Effective Date: November 6, 2025
This End User Agreement (“EUA”) is between you and Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (“PVCEB”) and the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation (“TNHF”) for the use of the Living Gems Platform (“Platform”). This EUA governs your use of the Platform.
By creating an account, accessing, or using the Platform, you confirm that you agree to be bound by this EUA.
Purpose of the Platform
Living Gems is a nonprofit educational streaming platform created by PVCEB and TNHF.
Its purpose is to make the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community accessible to a global audience through recorded Dharma talks, guided meditations, and related teachings.
Living Gems operates on a “Pay What You Wish” contribution model, helping sustain Plum Village’s global mindfulness and charitable activities.
Use of the Platform is limited to personal, non-commercial purposes consistent with PVCEB’s charitable mission.
Use Restrictions
The Platform contains materials including recorded Dharma talks, writings, transcripts, and teachings related to PVCEB (“PVCEB Materials”). Your use of the Platform does not grant you any ownership rights to PVCEB Materials or the Platform itself.
As a condition of using the Platform, you agree that you will not:
- Reproduce, copy, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Platform or PVCEB Materials without written permission.
- Modify, adapt, or create derivative works based on the Platform.
- Use the Platform or PVCEB Materials for any revenue-generating or commercial purpose.
- Reverse engineer or attempt to extract source code without written authorization.
- Post or upload unlawful, offensive, hateful, or otherwise inappropriate content.
- Use the Platform in any manner harmful to others, including minors.
- Use TNHF’s or PVCEB’s or Thich Nhat Hanh’s name, trademarks, or intellectual property in violation of any applicable law.
- Interfere with or disrupt the Platform, servers, or networks connected to it.
- Use the Platform for any illegal or fraudulent activities.
Accounts and Access
To access content, you must register for an account using your name and email address. Accounts are personal and non-transferable.
Access Levels:
- Without login: No access to talks.
- With login (free): Limited access (up to 5 talks; others are short previews).
- With contribution (“Pay What You Wish” model): Unlimited access.
Accounts found to be shared, misused, or fraudulent may be suspended or terminated.
Contributions and Cancellations
All payments made to access Living Gems are considered voluntary contributions supporting PVCEB’s and TNHF’s charitable mission.
- You may cancel recurring contributions at any time via your account or by contacting support.
- Contributions are non-refundable, including partial months or unused access, except where required by law.
- Access remains active until the end of the current billing period after cancellation.
- You may request account deletion at any time. Personal data will be removed except as required for legal or financial recordkeeping.
User-Generated Content
You may submit suggestions to improve talk titles, descriptions, transcripts, or playlists. These submissions are subject to moderation.
PVCEB reserves the right to review, edit, reject, or remove any user-generated content and may suspend accounts that engage in hate speech, spam, or advertising.
By submitting content, you grant PVCEB a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, adapt, and display your submissions within the Platform.
Ownership and Copyright
All video, audio, transcript, and related materials available on the Living Gems Platform (“PVCEB Materials”) are the exclusive intellectual property of Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB) and its affiliates.
Your use of the Platform does not transfer or grant any ownership or license rights beyond the personal, non-commercial access explicitly allowed under this Agreement.
You may not copy, download, record, redistribute, reproduce, publicly display, sell, or make derivative works of PVCEB Materials in any form unless you have prior written authorization from PVCEB or the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation (TNHF).
Unauthorized sharing, uploading, or publication of any PVCEB Materials on third-party platforms such as YouTube, social media, or commercial streaming services is strictly prohibited.
Compensation for Unauthorized Use
Unauthorized downloading, copying, redistribution, or public publication of PVCEB Materials constitutes a material breach of this EUA.
You agree to pay liquidated damages of $5,000 per incident of unauthorized redistribution, unless higher actual damages can be demonstrated.
If the unauthorized material remains publicly available or monetized after ten (10) business days following written notice from PVCEB or TNHF, additional liquidated damages of $1,000 per day will apply until the content is removed. This reflects the ongoing harm, reputational risk, and potential commercial exploitation caused by continued distribution.
PVCEB and TNHF reserve the right to:
- Suspend or permanently ban offending accounts;
- Seek statutory damages under applicable copyright law;
- Request takedowns from third-party platforms and hosts;
- Pursue additional injunctive or monetary relief as permitted by law.
Termination
PVCEB and TNHF reserve the right to terminate or suspend your account at any time if your use of the Platform is unlawful, inappropriate, or in violation of this EUA.
Termination does not limit PVCEB’s or TNHF’s right to retain contributions already made or to pursue legal remedies for prior misuse.
Privacy
PVCEB and TNHF take the privacy of users seriously.
The Platform collects your name and email to create your account. Payments are processed securely through Stripe, which manages all financial data.
The Platform uses:
- Cloudflare for secure video storage and global delivery;
- Fly.io for hosting infrastructure;
- Plausible.io for privacy-friendly analytics (no personal tracking).
Watch and search history may be stored to improve your experience but is not linked to identifiable data.
For details, please see our Privacy Policy.
Modification
PVCEB and TNHF reserve the right to modify or update this EUA at any time. Updated terms will be posted on the Platform. Continued use after notice of an update constitutes acceptance of the revised EUA.
Indemnification
By using the Platform, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PVCEB, TNHF, and their affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, or liabilities arising from your misuse of the Platform, violation of this EUA, or infringement of any third-party rights.
Disclaimer and Limitations on Liability
The Platform is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied.
PVCEB and TNHF do not warrant uninterrupted operation or error-free performance and disclaim any responsibility for damage arising from use or malfunction of the Platform.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, PVCEB and TNHF are not liable for consequential, indirect, punitive, or incidental damages related to use of the Platform or PVCEB Materials.
Governing Law
This EUA shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, United States, without giving effect to conflict of law principles.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this EUA or your rights and responsibilities, please contact:
contact@plumvillage.org