This Privacy Policy explains how AIM Studio G.K. (AIM Studio合同会社), the company that operates AIMovieStudio ("we," "us," or "Organization"), handles personal data in connection with our community, online platforms, in-person events, competitions and courses.
By registering for an event or course, entering a competition, or joining our online community, you agree to the terms set forth herein.
We collect information differently depending on how you interact with us:
- Identity Data: Name, email address, and social handles (e.g., Twitter/X).
- Professional Data: Job title, company, social media profile, and industry (used to curate attendee lists and facilitate networking).
- Event Specifics: Dietary restrictions (for in-person catering), accessibility needs, and attendance history.
- Visual Media: By attending our in-person events, you consent to having photographs and/or videos captured of you for use in our official social media and marketing channels.
If you participate in our competitions, we collect additional data required for administration and verification:
- Submission Data: Your video files, project descriptions, and thumbnail images.
- Metadata: Information regarding the specific metadata that comes with the submission.
- Verification Data: Legal name, date of birth, and country of residence (to ensure eligibility and compliance with international sanctions/OFAC).
- Financial Info: If you are selected as a winner, we may collect tax forms (e.g., W-9 or W-8BEN) and banking details solely for prize distribution.
- Registration data: Name, email address and phone number, collected at checkout, plus answers to short course-preparation questions.
- Payment data: Payments are processed by a third-party payment processor. We never see or store your full card number; we receive only a payment confirmation and limited details (such as card brand and last four digits).
- Waitlist and interest forms: Name and email address submitted through our website.
- Cookies and Analytics: Our website uses an analytics tool that sets cookies to collect usage data such as the pages you visit, your device and browser type, and your approximate location. We use this only to understand how our website is used and to improve it. You can block cookies in your browser settings.
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Facilitation: To manage ticketing, check-ins, and event logistics.
- Communication: To send you updates about the competition, future meetups, and community news. (You may unsubscribe from newsletters at any time.)
- Curation: To curate attendee lists that foster meaningful interactions by considering attendees' industries and roles.
- Judging: Sharing your submission and AI metadata with our panel of judges to evaluate entries based on our Official Rules.
- Publicity: Displaying the names, project titles, and project description of winners and finalists on our website and social media.
- Compliance: Verifying eligibility (e.g., 18+ age requirement) and reporting prize income to tax authorities where required.
- Course Administration: To confirm your course registration, send confirmation emails and calendar invites, contact you about schedule changes or day-of logistics, process cancellations and refunds, and tell waitlisted or interested people when seats open.
We frequently partner with other organizations. We share data responsibly as follows:
- Event Partners: We may share attendee lists with select partners to refine event programming. These partners may also use this data to contact you regarding relevant services, products, or future event opportunities.
- Competition Sponsors: If you enter a competition sponsored by a specific partner, your contact info and submission details may be shared with that partner. They may use this information for their own independent marketing, recruitment, or product demonstration purposes.
- Partner Policy Control: Once your data is shared with a partner or sponsor, its use is governed by that third party's privacy policy.
- Service Providers: We use third-party service providers to run our events, website and communications. Your data is subject to their privacy policies when you use their services.
- Course Service Providers: For courses, we also use third-party service providers for payment processing, email and calendar, document management, automation and our website forms. To create the AI tool accounts you use in class, we share your name and email address with the provider of those tools. Data handled by these providers is governed by their own privacy policies and terms.
- Ownership: You retain ownership of the intellectual property in your competition submissions.
- License to Use: By submitting an entry, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, screen, broadcast, and promote your submission (and your name/likeness) for the purpose of running the community, competition, event and marketing.
You have control over your data:
- Marketing Opt-Out: You may unsubscribe from our emails at any time via the link in the footer.
- Third-Party Marketing: If you wish to unsubscribe from a partner or sponsor's marketing communications, you must contact that third party directly or use the unsubscribe mechanism provided in their communications.
- Deletion Requests: You may request the deletion of your personal data by contacting us. Exception: we cannot delete data that we are required to keep for tax or legal auditing purposes.
- Your Rights under Japanese Law: Under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information, you can ask us to disclose the personal data we hold about you (including records of any sharing with third parties), to correct, add to or delete it, to stop using or erase it, or to stop sharing it with third parties. Contact us using the link in Section 8. We will confirm your identity before responding, and we don't charge for these requests.
By registering for an event or course hosted by AIMovieStudio, submitting an entry to our competitions, or engaging as an event partner or sponsor, the respective party confirms that it has read and agrees to the terms of this Privacy & Data Use Policy. If the terms are not accepted, the party must exercise the opt-out mechanism described in Section 6 or refrain from participating.
To exercise your rights, request data deletion, or ask questions, please contact us using the link below.
Personal information handling business operator: AIM Studio G.K. (AIM Studio合同会社). Representative: Hiroyuki Kominato. Address: provided without delay on request.
Last updated: October 11, 2026