject to a petition for bankruptcy or civil rehabilitation proceedings;
(5) If the Customer cannot be contacted for reasons not attributable to the Company;
(6) If User information is improperly collected;
(7) If there is a failure to comply with any of the Guidelines, etc.;
(8) If any claims are made directly against the Company or any claims are made against the Customer or the Company on any media (including, without limitation, social media, etc.) upon the Customer’s use of the Service; or
(9) If the Company otherwise determines it to be inappropriate.
4. In the event that Users cannot send or receive a message or any other correspondence to or from the Contents Provider Server due to the congestion or disruption of communications between LINE and the Contents Provider Server because of the Contents Provider Server or telecommunications equipment of the Customer which works in collaboration with the Contents Provider Server, the Company may, at its discretion, delete all or part of the relevant correspondence, and may suspend or discontinue all or part of the provision of the Service without prior notice to the Customer.
5. Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, if the Company determines that the Customer falls under any of the following items, the Company may suspend or discontinue all or part of the Service after thirty (30) days have passed since the day when the Company provides a written notice (including e-mail) unless the Customer otherwise raises an objection by the end of such period.
(1) The Contents Provider Server developed and made public by the Customer has not accessed LINE for six (6) months or longer; or
(2) The Customer has not accessed the development screen for six (6) months or longer.
6. The Customer acknowledges and consents in advance that the suspension or discontinuance of the provision of the Service to the Customer may have an effect on the communication between LINE and the Contents Provider Server, and that the Contents Provider Server may not function properly due to such suspension or discontinuance.
7. The Company shall not be liable for any damages to the Customer or Users caused by the suspension or discontinuance of the provision of the Service, including LINE, regardless of the reason for such suspension or discontinuance.
Article 8 Confirmation of Compliance
The Customer represents and warrants that the Customer has made inquiries in advance to the competent governmental organizations which may be reasonably foreseen to, or do in fact, regulate the relevant services, and has confirmed that the provision of the relevant services provided through the Service to Users does not violate any laws and regulations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Customer is not obliged to conduct such inquiry or confirmation to the extent that there is no law which regulates the relevant services. After the commencement of use of the Service, the Customer will continuously confirm the legitimacy of providing the relevant services to Users. In the event that the Customer breaches any of these confirmation obligations and the provision of the relevant services to the Users through the Service is found to be illegal, the Company may forthwith suspend or discontinue use of the Service, and shall bear no responsibility for any damages incurred by the Customer caused by such suspension or discontinuance. In addition, if the provision of the relevant services through the Service was illegal, the Customer will immediately provide full compensation to the Company for the damage incurred by the Company and for the adequate amounts for damages the Company is required to make payment for to third parties (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees).
Article 9 Measures after Termination
Upon the termination of the use of the Service by the Customer or the termination of the provision of the Service to the Customer, the Customer will forthwith destroy the information which the Company has rights to as provided for in Article 6.2, the information which the Customer has rights to as provided for in Article 6.3, and the Company Documents, etc. The details of the procedures for the destruction of the information as provided for in Articles 6.2 and 6.3 shall be subject to the LINE User Data Policy.