These are the terms under which SINephile operates. We keep them sharp, fair, and as readable as a Coen Brothers screenplay.

Terms of Service

Effective Date: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Impliqo
Contact: info [at] impliqo [dot] com
Mailing Address: 584 Castro Street #3025, San Francisco, CA 94114

Welcome to SINephile

By accessing this site (sinephile.com), reading our reviews, subscribing to our newsletter, or otherwise engaging with SINephile content, you agree to the following Terms of Service.

We know — legal text isn’t exactly as compelling as great cinema — but we believe in clarity. Here’s how this works.

1. Who We Are

SINephile is a film criticism and cultural commentary platform published by Impliqo, an independent creative studio. We operate using Substack as our content management and distribution system. The thoughts here are ours. The infrastructure, email delivery, and analytics are powered by Substack.

2. What You’re Allowed to Do

• Read, subscribe, and share our reviews, essays, and other content

• Quote from SINephile with proper attribution and a link back to the original source

• Use embedded media (Spotify/YouTube) for personal, non-commercial enjoyment

3. What You’re Not Allowed to Do

• Repost entire reviews or features without permission

• Monetize or repackage SINephile content elsewhere

• Use SINephile’s branding, scoring systems (like the SINemeter or Cinema DEFCON), or editorial tone as if it were your own

• Use SINephile’s structured data (including the SINemeter and Cinema DEFCON schemas, rating levels, terminology, or catalogs) to build derivative scoring systems, APIs, or commercial tools without prior permission

If you’re an educator, journalist, or curator who’d like to use or license our content: just ask — info [at] impliqo [dot] com.

4. Subscriptions

When you subscribe, you’re agreeing to receive occasional emails from us. You can unsubscribe anytime. We don’t send spam. We don’t share your info. We also don’t take it personally if you ghost us.

5. Content Accuracy

While we aim to be thoughtful, well-researched, and culturally attuned, everything on SINephile is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Our opinions are subjective (and proudly so), and shouldn’t be interpreted as academic scholarship or professional advice.

6. Use of Imagery

SINephile occasionally publishes film stills, posters, trailers and promotional assets for purposes of criticism, education, and commentary. These materials are either publicly sourced or studio-provided, and fall under fair use. For takedown requests or credit concerns, please contact us at info [at] impliqo [dot] com.

7. Platform Limits

SINephile runs on Substack, which means your access is also subject to Substack’s Terms of Use. If Substack has an outage, changes its policies, or crashes mid-review drop, we appreciate your patience — and your refresh button.

8. Changes & Updates

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in how we operate. When we do, we’ll revise the effective date above. Continuing to use SINephile after updates means you agree to the changes.

9. Use of Structured Data & Datasets

SINephile publishes original datasets and taxonomies (such as the SINemeter rating tiers and Cinema DEFCON levels) as part of our editorial ecosystem. These are made publicly accessible for transparency, cultural referencing, and structured search — including use in search engines, film encyclopedias, knowledge bases, and educational resources.

Attribution is required for any republication or citation of our structured data outside of automated indexing.

Commercial reuse, scraping for derivative APIs, or rebranding of these systems without permission is not allowed. If you're a researcher, curator, or developer with a use case in mind, reach out: info [at] impliqo [dot] com.

Related Editorial Policies:

SINephile also publishes separate statements on Editorial Independence, Corrections, Ethics, and Diversity & Representation, which reflect our values and cultural approach to film coverage.