TERMS OF
SERVICE.
These Terms govern your use of the Friing platform and constitute a legally binding agreement under South African law, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 and the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. Please read them carefully before using the Platform.
1. Introduction
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Friing platform available at friing.co ("the Platform"), operated by Friing Digital (Pty) Ltd ("Friing", "we", "us", or "our").
By registering an account, accessing, or using the Platform in any way, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Platform.
These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Friing Digital (Pty) Ltd and are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
We reserve the right to update these Terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated via email or a notice on the Platform. Your continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
If you have any questions about these Terms, contact us at nick@friing.co.za.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account and use the Platform. By registering, you confirm that you are 18 or older and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement.
If you are registering on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.
The Platform is intended for use by South African residents and businesses. We do not represent that the Platform is appropriate or available for use in jurisdictions outside of South Africa.
3. Your Account
To access most features of the Platform you must create an account by providing your name, email address and a password. You may also be required to complete an onboarding process before your profile is made publicly visible.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must notify us immediately at nick@friing.co.za if you suspect any unauthorised access to your account.
We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to keep your credentials secure.
You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information when registering and to update your information promptly if it changes. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts where we have reason to believe information provided is false or misleading.
You may delete your account at any time by contacting nick@friing.co.za. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time, without notice, if we determine that you have violated these Terms or if your account has been inactive for an extended period.
4. Platform Description
The Platform provides the following services:
Creative Marketplace — a publicly accessible directory of Creative profiles where Brands can discover and browse South African creative professionals.
Rate Calculator — a tool that helps Creatives calculate appropriate rates based on their income goals, expenses and working patterns.
Quote System — a personalised quote page for each Creative that allows Brands to submit itemised quote requests directly to Creatives.
Quote Inbox — a dashboard for Creatives to manage incoming quote requests, track client contacts, and monitor the status of their work pipeline.
Resources — a blog and resource centre with articles relevant to South African creative professionals.
We reserve the right to modify, suspend or discontinue any feature or service at any time without prior notice.
5. Creatives
As a Creative, you are solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness and legality of all information you publish on your profile, including your rates, portfolio content, availability, and credentials. You must not misrepresent your skills, experience or qualifications.
You warrant that any photos, videos or other content you upload to your portfolio are owned by you or that you have obtained all necessary rights and permissions to display such content on the Platform. You must not upload content that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party.
Nothing in these Terms creates an employment relationship, partnership or joint venture between you and Friing. You operate as an independent contractor. Friing is not a party to any agreement entered into between a Creative and a Brand and has no responsibility for the outcome of any such engagement.
The rates displayed on your profile and generated by the rate calculator are for guidance only. You are solely responsible for the rates you charge, any quotes you issue, and all invoicing and payment arrangements made directly with Brands. Friing does not process payments between Creatives and Brands.
You are solely responsible for determining and fulfilling your own tax obligations in respect of income earned through engagements facilitated by the Platform, including VAT registration and compliance where applicable under the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991.
You agree to conduct yourself professionally in all interactions with Brands facilitated through the Platform. You must not engage in conduct that is dishonest, misleading, abusive or discriminatory.
6. Brands and Agencies
As a Brand, you are responsible for providing accurate and complete information in any quote request you submit through the Platform. You must not submit speculative or bad faith quote requests.
Friing facilitates the connection between Brands and Creatives but is not a party to any agreement, contract or engagement entered into between them. All commercial terms, deliverables, timelines and payment arrangements are agreed directly between the Brand and the Creative.
All payments for creative services are made directly between the Brand and the Creative. Friing does not collect, hold or process payments on behalf of either party. Friing is not responsible for any disputes arising from payment or non-payment.
Listing on the Platform does not guarantee that a Creative is available for your project. Brands must confirm availability directly with the relevant Creative.
7. Fees and Charges
The core features of the Platform — including creating a Creative profile, listing on the marketplace, using the rate calculator, and receiving quote requests — are currently provided free of charge.
We reserve the right to introduce paid features, subscription tiers or transaction fees in the future. We will provide reasonable advance notice of any such changes before they take effect, and existing users will not be charged without their explicit consent.
Any future paid features will be governed by additional terms presented at the time of purchase.
8. Intellectual Property
The Platform, including its design, code, branding, copy, and all Friing-owned content, is the intellectual property of Friing Digital (Pty) Ltd and is protected by South African and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute or create derivative works from any part of the Platform without our prior written consent.
You retain ownership of all content you upload to the Platform, including portfolio photos, videos and profile information. By uploading content, you grant Friing a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, display, reproduce and distribute that content solely for the purposes of operating and promoting the Platform.
You may revoke this licence at any time by removing the content from your profile or deleting your account. Friing will not use your content for any purpose beyond operating the Platform without your explicit consent.
"Friing", "FRiiNG", "Friing Digital" and associated logos are trademarks of Friing Digital (Pty) Ltd. You may not use these trademarks without our prior written consent.
9. Prohibited Conduct
You agree not to use the Platform in any of the following ways:
- —In violation of any applicable South African law or regulation, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 ("ECT Act") and the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("CPA")
- —To upload, post or transmit any content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing or discriminatory
- —To infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party
- —To impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity
- —To upload malware, viruses or any other malicious code
- —To scrape, crawl or otherwise extract data from the Platform by automated means without our prior written consent
- —To interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Platform or its infrastructure
- —To attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform or its systems
- —To use the Platform to send unsolicited commercial communications (spam)
- —To post false, misleading or fraudulent content on your profile or in quote requests
- —To circumvent any technical measures implemented to restrict access to certain parts of the Platform
We reserve the right to investigate suspected violations and to take appropriate action, including suspension or termination of your account and reporting to relevant authorities.
10. Disclaimers
The Platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by South African law, we disclaim all warranties including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
We do not guarantee that use of the Platform will result in any particular outcome, including the booking of jobs, the generation of income, or the achievement of any business objective.
We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness or legality of any content posted by users of the Platform, including Creative profiles, portfolio content or quote requests.
The Platform integrates with third-party services including Supabase, Vercel, Resend, Loops.so and Google Maps. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy or performance of these services.
We do not guarantee uninterrupted access to the Platform. We may perform maintenance, upgrades or experience technical issues that result in temporary unavailability. We will endeavour to provide advance notice of planned maintenance where possible.
11. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, Friing Digital (Pty) Ltd, its directors, employees and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Platform, including but not limited to loss of income, loss of business opportunities, or loss of data.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable South African law, including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.
Our total liability to you in respect of any claim arising from your use of the Platform will not exceed the amount you have paid to us (if any) in the 12 months preceding the claim. Where you have paid nothing, our total liability will be limited to R1,000.
Friing is not liable for any disputes, claims or losses arising from agreements entered into directly between Creatives and Brands. All such arrangements are made at your own risk.
12. Consumer Protection
To the extent that the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("CPA") applies to your use of the Platform, nothing in these Terms is intended to limit or exclude any rights you have under the CPA.
You have the right to receive services that are of good quality. If you believe the Platform has not been provided with reasonable care and skill, you may contact us at nick@friing.co.za to resolve the matter.
If you are a consumer as defined under the CPA, you have additional statutory rights that cannot be waived by contract. These Terms are subject to, and must be read together with, any applicable provisions of the CPA.
13. Electronic Communications
In accordance with the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 ("ECT Act"), you acknowledge and agree that:
- —All agreements concluded through the Platform are valid and binding electronic transactions
- —Electronic signatures and records are binding to the same extent as written signatures and records
- —You consent to receiving communications from us electronically, including by email, which satisfies any legal requirement that such communications be in writing
Our full details as required by section 43 of the ECT Act are:
Physical address: South Africa Email address: nick@friing.co.za Website: friing.co
We will acknowledge receipt of any electronic transaction within 24 hours of receipt.
14. Disputes
Friing is not responsible for resolving disputes between Creatives and Brands. Any dispute arising from a commercial engagement between a Creative and a Brand must be resolved directly between those parties.
If you have a dispute with Friing, please contact us first at nick@friing.co.za. We will endeavour to resolve your complaint within 10 business days.
If we are unable to resolve the dispute informally, either party may refer the matter to mediation before a mutually agreed mediator in South Africa. The costs of mediation shall be shared equally unless otherwise agreed.
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts in respect of any dispute arising from these Terms.
15. General Provisions
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Friing with respect to your use of the Platform and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or removed if modification is not possible, without affecting the validity of the remaining provisions.
Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms without restriction.
We will not be liable for any failure or delay in performance resulting from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including load shedding, natural disasters, civil unrest, or failures of third-party infrastructure.
These Terms are written in English. In the event of any inconsistency between an English version and any translated version, the English version prevails.
16. Contact
For any questions, complaints or notices relating to these Terms, please contact:
Email: nick@friing.co.za Website: friing.co
For complaints that cannot be resolved directly with us, you may also contact:
Website: www.thencc.org.za Tel: 0860 266 786
Website: www.cgso.org.za Tel: 0860 000 272
Questions about these Terms?
We're happy to clarify anything in plain language. Reach out and we'll get back to you within 2 business days.