Terms Of Service

These general conditions govern every service offered through our website and our app, which together we call our platforms. They do not cover the purchase of physical products such as the Toniebox or individual Tonies, since those sales are handled through the websites of our partners. The agreement is made between tonies GmbH, located at Oststraße 119, 40210 Düsseldorf, Germany, represented by its managing directors, and you as the customer. A customer here means any consumer within the meaning of the German Civil Code, and the same terms also extend to educational institutions such as day care centres, schools and special schools.

Our offers are intended for adults, so we do not sell services to minors. Anyone under eighteen may use our platforms and the services offered there only with the help of a parent or legal guardian. Anything shown on our website or in our app is not a binding offer but an invitation for you to make an offer. Through the audio library you can choose and order audio content for Tonies you already own. Free content can be obtained by clicking the assign button and selecting a Tonie suited to that content, while paid content is received once you click buy now, complete the ordering process and we accept your order by providing the content. You may retrieve and print these terms at any time by clicking the relevant link at the bottom of the website and in the app, or directly during your order. Your order represents an offer to us and completes the purchasing process on your side. Once you place an order for paid audio library content, we send an automatic message confirming receipt and listing the details. That confirmation only tells you we have received your order and does not amount to acceptance. We may accept your offer within five days of the confirmation, after which it is treated as rejected even without an express statement. Contracts for audio library content are concluded when performance begins, meaning that after you order, and after payment where required, we assign the ordered content to your account, and that provision of the content is our acceptance.

You have the right to withdraw from a purchase contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The period runs from the day you or a third party named by you, other than the carrier, took possession of the goods, or in the case of partial delivery, the last delivery. To exercise this right you must notify us clearly, by letter or email, of your decision to withdraw. A withdrawal form is provided but is not mandatory. To meet the deadline, it is enough to send the notification before the period expires. If you withdraw, all payments we received from you, including delivery charges except extra costs from choosing a different delivery method, will be refunded promptly and at the latest within fourteen days from the day your notice reaches us. We use the same means of payment as in the original transaction unless agreed otherwise, and you will not be charged fees for the repayment. We may withhold the refund until we have received the goods back or you have shown proof of return, whichever comes first. You must send the goods back promptly and no later than fourteen days from the day you inform us of the withdrawal. If the withdrawal concerns a bundle, the whole bundle must be returned. You bear the direct cost of returning the goods, and you are liable only for diminished value resulting from handling beyond what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the items. The right of withdrawal expires for digital content not supplied on a physical carrier once we begin performing your order, provided you expressly agreed that we may start before the withdrawal period ends and you confirmed that you lose your right of withdrawal by that agreement. This applies to audio library content.

All prices include all taxes, and the prices shown next to a product at the time of order apply. We try to keep prices correct, and if we discover a mistake in a product you ordered and the correct price is lower, we honour the order at the lower price. If the correct price is higher, we inform you as soon as possible so you can confirm or reject the order at the correct price, and if we cannot reach you the order is treated as rejected, with any prepaid amounts refunded in full. We accept credit and debit cards from Visa and Mastercard, as well as payment through PayPal. Card payments are processed by our payment service provider, and when you order you transmit your card data to that provider. After you are verified as a legitimate cardholder, the payment transaction is initiated and carried out automatically by your card company. To pay with PayPal, you select it at the end of the ordering process and log into your PayPal account on the PayPal website, to which you are redirected, and the payment occurs with your confirmation of the payment instruction. Our provider supplies the technical interface that allows payments with PayPal, and for authentication we transmit your name and email address to that provider. Statutory warranty rights and rules of limitation apply.

We reserve the right to change, pause or end our services on our platforms without informing you in advance, and to change or adapt these terms at any time. This does not affect your entitlement to use digital content you have already acquired. The version of the terms current at the time of use or order applies, and you accept it when you complete the ordering process. If you hold an account and use mytonies, we may change these terms for legal or regulatory reasons, for security or safety reasons, to develop or optimise existing features or add new ones, to reflect technological progress, to make technical changes, or to safeguard the future functioning of our service, provided the change does not place you at an unreasonable disadvantage. We announce changes accordingly and, depending on the change, seek your explicit consent. Minor changes without material effect on your rights are posted on our website, while changes that materially affect your rights are notified by email or by presenting new terms for acceptance. If you keep using mytonies after the relevant change is announced, we assume you consent unless you object within thirty days of the announcement. You may object in writing during that period and stop using mytonies by notifying us, in which case your account will also be deleted.

We are not liable for technical failures caused by circumstances outside our responsibility or by agents, nor for damage resulting from force majeure. We disclaim liability for content you upload for your Creative Tonies, in particular regarding its compliance with applicable law, including copyright, personality rights or competition law, applicable case law or common decency, and we do not guarantee that you hold all necessary rights to use uploaded files. We are neither responsible nor liable for deleting files you upload or for storing them, and you must keep your content elsewhere if you want it safely on a permanent basis. We are not liable if Creative Tonies you use end up physically in the hands of unauthorised persons, giving them access to your files. We are also not liable for deleting your files or account where these terms, legal regulations or third party rights are violated, or where other objectively justified grounds compel us. In general we assume unlimited liability for damage caused intentionally or through gross negligence by us, our legal representatives or our agents. We are liable for negligent violation of duties essential to the performance of the relevant contracts, but only where the damage is foreseeable and typical for that type of contract. Those duties are ones whose violation jeopardises the purpose of the contract or whose fulfilment is essential for proper execution and can regularly be expected. We assume no further liability for negligence. These limitations also apply to the personal liability of our employees, legal representatives and agents. They do not apply in cases of loss of life, physical injury or damage to health, acceptance of a guarantee for a product’s suitability, or fraudulent concealment of product defects. Our liability under the German Product Liability Act remains unaffected.

German law applies, excluding the UN Sales Convention and conflict of law rules, though for consumers German law applies only to the extent it does not restrict legal provisions of the country where you are resident or have your primary residence. For educational institutions that form part of our childcare and nursery project, the place of jurisdiction is Düsseldorf, Germany. These terms are produced in English. The European Commission maintains a platform for online dispute resolution in consumer complaints against online merchants, reachable at the relevant internet address. We are not prepared or obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board, though we are always interested in finding a mutually acceptable solution, so please contact us directly. If any provision of these terms is or becomes unlawful or unenforceable, the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions are not affected.

In general you can use our platforms without registering. To set up your Toniebox and use the special functions within mytonies, as well as to simplify the ordering process, access your order history and simplify data management, you need an account. We make it possible to register through a single sign on server on our websites, which means you can log into both the online shops and mytonies with the same log in details once you have registered and authenticated. There is no fundamental right to open an account. To register you only need an email address and a password, and you must acknowledge these terms and our data protection policy, which are displayed during registration and can be read, printed or saved at any time. After we receive your registration you will get a confirmation email containing a verification link, and you must complete verification to finalise registration. Only then can you use the same log in details to enter the online shop and mytonies, set up your Toniebox and use the other functions and advantages of your account. Once registration is complete, a customer number and a support ID are created, accessible in your account, and you should keep this information safe because it is the only way to identify yourself if you forget your access data.

You must ensure the information you provide at registration is complete and correct, and if it is not, we may close your account without notice. You are obliged to protect your access entitlement and to inform us immediately of any unauthorised use or indications of it, and to change your log in details. If your account is misused, we reserve the right to close it immediately and take legal action. Multiple registrations are not permitted. If you close your account, your audio library content and the files you uploaded for your Creative Tonies will be deleted after cancelling, along with your order history and any personal information provided voluntarily or to place orders. It is impossible to transfer this information to another user before cancelling.

Some functions and services cannot be used without registration. Registration allows you, for example, to record audio files on Creative Tonies. mytonies is a network based server system that communicates and exchanges data with the Toniebox, and all of our digital content sits in mytonies. To use the Toniebox it must be connected to the internet by Wi-Fi when first set up and then verified by the Toniecloud using its device ID, affixed to the bottom. If you wish to send new content to your Toniebox, such as a new Tonie or audio library content, the device must be connected to mytonies through an internet connection. Once set up, the Toniebox can be operated without a connection, but only with content previously downloaded and stored on it. In this way we ensure technically that content can only be downloaded with existing authorisation, so use entirely without an internet connection is impossible. You must create an account if you wish to set up a Toniebox or use other functions, which lets you play back Tonies, fill your Creative Tonies with your own content, or buy new audio library content and assign it to your Tonies. You will need an internet connection to the Toniecloud using a smartphone, tablet or computer, or the app for Android and iOS. You can invite other people, such as family, friends or relatives, to your household so they can participate and modify specific functions. It is not possible to use or set up a Toniebox without first creating an account, and if the account is deleted after initial setup, those functions can no longer be used, leaving only Tonies whose content is already downloaded. You need a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer with Wi-Fi or internet capability to use a Toniebox, and we provide services based only on the hardware and software requirements typical for technology at the given point in time.

Once you have opened your account, you can upload audio files for your Creative Tonies using the app or our websites. Our server converts these into the required audio format and makes them available for playback. The data you originally upload is automatically deleted after seven days, while the converted data is stored in mytonies. You can upload new files as often as you like. Once the maximum run time of ninety minutes is reached for each Creative Tonie, you must delete old files so they can be replaced. We do not save old data, though for technical reasons converted data is stored for at least seven days following conversion even if you delete it beforehand. We reserve the right to randomly sample the data you upload and check whether it potentially violates applicable law, applicable case law or common decency, and if we find such a violation we reserve the right to delete your data and cancel your account. With your Creative Tonie you can, beyond assigning and playing your own content, obtain audio plays or songs through the audio library. To receive audio library content you must have a Creative Tonie, and if you have several you can choose among them and assign the desired content to a favourite one. New paid content temporarily replaces your existing playlist, while the last version before the assignment remains stored and can be restored by you at any time, though it is not playable for the duration in which the purchased content is assigned. Free content is added to your existing playlist and remains playable. Free content can be assigned to multiple Creative Tonies at once, while purchased content can only be assigned to one at a time. If you want to move purchased content to another Creative Tonie, you must either remove it from the current one and then assign it elsewhere, or assign it to another, which removes it from the previous one and restores the previous playlist.

Your account has various configuration settings, though certain settings can only be changed by administrators, meaning the household owner or full members, usually legal adults. This applies to all household related settings and invite member functions. Other types of users, known as Creative Tonie members, cannot use these functions and can only view and edit Creative Tonies shared by a full member. Household owners and full members can edit all Tonieboxes, Tonies, Creative Tonies and their contents, and the relevant access rights are assigned by the household owner through corresponding settings. As an administrator you can also specify that all or specific Creative Tonies from your household are only played within it, and whether external Creative Tonies are allowed to play in your household.

After opening your account you can assign content from the audio library onto your existing Tonies and Creative Tonies free of charge, or buy new content and assign it, which lets you get new content without buying a new physical figure. The audio library also lets you manage content by assigning it and undoing or changing the assignment. To use the audio library you need an account and must be logged in, and to assign purchased content you need a Tonie belonging to the series of that content, or in the case of Creative Tonie content, a Creative Tonie of your choice, present in your household or one in which you are a member. Our portfolio varies from country to country because we hold different licensing rights in different territories, so we can only show you content we are allowed to offer in the country you are in when you access the audio library. You can only receive content in the country where we offer and have licensed it, and to determine your approximate location we use the geo IP transmitted by your network when you access the library, to ensure compliance with our licensing rights. If you travel or move to a country not covered by the delivery area of content you already purchased, you can of course continue to listen to it. You can only receive audio library content for Tonies of the same series, and whether you already own the right Tonie for your desired content is displayed in the library. Content for Creative Tonies can only be played on a Creative Tonie and can therefore only be assigned to one, while purchased content can only be assigned to one and not to multiple at the same time. Free content for Creative Tonies can be assigned to multiple at once. After buying new content you can assign it to one of your Tonies or Creative Tonies and replace the previous content, and you can change or cancel the assignment later. All content you buy remains available in the library for your account and can be reassigned, while free content can be removed from the library by us at any time, so you can only move it to other Creative Tonies while it remains available. Free content generally stays assigned to your Creative Tonie even after removal from the library, provided it is not overwritten by other content.

Use of our app is subject to the same terms as use of our websites. The app can be used on iOS and Android and additionally allows you to record speech with your smartphone or tablet by uploading the recording to mytonies, which requires an account and logging in. As a user with an account you are obliged to refrain from uploading files that violate applicable law, applicable case law or common decency, which means you must hold all necessary rights to the files you upload, and you must explicitly reconfirm this by clicking a read confirmation before uploading your own files for the first time. You must also refrain from uploading data containing software viruses or other information, files or programs intended or able to disrupt, destroy or restrict the functionality of computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment. We cannot offer a subsequent download of files you upload for Creative Tonies, so you should always keep a copy outside mytonies, otherwise you are responsible for any loss. You are also responsible for making sure your Creative Tonies do not physically end up in the hands of others against your will, though as an owner or full member administrator you can specify that all or individual Creative Tonies are played only in your household by adjusting your settings. If you use the invite member function, you undertake to invite only friends who explicitly consent to receiving such invitations by email. No user is permitted to interfere with our online service or the servers or networks associated with it, disrupt them, violate regulations, procedures or other rules for associated networks, or collect or store data from other users.

We are entitled to review, modify and store all content uploaded to mytonies and share it with third parties if required by law or if necessary and legally permissible after due consideration, in order to fulfil legal specifications or court or administrative orders, enforce these terms, respond to third party claims regarding a violation of rights, safeguard the rights, property or personal safety of tonies GmbH and its employees, our users or the public, identify and resolve technical problems and respond to complaints through our customer service, or implement security measures against viruses or hacker attacks or other comparable malicious applications or files. If these terms, legal regulations or third party rights are violated, or where other objectively justified grounds compel us, we are entitled at our discretion to delete content without giving reason, and we reserve the right to cancel your account in these cases and to file further claims. We also reserve the right to delete your account if you do not use it for a long period. We may establish general rules regarding the use of mytonies for Creative Tonies if we find that performance is reaching its limits for data or server capacity, and in that situation we might, for example, limit the number of uploads per Creative Tonie and reserve the right to introduce paid premium membership involving continued unlimited use and other benefits.

All content of our service is protected by trademarks, patents, copyrights and other intellectual property rights, and in particular text, software, photography, graphic files, illustrations, music, names, logos and marks are our property or that of our licensors. Should someone find that any content violates their rights, that person must contact us directly. Users may not modify, publish, take from, sell or transfer content in this service or parts of it, store such content in a database or use it commercially in any other manner. When content is loaded onto the Toniebox from mytonies, the user receives a non exclusive right to use it on a non commercial basis, provided the content is not modified. When you upload content to mytonies for your Creative Tonies, you automatically assign to us all rights to use the relevant content without time restriction, irrevocably, free of charge and non exclusively, and so that it can be transferred from mytonies to Tonieboxes when the relevant Creative Tonie is used. We will not use the content for any other purpose. You will indemnify us for all third party claims and hold us harmless where third parties exercise claims based on a violation of their rights, especially copyrights or other intellectual property rights, due to content you upload, and the same applies to claims under competition law.

You may load and play the digital data files, audiobooks, music and software offered as downloads only using the Toniebox. This digital content is protected with regard to copyright, trademarks, name rights and, where relevant, other legal considerations. By acquiring a Toniebox, a Tonie and audio library content, and then downloading one or more items of digital content through the Toniebox in the specified manner, you receive a non exclusive and non transferable right to load, play and use the digital content in a personal context on the particular Toniebox onto which it has been downloaded. You are not entitled to use the digital content in a manner that exceeds the rights granted. In particular it is prohibited for you, in whole or in part, to lease or sub license the digital content or make it the object of your own commercial exploitation, to sell, swap or provide it or pass it on free of charge or for payment without simultaneously passing on the associated Tonie, to modify or change it, to develop it further or use it as a basis for other products, to decompile or disassemble the provided program code into other code forms or otherwise reverse engineer it, to remove or modify copyright notices, marks, logos, notices of other industrial property rights or serial numbers or other identifying characteristics, to use it on more than one Tonie simultaneously, to download or reproduce it in any way other than that provided by us or transfer it from a Toniebox to another device or storage medium, or to use it in another manner and for purposes that violate legal provisions or third party rights. If any third party uses the rights of use granted to you in an unauthorised manner for reasons for which you are responsible, you must compensate us and the other holders of those rights for any costs incurred or comply with our requests for compensation. The Toniebox’s operating software is also protected by intellectual property rights, and the rights and restrictions described above apply in the corresponding measure to your entitlement to use it. Updates are carried out in the background automatically so that you can always use the latest version, and information about updates may also be published on our website or our social media profiles. These terms were last updated in October 2022.