Terms

Terms of Service for winku.de and the Winku programs

Last updated: 12 September 2026

This is a translation for convenience. In case of doubt, the German version applies.

1. Scope

These terms apply to the use of the website winku.de, to a user account created there, to the programs offered by Winku (currently Dubster, WinkuStore, CueUp, Luvia) and to the services usable in the browser (currently Vidono and our browser game). The provider is the operator named in the legal notice. Deviating terms of users do not apply.

2. Services and availability

The programs, the user account and the use of the website are free of charge. For individual services, paid access may be offered; price, term and conditions are displayed before purchase. At present no such access can be purchased. In addition, individual services facilitate paid transactions between users; details are set out in the description of the respective service (currently Vidono, see section 8a). There is no entitlement to a particular level of availability, to individual features or to continued operation. Maintenance, changes and discontinuation of individual services are possible at any time; we announce planned work on the website where feasible.

3. User account

Some features require a free account. Details provided must be accurate, credentials must be kept secret and must not be passed on. One account per person. The account can be deleted at any time without giving reasons; we may suspend or delete accounts if these terms or applicable law are breached.
Age: When an account is created using the form on winku.de, we ask for the year of birth. Anyone under 18 may only create an account with the consent of their parents or legal guardians. Anyone under 16 can only use the account once a parent or legal guardian has given consent via the email address provided for that purpose; until then the account exists but is locked. Anyone aged 16 or 17 confirms when creating the account that their parents or legal guardians agree. What we store in this context, and what we do not, is explained in the privacy policy.

3a. Signing in with accounts from other providers

Instead of an e-mail address and password, you can create and use your user account via an existing account from another provider (currently Twitch, Discord, Google, Microsoft, GitHub, GitLab, Amazon, Spotify, PayPal, Kick, Dropbox, Patreon, Epic Games, Steam, Telegram, Lichess, Roblox, Wikipedia, itch.io, X and TikTok; the sign-in page shows which of them are offered). The terms of the respective provider apply in addition, and you are responsible for complying with them.
Signing in via a provider is optional and only replaces the way into the account: it creates the same Winku account with the same rights and obligations as registering with an e-mail address. Which details we receive is described in sections 15a, 15d and 15m of the privacy policy. An account is only created after you have confirmed your e-mail address with a code sent to it and accepted these terms. The details must be true; one account per person is sufficient.
We receive neither your password at the provider nor the right to do anything there on your behalf. Nothing is paid and no contract with PayPal or Amazon is concluded through signing in with them.
You can disconnect connections in your account at any time and add new ones. So that you are not locked out, at least one way to sign in always remains. If a provider suspends or deletes your account there or discontinues its sign-in interface, you can no longer sign in that way; your Winku account is not affected and remains accessible via another option or via "Forgot password" to your e-mail address. There is no entitlement to any particular provider being offered. Winku has no business relationship with the providers and is neither endorsed nor reviewed by them; their names are trademarks of their owners.

4. Use of the programs

The programs may be used free of charge, privately and commercially. The part of the programs written by Winku itself is not open source; in that respect, removing or circumventing security features (such as signature verification), altering the installation files, distributing modified versions and reselling are not permitted. Reverse engineering is permitted only to the extent mandated by law.
The programs contain third-party components under free licences, in particular under the GPL and the LGPL. For these components only the respective licence terms apply; they grant you further rights — including the right to modify and to distribute modified versions. The preceding paragraph does not restrict these rights. Which components these are, which licence they are under and where you can obtain the corresponding source code is set out at winku.de/lizenzen.

5. User content

The person posting is solely responsible for uploaded or created content (reviews, profile pictures, shared files). Unlawful, abusive or infringing content must not be posted; in particular, third-party copyright must not be infringed. Reviews and profile pictures are checked before publication. We may remove content without prior notice where a breach exists or is reasonably suspected. By posting, you grant us the simple, revocable right to display the content within the service.

6. Shared files

Files provided via the sharing function are publicly accessible through a link for as long as the link is valid (currently three days). Anyone passing on a link makes the file accessible. No personal data of third parties and no unlawful content may be shared.

7. Updates and usage figures

The programs check for updates automatically and download them; this is part of the service and also serves security. Selected programs transmit usage figures to winku.de (such as counts of operations, error types, version states). This transmission is part of using the software and cannot be switched off. In addition the programs report anonymous figures (version, operating system, success of updates) that cannot be attributed to any person. Details on which data this is and which data is expressly not transmitted are set out in the privacy policy. Personal data of third parties (such as viewer names) is not transmitted.

8. Third-party services

Some programs work together with third-party services (e.g. Spotify, Twitch, YouTube). These require separate accounts and possibly paid subscriptions with those providers. We accept no responsibility for their availability, terms or content; their terms of use must be observed.

8a. Vidono — video requests in a stream

Vidono (vidono.de) connects a Twitch channel with a public page on which viewers can select a clip from a publicly available YouTube video. The channel owner determines what a clip costs, how long it may be and which videos are allowed; the channel owner also decides whether a submitted video is played.
Payments do NOT go through Winku. Payment is made via the method the channel owner has set up themselves (currently their own donation link with a third-party provider). Winku does not receive any money, does not forward any and is not a party to the payment transaction. Claims arising from such a payment exist exclusively against the channel owner and the provider chosen by them.
There is no entitlement to have a submitted video played. The channel owner may reject, skip or block it. Section 5 applies to the submitted content.
Individual Vidono accounts are granted free of charge for operational and testing purposes; there is no entitlement to this.
The display name provided with a submission is shown publicly in the channel's stream. It can be chosen freely; a real name is not required.

8b. Browser game — access with a Winku account or an invitation link

On winku.de we offer a multiplayer game that runs in the browser without installation. Taking part is free of charge. There are two ways in: with a Winku account you are signed in to on winku.de, or — without an account — via an invitation link that we send out ourselves. An account is not required in order to take part; the game page shows which routes are currently open.
The invitation link is intended for the invited person but is not technically tied to them: whoever holds the link can play. Please do not pass it on publicly. Every link expires by itself after the period stated when it was issued. An individual link cannot be withdrawn; we can only invalidate all issued links at once, and we do so if a link appears publicly or is passed on widely. There is no entitlement to an invitation or to an extension.
Lobby links: If you pass on the link to a lobby you have opened, anyone who holds that link and is signed in on winku.de can join it. The lobby link is not itself an invitation link: anyone without an account additionally needs an invitation link. Please pass the lobby link on only to people you want to play with.
Playing with a Winku account: If you are signed in on winku.de and open the game page, you are connected to the game without any further click — opening the game page is the action by which you request that connection. For this, winku.de issues a sign-in token that is valid for at most two minutes and can be used only once. It contains solely the internal identifier of your account, not your account name and not your email address. The game receives from your account only that identifier and your game name (next paragraph), nothing else. Anyone who obtains this token within that short window can use it once to connect to the game in your place; please do not pass it on. If you stay signed in on a shared device, you must expect others to play there under your game name — sign out there after playing. If you want to play without an account, sign out on winku.de and use an invitation link. There is no entitlement to this access route being offered or maintained.
Game name and nickname: A name is shown to the other players. With a Winku account this is the game name you set in your account on winku.de; it is a separate field for the game only, is not derived from your account name and cannot be changed inside the game. Without an account you choose a nickname before a round. In both cases: the name must be invented; real names, details about other people and abusive, unlawful or infringing names are not permitted. Section 5 applies accordingly. A word filter rejects impermissible game names when they are saved in the account and automatically replaces impermissible or missing names in the game with a number. You can change or delete the game name in your account at any time, at most once in 24 hours; a change takes effect from the next round. Your account name is never shown in the game.
The game is labelled as suitable from the age of 12. We recommend that younger players speak to a parent or guardian first.
Interfering with the course of the game is not permitted, in particular modified or automated clients, exploiting faults to the detriment of others, and guessing invitation codes. Likewise it is not permitted to obtain or use sign-in tokens belonging to other accounts. We may close connections and block access temporarily; how this works technically and how long a block lasts is set out in the privacy policy. Anyone playing with an account must additionally expect the measures set out in section 3.
The game is a leisure offering with no entitlement to availability, to particular features, to a match coming about or to the retention of results. Results exist only until the end of the round; there is no persistent leaderboard and no recording. Sections 2 and 9 apply in addition.

8d. CueUp — song requests on stream

CueUp takes song requests from Twitch chat and via channel points and adds them to the streamer's Spotify playback. This requires a Twitch account and a Spotify Premium account; section 8 applies.
Music rights: CueUp does not grant any rights to the music. Whether and which music may be played on stream, in recordings or in clips is governed by the terms of Spotify and Twitch and by copyright law; the streamer alone is responsible for this. The feature that keeps the music out of the recording is a technical aid that requires the correct settings in OBS. We do not warrant that recordings will not be muted, blocked or challenged as a result.
Requests and channel points: viewers have no claim to have a request played; the streamer may reject, skip or block requests. Channel points are refunded via Twitch to the extent Twitch allows; there is no claim to a refund against Winku.
Twitch panel: if the streamer switches the panel on, it publicly shows on their channel what they release for it – optionally including the names and profile pictures of requesters. The streamer decides on this display and keeps it in line with Twitch's rules. What is processed in the process is set out in the privacy policy (section 15f).

9. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, and under the German Product Liability Act. For simple negligence we are liable only for breach of a material contractual obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance you may regularly rely, and limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract. As the programs are provided free of charge, the statutory reduction of liability for gifts additionally applies to them. We are liable for loss of data only to the extent that the loss would not have occurred with proper and regular data backups.

10. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms where required for legal or technical reasons or where new features require it. Changes that relate solely to a new service apply to that service once you use it; changes that only extend your rights apply upon publication. We inform account holders of all other material changes in advance by email or at the next sign-in. They apply to your account only once you expressly agree to them; we ask you for this on your next visit to winku.de. Silence or mere continued use does not constitute agreement. As long as you have not agreed, you cannot use your account or the services that require an account; publicly accessible pages such as the legal notice, privacy policy, terms and support remain available. You can agree, sign out or delete your account at any time; as use is free of charge, this costs you nothing.

11. Final provisions

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Consumers may additionally rely on mandatory provisions of their country of residence. Should a provision be invalid, the remainder stays in force. We are neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.