Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of The Hard Copy ("we", "us"), the subscription service at thehardcopy.org that aggregates articles you read online into a regularly printed book. By creating an account or placing an order, you agree to these Terms.

The service

The Hard Copy fetches articles from sources you connect (RSS feeds, connected email accounts, or manual submissions), lays them out, and arranges for a printed book to be manufactured and shipped to you on a recurring cadence.

Accounts

You must provide accurate account and shipping information and keep it current. You are responsible for activity on your account. You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to maintain a paid subscription.

Subscriptions and billing

• Cadence. Your subscription bills on the cadence you select (e.g. monthly). Billing occurs at the start of each cycle for the book produced in that cycle.
• Pricing. Each book's price depends on its page count, which is determined by the content fetched during the cycle. We display an estimate before charging.
• Payment. Payments are processed by Stripe. By providing a payment method you authorize us to charge it for each cycle and for any applicable taxes and shipping.
• Failed payments. If a payment fails we may pause your subscription and retry. Books are not produced for cycles that are not paid.
• Price changes. We may change prices with at least 30 days' notice by email. Continued use after the change takes effect constitutes acceptance.

Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Cancellation stops future billing cycles. Any cycle that has already started production at the time of cancellation will be completed, charged, and shipped.

Refunds

• Pre-production. If you cancel before a cycle's book has entered production, you will not be charged for that cycle.
• In-production or shipped. Books that have already entered production or shipped are non-refundable, except where required by law.
• Defective books. If a book arrives damaged or with a manufacturing defect, contact us within 30 days of delivery and we will arrange a replacement or refund of that book at our discretion.

Shipping

Books are manufactured and shipped by our print-on-demand partner Lulu. Delivery times depend on Lulu's production queue and the carrier serving your address. We are not the carrier and are not responsible for delays, loss, or damage caused by the carrier once a shipment leaves Lulu's facility, except as required by law. Risk of loss for damage in transit is handled per Lulu's policies and our defective-books process above.

Permitted use of content

The articles printed in your book are aggregated from sources you choose to connect. The Hard Copy does not claim ownership of those articles; copyright remains with the original authors and publishers.

The printed books are provided for your personal, non-commercial reading use. You may not redistribute, resell, or systematically reproduce the contents of your books. You may not use the service to aggregate or print content you do not have the right to access.

We reserve the right to refuse to print content that is unlawful, infringing, or that violates a source's terms of service.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the service to violate any law or third-party right.
• Attempt to access, probe, or disrupt the service or its infrastructure.
• Reverse engineer, scrape, or resell the service.
• Submit fraudulent payment information or chargeback orders you have received in good faith.

Account termination

We may suspend or terminate your account if you breach these Terms, fail to pay, or use the service in a way that creates legal, security, or operational risk for us. Where reasonable, we will give you notice and an opportunity to cure. You may close your account at any time from your account settings.

On termination we delete your account data as described in the Privacy Policy. Outstanding charges for completed books remain payable.

Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any specific article will be successfully fetched, formatted, or printed in a given cycle.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the service is limited to the amounts you paid us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or data.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by email to active subscribers, and the lastUpdated date above will reflect the change. Continued use of the service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Montana, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Montana, and you consent to their personal jurisdiction.

Contact

Questions about these Terms: cooper@thehardcopy.org.