Terms of Service

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These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Storynote website and the Storynote iOS application, including any pre-release builds distributed through Apple TestFlight (together, the "Service"). Storynote, LLC ("Storynote", "we", "us") provides the Service subject to these Terms.

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 18 years old to use Storynote. By using the Service you represent that you meet this requirement and that the information you give us is accurate and complete.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for all activity that occurs under your account. Tell us promptly at support@storynote.com if you believe your account has been compromised.

One person, one account. Do not impersonate anyone, and do not create an account on someone else's behalf without their permission.

Storynote is offered in the United States only. The Service is provided from the US and is intended for people who reside in the United States. We do not offer or direct it to individuals in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, and it is not designed to meet those jurisdictions' data protection requirements. By using Storynote you represent that you are a US resident. We may decline or close accounts that are not.

2. Pre-release builds

We may make pre-release versions of the app available through Apple TestFlight or similar channels. If you use a pre-release build, you understand that it may change frequently, may contain bugs or incomplete features, and may experience interruptions or data loss. We may limit, suspend, or end pre-release access at any time.

3. Your license to use the Service

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to use the Service for your own personal, non-commercial purposes, and only in the territories where we offer it (see section 1). Paid plans expand what the Service can do; they do not change the personal, non-commercial nature of this license.

4. Acceptable use

You agree that you will not:

• Use the Service for any unlawful or harmful purpose.
• Harass, threaten, stalk, impersonate, or invade the privacy of anyone.
• Upload content you do not have the rights to, or that infringes anyone's intellectual property.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other users' accounts or content, or any related systems or networks.
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or circumvent any security, authentication, rate-limiting, or storage-quota mechanism.
• Use automated means to scrape, crawl, or bulk-download content, or use the Service to build a competing dataset or product.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service, except where applicable law expressly permits it.
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Service or another user's content.
• Interfere with the Service's operation, or impose an unreasonable load on our infrastructure.

5. Objectionable content — zero tolerance

You may not create, upload, post, share, or transmit content that:

• Sexually exploits or endangers a minor in any way. Where we become aware of child sexual abuse material we are required by US law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A) to report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to preserve the material and related account records. That duty overrides any deletion request, and we will not notify the account holder.
• Is pornographic or sexually explicit.
• Depicts or promotes violence, self-harm, or cruelty, or threatens anyone.
• Harasses, bullies, defames, or targets a person or group, including on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, age, or sexual orientation.
• Promotes terrorism, violent extremism, or organized criminal activity.
• Is fraudulent, deceptive, or intended to scam or phish other users.
• Contains someone's private or intimate images shared without their consent.
• Is otherwise illegal or objectionable.

How we enforce this. Every user has the tools to act, and we act too:

• Report content or accounts. Tap the ••• menu on any story or note, press and hold a comment or reply, or open a person's profile and tap its ••• menu, and choose Report. Reports reach us directly and are not shown to the person reported.
• Block people. Blocking works in both directions: you stop following each other and you are removed from each other’s stories and groups. Photos and videos either of you added to the other’s stories are moved into a private (Only Me) story owned by the person who added them, and your comments, likes and reactions on each other’s stories are deleted (along with any replies under those comments). Neither of you can see the other’s profile, stories, notes, comments or reactions, find the other in search or in any list of people, or be notified about the other’s activity. Deleted comments, likes and reactions are not restored if you unblock.
• Automatic hiding, then human review. Content reported by three or more different people is hidden automatically from everyone except the person who posted it, pending our review, and we are alerted to every report. Reported accounts are reviewed by us rather than hidden automatically. We aim to act on credible reports within 24 hours. To be straightforward about the limits: we do not proactively scan or analyze uploads, so review is triggered by reports rather than at upload time — which is why reporting matters.
• Appeals. If we remove your content or restrict your account and you believe we got it wrong, email support@storynote.com within 30 days and a person will review the decision.
• Consequences. We may remove content, restrict features, and suspend or permanently terminate accounts — at our discretion and without prior notice — and we may preserve and disclose information to law enforcement where we believe it is necessary.
• Reach a human. support@storynote.com.

You are responsible for the conduct of people you invite to your stories. If you are the owner of a story, you can remove contributors and report them or anything they post. To have a contributor's note taken out of your story, report it or contact us.

6. Your content

Storynote lets you and others create stories, upload photos and videos, write captions, and interact through comments and reactions (your "User Content"). You retain ownership of your User Content.

By submitting User Content, you grant Storynote a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable (only to our service providers) license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for technical purposes such as resizing, compressing, generating a smaller display copy, or extracting a still frame from a video), transmit, and display your User Content — solely to operate, secure, and improve the Service, including showing your content to the people you have shared it with. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except that we may retain copies in routine backups for a limited period, as described in the Privacy Policy.

We do not use your photos or videos to train machine-learning models, and we do not license your User Content to third parties for their own purposes.

You are solely responsible for your User Content, and you represent that you have all rights necessary to upload and share it. If your content shows other people, you are responsible for having any permission or consent those people would reasonably expect.

7. Story privacy and sharing

Each story is set to Only Me, Private, or Public, and individual notes can be more private than the story they sit in but never more public. Story owners control the story's privacy level; if an owner makes a private story public, contributors' notes stay private until each contributor chooses to publish their own.

"Public" means publicly accessible on the internet — not merely visible to other Storynote users. Read Privacy Policy section 5 for exactly what that entails before making anything public.

8. Subscriptions, free trial, and purchases

Storynote is free to use. Optional paid plans raise limits and unlock features. All purchases are made through the Apple App Store and are governed by Apple's terms in addition to these.

8.1 What we offer

Prices are in US dollars and may differ in other territories or change over time; the price shown in the app at the moment of purchase is the price that applies. Each plan's current limits — storage, contributors per story, contact groups, video length, image quality, and downloads — are shown in the app and may be adjusted from time to time. We will not reduce a limit for an active paid subscription mid-term in a way that materially degrades what you paid for.

8.2 Auto-renewal, and how to cancel

• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends.
• Your Apple ID account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends, at the then-current price.
• Manage or cancel at any time in iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions, or via the App Store. You cannot cancel a subscription from inside Storynote, because Apple manages the billing relationship.
• Cancelling stops future charges. It does not retroactively refund the current period, and you keep the plan's benefits until the period ends.
• Deleting your Storynote account does not cancel your subscription. Cancel it with Apple as above.

8.3 Free trial

• We may offer a one-week free trial on the annual Storynote+ plan. Eligibility is determined by Apple; if you are not eligible, the app will not offer it.
• A trial converts into a paid annual subscription automatically when it ends, at the price shown before you start it, unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends.
• One trial per Apple ID (including Family Sharing groups), per Apple's rules.
• If you buy a subscription while a trial is running, the unused portion of the trial is forfeited.

8.4 Event Pass

The Event Pass is not currently available for purchase. This section describes it for anyone who already holds one; it does not offer it for sale. We will update these Terms if it becomes available again.

The Event Pass is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It applies to a single story you choose and lasts 90 days from activation. During that window it removes the contributor limit on that story and raises capabilities and the storage floor for your account. When the 90 days end, the story remains yours and its content stays intact, but the raised limits no longer apply — see section 9. Event Passes are not refundable once applied to a story, except where required by law or granted by Apple.

8.5 Refunds

Apple handles all billing, and therefore all refunds. We cannot issue, approve, or reverse a charge. Request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com. Nothing here limits any non-waivable statutory right you may have.

9. Storage limits and downgrades

Each plan includes a storage allowance. Two things are worth stating plainly:

• Storage is billed to the story owner, not the uploader. When someone contributes a photo to your story, it counts against your allowance, because it lives in your album. Contributing to someone else's story does not consume your own storage.
• If your plan ends or you downgrade, your content is not deleted. You keep everything already in your stories and can continue to view, share, and download it. What stops is adding more: if you are over the new plan's allowance, the app won't let you upload new photos or videos until you free up space or upgrade again. Features such as video or full-resolution downloads follow your current plan.

We do not delete your content for being over an allowance. If we ever need to change that — for example for accounts that are both over quota and long abandoned — we will give clear advance notice by email with time to download your content or upgrade.

10. Our intellectual property

Storynote and its name, logos, designs, text, graphics, software, and other materials ("Storynote Content") are owned by or licensed to Storynote, LLC and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as these Terms expressly allow, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Storynote Content, and you may not extract or attempt to derive its source code.

If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without obligation or compensation to you. You keep any rights you have in the underlying ideas; we simply are not required to keep them confidential or pay for them.

11. Third-party services

The Service relies on third parties including Apple, Google and Firebase, Google Cloud, and RevenueCat, and offers sign-in with Apple and Google. Your use of those services may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party services, and their availability is outside our control. The current list of providers is in our Privacy Policy.

12. Email communications

When you create an account or join our mailing list, you consent to receiving email from us about onboarding, product updates, and service notices. You can unsubscribe from non-essential email at any time using the link in any message or by contacting us. We will still send essential account, security, and billing messages.

13. Account deletion

You can delete your account in the app at Settings → Delete account & data. Your account is then scheduled for permanent removal and enters a 30-day recovery window, during which you can cancel the request and restore access. After that window, your account and associated personal data are deleted from our live systems; deleted files then pass through a storage recovery window (currently up to 37 days) before being purged, as described in the Privacy Policy.

Deleting your account deletes your stories and everything in them (including notes other people added), and the notes, comments and replies you added to other people's stories. Download anything you want to keep before you delete your account.

Remember to cancel any App Store subscription separately — see section 8.2.

14. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if we believe you have breached these Terms, if your use creates risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or if we discontinue the Service. Breaches of section 5 are grounds for immediate, permanent termination.

If we discontinue the Service generally, we will give reasonable advance notice and a way to download your content. If we terminate a paid subscription for reasons other than your breach, we will arrange a pro-rata refund of the unused period through Apple where we are able to.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination do survive it, including 6, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22.

15. Terms required for App Store distribution

These terms apply to the iOS app obtained through Apple's App Store, and are included because Apple requires them:

• Apple is not a party to these Terms. These Terms are between you and Storynote, LLC only — not Apple. Apple is not responsible for the app or its content.
• Third-party beneficiary. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
• Scope of license. Your license to use the app is a non-transferable license to use it on any Apple-branded device you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, including the Family Sharing provisions.
• Maintenance and support are our responsibility, not Apple's. Apple has no obligation to provide any support for the app.
• Warranty. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation for the app. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price of the app (if any); to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever. Any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to a failure to conform to a warranty are our responsibility.
• Product claims. We, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app or your use of it, including product liability claims, any claim that the app fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection or privacy law.
• Intellectual property claims. If a third party claims the app infringes their intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of that claim.
• Legal compliance. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a US Government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting", and that you are not on any US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Contact. Questions, complaints, or claims about the app go to support@storynote.com.

16. Disclaimer of warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that any defect will be corrected. Storynote is not a backup service. Keep your own copies of photos and videos that matter to you.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, STORYNOTE, LLC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, USE, PROFITS, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or liabilities, so some of the above may not apply to you. In that case our liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by law.

18. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Storynote, LLC and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or connected with your User Content, your use of the Service, or your breach of these Terms.

19. Copyright — notices and takedowns (DMCA)

We respect copyright and expect the same of our users. If you believe content on Storynote infringes a copyright you own or control, send a written notice to our designated agent with all of the following, as required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3):

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim was infringed.
3. Identification of the material you claim is infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it — a link or the story and note in question.
4. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

What we do. On receiving a complete notice we will remove or disable access to the material and notify the person who posted it. We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

Counter-notice. If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake or misidentification, you may send a counter-notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3) — your signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief it was removed in error, and your name, address, telephone number, and consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your district (or, if outside the US, for any district in which we may be found). We will forward it to the complainant, and unless they file a court action we may restore the material in 10 to 14 business days.

Misrepresentation carries liability. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing — or that it was removed by mistake — can make you liable for damages and legal fees.

20. Disputes between users

Storynote is a shared space, and disagreements between users are between them. We are not obliged to mediate a dispute over who may see a story, who added what, or what should be deleted, and you release us from claims arising out of such disputes. That said: a story's owner controls its privacy and membership, you control the notes you added, and you can always report or block someone (section 5).

21. General

• Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the complete agreement between you and us about the Service, and replace any earlier understanding.
• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it is limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary and the rest stays in force.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a provision, that is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Electronic communications. You consent to receiving notices from us electronically — by email or in the app — and agree that those satisfy any legal requirement that a communication be in writing.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control.
• No third-party beneficiaries, except Apple as stated in section 15.
• Headings are for convenience and do not affect interpretation.

22. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts. If you are a consumer, nothing here deprives you of the protection of mandatory consumer-protection law in your place of residence.

23. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. If the changes are significant, we will give additional notice — by email or in the app — before they take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the updated Terms take effect constitutes acceptance. If you do not accept the changes, stop using the Service and delete your account.

24. Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Email support@storynote.com.

Storynote, LLC