Terms of Service

These are our terms of service. They’re quite long and a bit boring, but they’re here to protect both you and us – and make sure we have a long and happy relationship together. Please take a moment to review all of these terms, so you know what you’re agreeing to.

But before we go any further, let’s be clear: your words are your words. You own them. We don’t. We are just a writing tool.

If you find a Novlr.org account which you believe violates our terms of service, please contact us immediately and let us know.

The following terms and conditions govern all use of the Novlr.org website and all content, services and products available at or through the website, including, but not limited to, the Novlr application (“app.novlr.org”) and the Novlr.org website itself (taken together, the Website). The Website is owned and operated by the Novlr Ltd. (“Novlr”). The Website is offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, Novlr’s Privacy Policy) and procedures that may be published from time to time on this Site by Novlr (collectively, the “Agreement”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Website. By accessing or using any part of the web site, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the Website or use any services. If these terms and conditions are considered an offer by Novlr, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms. The Website is available only to individuals who are at least 13 years old.

Violation of any of the terms below will result in the termination of your Account. You agree to use the Service at your own risk.

1

Your novlr.org account

If you create a novel on the Website, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and novel, and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account and any other actions taken in connection with the novel. You must immediately notify Novlr of any unauthorized uses of your novel, your account or any other breaches of security. Novlr will not be liable for any acts or omissions by You, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.

  1. You must be a human. Accounts registered by “bots” or other automated methods are not permitted.
  2. You must provide your legal full name, a valid email address, and any other information requested in order to complete the signup process.
  3. Your login may only be used by one person – a single login shared by multiple people is not permitted.
  4. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and password. Novlr cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage from your failure to comply with this security obligation.

2

Responsibility of users

Adding content to your novel

If you add Content to a novel, You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer software. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:
  • the novel is yours
  • the use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
  • if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
  • you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;

Your content

As long as the Content in your novel fits the above conditions then Novlr will never publish your content, or make it available to any third party, without your prior written authorisation. However, various features of the Website may enable you to share your content with others. Novlr acts as a facilitator for those sharing transactions, and you agree to hold Novlr blameless for your own actions while using the sharing tools embedded in the Website.

If you delete Content, Novlr will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Website, but you acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable.

Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, Novlr has the right (though not the obligation) to, in its sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in our reasonable opinion, violates any Novlr policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Software to any individual or entity for any reason, in our sole discretion. Novlr will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

Adding content to the Novlr Website (Not your novels)

If you add content to a novel, post material to the Website, post links on the Website, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the Website (any such material, “Content”), You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer software. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:
  • the use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
  • if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
  • you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
  • the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
  • the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
  • the Content does not contain threats or incite violence, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;

By submitting Content to Novlr for inclusion on the Novlr Website (For example comments on the Novlr blog; this does not apply to your novels – see above.), you grant Novlr full license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content. If you delete Content, Novlr will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Website, but you acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable.

Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, Novlr has the right (though not the obligation) to, in Novlr’s sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in Novlr’s reasonable opinion, violates any Novlr policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in Novlr’s sole discretion. Novlr will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

3

Payment & renewal

3.1. General Terms

Optional paid services are available on the Website by Subscription. By selecting to subscribe you agree to pay Novlr the monthly or annual Subscription fees indicated for that service. Payments will be charged on a pre-pay basis on the day you sign up for a Subscription and will cover the use of that service for a monthly or annual Subscription period as indicated. Subscription fees are not refundable.

3.2. Automatic Renewal

Unless you notify Novlr before the end of the applicable Subscription period that you want to cancel a Subscription, your Subscription will automatically renew and you authorise us to collect the then-applicable annual or monthly subscription fee for that Subscription(as well as any taxes) using any credit card or other payment mechanism we have on record for you. Subscriptions can be canceled at any time in the Subscription section of your account settings.

3.3 Refund Policy

Unless indicated otherwise at the explicit discretion of Novlr, all sales are final and no refunds are provided for any products or services provided.

4

Responsibility of website visitors

Novlr has not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer software, posted to the Website, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material’s content, use or effects. By operating the Website, Novlr does not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content.

The Website may contain content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Website may also contain material that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. Novlr disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by visitors of the Website, or from any downloading by those visitors of content there posted.

5

Content posted on other websites

We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer software, made available through the websites and webpages to which Novlr.org links, and that link to Novlr.org. Novlr does not have any control over those non-Novlr websites and webpages, and is not responsible for their contents or their use. By linking to a non-Novlr website or webpage, Novlr does not represent or imply that it endorses such website or webpage. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. Novlr disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from your use of non-Ghost websites and webpages.

6

Copyright infringement

As Novlr asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or linked to by Novlr.org violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Novlr by emailing hello at novlr dot org. Novlr will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. Novlr will terminate a visitor’s access to and use of the Website if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Novlr or others.

7

Intellectual property

This Agreement does not transfer from Novlr to you any Novlr or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with Novlr. Novlr, Novlr.org, the Novlr logo, and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with Novlr.org, or the Website are trademarks or registered trademarks of Novlr or Novlr’s licensors. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website may be the trademarks of other third parties. Your use of the Website grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any Novlr or third-party trademarks.

8

Changes

Novlr reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. It is your responsibility to check this Agreement periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. Novlr may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Website (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

9

Termination

Novlr may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your Novlr.org account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the Website. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

10

Disclaimer of warranties

The Website is provided “as is”. Novlr and its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Neither Novlr nor its suppliers and licensors, makes any warranty that the Website will be error free or that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. You understand that you download from, or otherwise obtain content or services through, the Website at your own discretion and risk.

11

Limitation of liability

In no event will Novlr, or its suppliers or licensors, be liable with respect to any subject matter of this agreement under any contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages; (ii) the cost of procurement for substitute products or services; (iii) for interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or (iv) for any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to Novlr under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action. Novlr shall have no liability for any failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.

12

General representation and warranty

You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with the Novlr Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United Kingdom or the country in which you reside) and (ii) your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

13

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Novlr, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of the Website, including but not limited to your violation of this Agreement.

14

Miscellaneous

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Novlr and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and they may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of Novlr, or by the posting by Novlr of a revised version. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will be governed by the laws of the United Kingdom., excluding its conflict of law provisions, and the proper venue for any disputes arising out of or relating to any of the same will be the courts located in the United Kingdom. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. You may assign your rights under this Agreement to any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms and conditions; Novlr may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

These terms of service are released under the Creative Commons 3.0 license, with thanks to The Ghost Foundation who in turn thanked WordPress.com for authoring the original version.