1. Introduction & Acceptance
This Creator Agreement ("Agreement") is a legally binding contract between you ("Creator," "you," "your") and Pickii Group, LLC, operating SpoonieFans (the "Platform," "we," "us," "our"). By applying to become a Creator, completing the onboarding process, or posting content on the Platform, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, Tipping Disclaimer, and HIPAA Disclaimer. If you do not agree, do not register as a Creator.
2. Eligibility & Verification
To become a Creator, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be legally permitted to enter into binding contracts in your jurisdiction
- Provide a valid government-issued photo ID for identity verification
- Pass a background check (US creators)
- Complete required tax documentation (W-9 for US creators, W-8BEN or equivalent for international creators)
- Provide accurate banking or payment information
- Not be on any sanctions list, prohibited persons list, or be located in an embargoed country
You authorize us to verify your identity, run background checks (where applicable), and confirm the accuracy of any information you provide. False or misleading information is grounds for immediate termination and forfeiture of unpaid earnings.
3. Creator Responsibilities
3.1 Content Standards
As a Creator, you agree to:
- Post only authentic, lived experience content (no AI-generated content presented as your own — see Community Guidelines)
- Comply fully with the Community Guidelines, including all prohibitions on medical misinformation, harassment, and exploitation
- Include the mandatory medical disclaimer on your profile and on every health-related post
- Disclose all sponsorships, affiliate links, and gifted products clearly (#ad, #sponsored)
- Respect HIPAA — never post identifiable Protected Health Information about third parties
- Honor your stated content schedule and subscriber expectations to the best of your ability (flares and health crises are always understood)
3.2 Authenticity Warranty
You represent and warrant that all content you post — including descriptions of your medical conditions, symptoms, treatments, and lived experiences — is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. Fabricating or significantly exaggerating illness for financial gain is grounds for immediate termination, forfeiture of all unpaid earnings, and potential legal action.
3.3 Account Security & Conduct
- You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials
- You may not share, sell, or transfer your Creator account
- You may operate only one Creator account unless explicitly approved by SpoonieFans
- You may not use bots, automation, or fake engagement to inflate metrics
3.4 Tipping Conduct & Solicitation
As a Creator on SpoonieFans, you have access to a tipping feature that allows subscribers to send you voluntary payments in appreciation of your work. This feature is a privilege, not a right, and is governed by the rules below. Misuse of the tipping feature is grounds for immediate suspension, loss of tipping privileges, forfeiture of unpaid tip earnings, and/or permanent account termination.
3.4.0 Encouraged Tipping Practices
We want our Creators to thrive financially, and tipping is one of the ways subscribers can show extra appreciation for your work. The following practices are not only allowed — they are encouraged. Used thoughtfully, they help your community feel connected to you and make tipping feel like a natural, joyful part of being a SpoonieFans subscriber.
3.4.0.1 Communicate That Tipping Is Available
You may, at any time:
- Mention in your bio or pinned post that tipping is supported on the Platform (e.g., "Tips are always appreciated but never expected 💚")
- Include a one-time tipping mention in your welcome message to new subscribers
- Reference tipping in your "about me" or content schedule posts as part of explaining how the Platform works
- Add a brief, gentle line at the end of posts acknowledging that tips are welcomed, as long as it is not the focus of the post and does not appear on every post
The principle: make tipping visible, not central. Subscribers should know it's an option without feeling reminded of it constantly.
3.4.0.2 Express Genuine Gratitude
You are encouraged to:
- Personally thank subscribers who tip you through DMs, comments, or shout-outs (with their permission)
- Acknowledge your community's support warmly in posts, livestreams, or updates — without ranking, comparing, or quantifying contributions
- Share milestones ("I've been on SpoonieFans for 6 months and your support has changed my life") in ways that celebrate the community as a whole
- Send thoughtful thank-you content to tippers — handwritten notes, voice messages, or simple acknowledgments — as long as these are gifts, not transactions or rewards promised in advance
3.4.0.3 Be Transparent About How Tips Help
You may share, honestly and without pressure, how tips contribute to your life and creative work:
- "Tips help me afford to keep creating content on low-spoon days when I can't work elsewhere"
- "Every tip means I can spend more time sharing my story instead of pushing through a flare for my day job"
- "Your support makes it possible for me to invest in better equipment / accessibility tools / time to create"
The principle: share the impact in general terms, not as a specific request. "Tips help me create" is welcome. "I need tips to survive this month" is not.
3.4.0.4 Create Content Worth Tipping For
The best long-term tipping strategy is simply to be a creator your subscribers genuinely value:
- Show up consistently within whatever your spoon supply allows
- Be authentic and present in your content
- Engage warmly with your community — reply to comments, acknowledge your subscribers, build real relationships
- Share content that makes people feel seen, supported, or less alone
- Improve your craft over time — better lighting, clearer captions, accessibility features, thoughtful pacing
When creators focus on creating real value, tips tend to follow naturally — without ever needing to be asked for.
3.4.0.5 Celebrate the Community, Not the Tip
You are encouraged to:
- Highlight community moments that warmed your heart — a kind message, a connection between subscribers, a milestone someone shared with you
- Create occasional "thank you to my community" posts that celebrate everyone equally, regardless of whether they tipped
- Recognize that engagement, comments, and word-of-mouth are also forms of support — and say so publicly
The principle: the community is the gift. Tips are the bonus.
3.4.0.6 Use Platform-Provided Tipping Tools
SpoonieFans provides several features designed to make tipping feel natural and pressure-free. You are encouraged to use them as intended:
- The tipping button on your profile (always visible, no action required from you)
- The post-level tip prompt that appears subtly after subscribers engage with your content
- Tier-based subscription pricing (where available) for subscribers who want to support you at a higher level on a recurring basis
- Custom thank-you messages that auto-send to tippers (a kind, generic message — not a personalized solicitation)
These tools are built to do the asking for you, gently and consistently, so you don't have to. Let them.
3.4.0.7 When You're Struggling
We know that being a Creator on SpoonieFans does not exempt you from the real financial pressures of chronic illness. If you are in genuine financial hardship:
- It is okay to share that you are having a hard time — vulnerability is part of why this community exists
- It is okay to acknowledge that tipping makes a real difference in your life — that is true and worth saying
- It is NOT okay to use that hardship as a tool to pressure, guilt, or manipulate subscribers into tipping
The difference is between sharing your reality ("This month has been hard — I'm so grateful to be part of this community") and leveraging your reality ("If I don't get $X in tips by Friday, I won't be able to afford my medication"). The first builds connection. The second exploits it.
3.4.1 Tipping Is Voluntary — You May Not Solicit Tips
You agree that you will NOT:
- Directly ask or pressure subscribers to tip you, whether in content, captions, comments, direct messages, livestreams, or any other communication on the Platform
- Imply or suggest that withholding a tip is unkind, ungrateful, or harmful to you
- Condition access to content, replies, attention, or affection on whether a subscriber tips
- Publicly call out, rank, shame, or "name and praise" subscribers based on tip amounts in a way that pressures others to tip competitively
- Use guilt-based language to extract tips (e.g., "I can't afford my meds without your help," "no one tipped today," "tip me or I'll have to leave the Platform")
- Use urgency or scarcity tactics to push tipping (e.g., "I need $X by tomorrow," countdowns, "last chance" appeals)
You MAY:
- Genuinely and warmly thank subscribers who choose to tip
- Mention that tipping is supported on the Platform as part of general onboarding or pinned posts
- Share gratitude for your community's support in general, non-pressuring terms
3.4.2 No Fabricated, Exaggerated, or Misrepresented Emergencies
You agree that you will NOT:
- Fabricate or exaggerate a medical, financial, housing, or personal emergency to elicit tips
- Misrepresent the severity, urgency, or nature of your chronic illness, symptoms, or treatments in connection with any tip request or appeal for support
- Recycle past emergencies as if they are currently happening
- Stage, dramatize, or perform symptoms or flares specifically to increase tip volume
- Use AI-generated, edited, or fake imagery to depict illness, injury, or distress in a way intended to elicit tips
- Claim donations are going to a specific medical bill, treatment, or third party unless you can substantiate it on request
Genuinely sharing your real-time experience with your condition — including hard days, flares, hospitalizations, and financial strain — is completely welcome and is part of what SpoonieFans exists for. This clause prohibits fabrication, exaggeration, and manipulation — not honesty.
3.4.3 No External Fundraising Disguised as SpoonieFans Tipping
You agree that you will NOT:
- Direct subscribers to tip you off-platform (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, Zelle, cryptocurrency, gift cards, bank transfers, etc.) — this is also prohibited under Section 6
- Promote external fundraising campaigns (GoFundMe, GiveSendGo, etc.) within SpoonieFans content without complying with our Fundraising Disclosure rules
- Use the SpoonieFans tipping feature as a pass-through to collect funds intended for someone else, an organization, or a cause not directly related to your own work as a creator
- Run sweepstakes, raffles, or "tip-to-win" promotions through the Platform
3.4.4 No Quid Pro Quo Tipping
You agree that you will NOT:
- Offer specific content, services, custom requests, replies, or favors in exchange for tips
- Create "tipped-only" content tiers outside of the Platform's official subscription structure
- Promise personalized attention (DMs, voice notes, video calls, etc.) in exchange for a tip amount
- Frame tips as payment for services rendered rather than voluntary appreciation
Tips are gestures of appreciation, not transactions. If you wish to offer paid custom services, that requires a separate written approval from SpoonieFans and may not be available in your tier of the Platform.
3.4.5 Healthcare Professional Restrictions
If you are a verified healthcare professional Creator, additional restrictions apply:
- You may NOT solicit or accept tips in connection with anything that could be construed as providing medical advice, treatment recommendations, or professional services
- All tips received in your professional capacity must be treated as general creator appreciation, not professional compensation
- You remain solely responsible for ensuring tipping behavior complies with your professional licensing board's rules on solicitation, gifts, and conflicts of interest
3.4.6 Subscriber Well-Being
You acknowledge that many SpoonieFans subscribers live with the same financial pressures as Creators — medical bills, reduced work capacity, insurance gaps. As a Creator, you have a responsibility to protect the well-being of your subscribers. You agree to:
- Recognize that subscribers tipping beyond their means is a community harm, not a personal win
- Refuse to encourage subscribers who appear to be tipping compulsively or in financially harmful patterns
- Report concerning subscriber tipping behavior to community@spooniefans.com when you observe it
- Never frame a small tip as inadequate or a large tip as expected
3.4.7 Enforcement & Earnings Forfeiture
Violations of this Section will be addressed under our standard enforcement ladder (Community Guidelines, Section 9). However, because tipping violations directly involve financial harm to subscribers, the following heightened consequences may apply:
- First confirmed violation: Warning, tip earnings related to the violation may be refunded to affected subscribers from your account, mandatory acknowledgment of this Section before tipping is restored
- Second confirmed violation: 30-day suspension of tipping privileges, forfeiture of unpaid tip earnings tied to the violation period
- Severe or repeated violations (especially fabricated emergencies, fake illness, or coordinated exploitation): Immediate permanent account termination, forfeiture of all unpaid earnings (including subscription earnings), potential referral to law enforcement for fraud, and permanent ban from creating future Creator accounts
3.4.8 Acknowledgment
By accepting tips through the Platform, you reaffirm your agreement to this Section and acknowledge that SpoonieFans relies on Creator integrity to protect the trust and financial well-being of the community.
4. Content License & Ownership
4.1 You Own Your Content
You retain full ownership of all original content you create and post on the Platform. We do not claim ownership of your content.
4.2 License to SpoonieFans
By posting content, you grant SpoonieFans and Pickii Group, LLC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to:
- Host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute your content on the Platform
- Create thumbnails, previews, and technical derivatives needed to operate the Platform
- Promote your content within the Platform (e.g., recommendation feeds, search results)
- Use your username, display name, and profile image in connection with your content
This license is limited to operating and promoting the Platform. We do not have the right to use your content in external advertising, sell your content to third parties, or sublicense it for unrelated commercial use without your separate written permission.
4.3 Marketing & Promotional Use
With your separate, explicit, written opt-in consent, we may feature your content in SpoonieFans marketing materials (social media, blog posts, press, advertising). You may withdraw this consent at any time, but previously published materials may remain in circulation.
4.4 Content Removal
- You may remove your content at any time through your account settings
- Removal does not retroactively reverse earnings already attributed to that content
- Cached or backup copies may persist for up to 90 days for technical reasons
- Content shared by subscribers (within the Platform) may persist in their saved/liked items until they remove it
5. Earnings, Payment & Tax
5.1 Revenue Model
Earnings are governed by the Terms of Service, Section 7. In summary:
- Platform fee: 20% of subscription revenue
- Creator Pool: 80% of subscription revenue, distributed by quality-adjusted engagement
- Tips: subject to platform processing fees disclosed at time of tip
- Third-Month Bonus: $500 bonus if you reach 100+ quality-adjusted followers in your first 3 months
- Healthcare professional / studio earnings cap: 20% of total Creator Pool (ToS Section 7.5)
5.2 Payouts
- Payments are processed monthly on the 7th of each month
- Payment methods: Stripe, ACH, direct deposit
- Minimum payout threshold: $50 (balances below this roll forward)
- You are responsible for keeping your payout information current — failed payments may be held for up to 90 days
5.3 Tax Responsibilities
- You are an independent contractor, not an employee of SpoonieFans or Pickii Group, LLC
- You are solely responsible for reporting and paying all taxes on your earnings
- US creators must complete a W-9 before their first payout; we will issue Form 1099-NEC if required by IRS thresholds
- International creators must complete W-8BEN or equivalent and are responsible for their own local tax compliance
- We do not withhold taxes (except where legally required, such as for non-US creators in certain circumstances)
5.4 Earnings Adjustments & Clawbacks
We may adjust, withhold, or reclaim earnings if:
- A subscriber's payment is reversed, charged back, or refunded
- Fraud or fake engagement is detected on your content
- You violate this Agreement, the ToS, or Community Guidelines
- A legal authority requires us to withhold funds
7. Independent Contractor Status
You acknowledge and agree that:
- You are an independent contractor, not an employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer of SpoonieFans
- You have no authority to bind SpoonieFans to any contract or obligation
- You are not entitled to employee benefits (health insurance, paid time off, retirement, workers' compensation, unemployment, etc.)
- You have full control over your content schedule, style, and creative decisions, subject to the Community Guidelines
8. Exclusivity
This Agreement is non-exclusive. You are free to create content on other platforms simultaneously. However, you may not import, mirror, or auto-syndicate identical SpoonieFans subscriber-only content to free public platforms in a way that undermines the value of a SpoonieFans subscription. Sharing teaser, promotional, or free-tier content elsewhere is permitted and encouraged.
9. Background Checks & Identity Verification
You consent to SpoonieFans (or its third-party verification providers) conducting identity verification and, where applicable, criminal background checks. Findings that may disqualify you include — but are not limited to — convictions for fraud, exploitation of vulnerable persons, identity theft, or violent felonies. We comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and applicable state laws governing background checks.
10. Term & Termination
10.1 Term
This Agreement begins when you complete Creator onboarding and continues until terminated by either party.
10.2 Termination by You
You may terminate this Agreement at any time by deactivating your Creator account. Earned but unpaid funds above the $50 threshold will be paid in the next regular payout cycle. Funds below the threshold may be forfeited if not claimed within 12 months.
10.3 Termination by SpoonieFans
We may suspend or terminate your Creator account immediately, without prior notice, for:
- Violation of this Agreement, the ToS, or Community Guidelines
- Fraud, fabricated illness content, fake engagement, or chargeback abuse
- Off-platform solicitation
- Posting prohibited content (medical misinformation, AI-generated content, sexual content, etc.)
- Failed background check or expired identity documentation
- Repeated subscriber complaints or harassment behavior
- Inactivity for more than 12 consecutive months
- At our sole discretion, with or without cause, with 30 days' notice
10.4 Effect of Termination
- For-cause terminations may result in forfeiture of unpaid earnings
- Non-cause terminations: final payout will be processed in the next regular cycle
- Your content may be removed from the Platform
- Sections of this Agreement that by their nature survive termination (Sections 4.2, 5.4, 11, 12, 13, 14) will continue in effect
11. Representations & Warranties
You represent and warrant that:
- You own or have all necessary rights to the content you post
- Your content does not infringe any third party's copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights
- Your content does not contain Protected Health Information of any third party without consent
- All information you provide (identity, banking, tax, medical condition claims) is true and accurate
- You will comply with all applicable laws, including tax, advertising disclosure (FTC), and consumer protection laws
12. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless SpoonieFans, Pickii Group, LLC, and their officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:
- Your content or conduct on the Platform
- Your violation of this Agreement, the ToS, or any applicable law
- Your violation of any third party's rights (copyright, privacy, HIPAA, etc.)
- Any tax liability arising from your earnings on the Platform
- Any medical advice or health claims you make
13. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, SpoonieFans and Pickii Group, LLC shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising from this Agreement, including lost earnings, lost subscribers, or business opportunities. Our total aggregate liability to you under this Agreement shall not exceed the greater of (a) $500 USD or (b) the amount of fees we collected from your earnings in the 12 months preceding the claim.
14. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
- This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, USA, without regard to conflict of law principles
- Disputes shall be resolved through binding arbitration in Cook County, Illinois, under American Arbitration Association rules
- Class Action Waiver: You may not bring class action claims against SpoonieFans
- Either party may seek injunctive relief in court for intellectual property or confidentiality matters
15. Modifications to This Agreement
We may update this Agreement from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or in-platform notification at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of your Creator account after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to the changes, your sole remedy is to terminate your account.
16. Entire Agreement
This Agreement, together with the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, Tipping Disclaimer, and HIPAA Disclaimer, constitutes the entire agreement between you and SpoonieFans regarding your role as a Creator. It supersedes any prior understandings or agreements on this subject.
18. Acceptance of Agreement & All Policies
By using SpoonieFans as a Creator, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by this Creator Agreement.
Your continued use of the SpoonieFans platform as a Creator constitutes your electronic acceptance of this agreement and all related policies, including:
- Terms of Service
- Privacy Policy
- Community Guidelines
- Tipping Disclaimer
- HIPAA Disclaimer
No signature or formal documentation is required. Your acceptance is implicit through the act of registering, completing Creator onboarding, and/or posting content on the platform.