Terms of Service

Please read these Terms of Service ("Terms") carefully before using The Readers' Verdict ("Service", "we", "us", or "our"). By creating an account, submitting a manuscript, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Description of Service

The Readers' Verdict is an AI-powered manuscript feedback platform. Users submit written works ("Manuscripts") which are analysed by a panel of AI reader personas. Each persona produces an independent review and participates in a simulated jury deliberation. The Service returns written critiques, letter grades, and a jury summary ("Analysis Results").

The Service is operated by an individual developer and is currently offered in beta. Features, pricing, and availability may change at any time without prior notice.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Service. By creating an account you represent that all information you provide is accurate and that you have the legal authority to submit the content you upload.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorised access to your account. We are not liable for any loss arising from your failure to secure your credentials.

3. Manuscript Submission and Intellectual Property

3.1 Your Ownership

You retain full ownership of all Manuscripts you submit. These Terms do not transfer any intellectual property rights to us.

3.2 Licence Granted to Us

By submitting a Manuscript, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, revocable licence to store, process, and transmit your Manuscript solely for the purpose of providing the Service — specifically, to encrypt and store your Manuscript and to transmit it to the Anthropic API for analysis. This licence terminates when you delete your account or request deletion of your Manuscripts.

3.3 Your Responsibility for Content

You represent and warrant that:

• You own the Manuscript or have all rights necessary to submit it;
• The Manuscript does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party;
• The Manuscript does not contain unlawful, defamatory, obscene, or harmful content;
• Submission of the Manuscript does not violate any non-disclosure agreement, publishing contract, or other legal obligation you are subject to.

We reserve the right to remove any Manuscript that we reasonably believe violates these Terms, without prior notice and without liability to you.

3.4 No Claim to Analysis Results

Analysis Results are generated by AI and are provided to you as the submitting user. We do not assert ownership over Analysis Results. However, because they are derived from AI processing, they may not be eligible for copyright protection in all jurisdictions. You are responsible for determining how Analysis Results may be used or cited under applicable law.

4. AI-Generated Content and Limitations

4.1 Nature of Feedback

All reviews, grades, and summaries are generated by artificial intelligence. The reader personas are fictional constructs. Their opinions, critiques, and grades are simulated and do not represent the views of any real person, literary professional, or publishing industry authority.

4.2 No Professional Advice

Analysis Results do not constitute professional editorial, literary, legal, or publishing advice. Grades and critiques are not guarantees of commercial success or publishability. We strongly encourage you to seek qualified human editors, literary agents, and publishing professionals in addition to using this Service.

4.3 Accuracy and Consistency

AI-generated content may be inconsistent, inaccurate, incomplete, or biased. Results may vary between submissions of the same Manuscript. We make no warranty that Analysis Results are accurate, reliable, or fit for any particular purpose.

4.4 Third-Party AI Provider

Analysis is performed using the Anthropic API. By using the Service, you acknowledge that your Manuscript text will be transmitted to Anthropic's servers for processing. Anthropic's usage policies state that API inputs are not used to train their models and are not retained beyond the scope of the API request. We are not responsible for Anthropic's data practices. You are encouraged to review Anthropic's Privacy Policy at anthropic.com.

5. Manuscript Security and Data Protection

5.1 Encryption at Rest

Manuscripts submitted through the Service are encrypted using AES-256-CBC encryption before being written to storage. The encryption key is derived from your user account identifier and a server-side secret that is stored separately from the encrypted files. This means that browsing our storage directly does not expose your Manuscript in readable form.

5.2 Limitations of Encryption

While we take commercially reasonable steps to protect your Manuscripts, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We do not guarantee absolute security. You acknowledge and accept that:

• Encryption protects against casual access and most data breach scenarios, but does not protect against legal compulsion such as a valid court order or subpoena;
• As the operator of the Service, we retain the technical ability to decrypt Manuscripts using server-side keys, though we do not access Manuscript content except to operate the Service;
• Manuscript text exists in server memory during the analysis request window, and is transmitted to Anthropic's API in unencrypted form as required to perform analysis;
• We cannot guarantee the security of data in transit between your browser and our servers, though we use HTTPS for all connections.

5.3 Retention and Deletion

Encrypted Manuscripts are retained to support the revision tracking feature — specifically, to allow AI readers to reference prior versions when analysing revised submissions. If you delete your account or request deletion of a specific Manuscript, we will remove the corresponding encrypted files from storage within a commercially reasonable time.

Analysis Results (reviews, grades, and summaries) are stored in our database separately from Manuscript files. These do not contain your Manuscript text.

5.4 Beta Environment

The Service is currently in beta. Data handling practices, storage architecture, and security controls may change as the Service evolves. We recommend not submitting Manuscripts of extraordinary commercial sensitivity during the beta period.

6. Payments and Refunds

6.1 Pricing

Current pricing is displayed at the time of submission and on the Service website. Prices are subject to change at any time. The price shown when you initiate a paid submission is the price you will be charged for that submission.

6.2 Free Sample

One free sample analysis is available per account. The scope and limits of the free sample are displayed on the Service website and are subject to change at any time. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the free sample offer at any time.

6.3 Beta Pricing

During the beta period, submission fees may be shown as indicative ("would have cost") amounts rather than actual charges. This may change when the Service exits beta and Stripe payment processing is fully activated. We will provide advance notice before charging users for submissions.

6.4 Payment Processing

Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. We do not store your payment card details. By making a payment, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

6.5 No Refunds

Because analysis is performed immediately upon submission and consumes third-party API resources, all payments are final and non-refundable, except where required by applicable law. If you experience a technical failure that prevents you from receiving Analysis Results, contact us and we will make reasonable efforts to remedy the situation.

7. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Submit content that infringes third-party intellectual property rights;
• Submit content that is unlawful, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or threatening;
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, scrape, or extract the AI persona system prompts, model configurations, or proprietary logic of the Service;
• Circumvent technical measures, including encryption or access controls;
• Use the Service for competitive intelligence purposes, including training competing AI models;
• Create multiple accounts to obtain additional free samples;
• Use automated means to submit Manuscripts or interact with the Service.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT;
• WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS;
• WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR RELIABILITY OF ANY ANALYSIS RESULTS;
• WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS.

YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

9. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY:

• INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES;
• LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY;
• DAMAGES ARISING FROM UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR MANUSCRIPTS OR ACCOUNT;
• DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR RELIANCE ON ANALYSIS RESULTS FOR EDITORIAL, PUBLISHING, OR COMMERCIAL DECISIONS;
• DAMAGES ARISING FROM SERVICE INTERRUPTION, DATA LOSS, OR SECURITY INCIDENTS BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE SIX MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM; OR (B) USD $50.00.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR LIABILITY. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Service operator and any affiliates, officers, or contractors from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, penalties, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use of the Service;
• Your Manuscript content, including any claim that it infringes a third party's intellectual property rights;
• Your violation of these Terms;
• Your violation of any applicable law or regulation.

11. Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the Service at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, including but not limited to if we believe you have violated these Terms.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including Sections 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 13.

12. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify registered users of material changes by email or by a notice displayed within the Service. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of those changes.

If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service and may request deletion of your account and Manuscripts.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Hays County, Texas, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

WAIVER OF CLASS ACTION: TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE WILL BE RESOLVED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

14. Miscellaneous

14.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.

14.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

14.3 No Waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.

14.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms without restriction.

14.5 Contact

Questions about these Terms may be directed to us through the contact information provided on the Service website.