Terms of Service

Last updated: 2026-06-18. Version 2026-06-18. Draft — pending final legal review before public launch.

1. Acceptance

By creating an account or using Scribegrove (the "Service"), you agree to these Terms of Service. If you don't agree, don't use the Service. Account creation requires an explicit acknowledgment of these Terms; this acknowledgment, with the version of these Terms current at that time, is logged on your account.

2. Your content is yours

You retain 100% copyright and ownership of all content you create using Scribegrove — manuscripts, character profiles, world notes, outlines, generated text you accept and edit, generated images you commission and save. We claim no ownership of your work, ever.

To provide the Service, you grant us a limited license to process your content as needed for storage, sync, AI inference (subscription tiers only), and publishing artifact generation. This license is purely operational — we do not use your content to train AI models, sell it to third parties, or share it with anyone except as you direct.

3. Account responsibility

You're responsible for keeping your account credentials secure. If you lose your password, use the standard email-based password reset — no recovery code required. Your encrypted library remains intact through a password reset.

4. Subscription & trial

Subscription tiers (Author Studio, Author Studio Pro, Author Studio Max, Publishing add-on) bill monthly or annually in advance, with a 7-day free trial at the start of each new subscription account. The trial requires a valid credit card; we do not charge until day 8 unless you cancel before then. Cancellation before day 7 results in no charge.

During the trial, you have full studio access including manuscript upload and light AI use. Heavy whole-book actions (full-manuscript story doctor, blueprint review on uploads of significant size) require an active paid subscription. Cancel at any time — cancellation ends the current billing cycle.

5. Export policy

Export of your manuscripts via Publishing Studio (EPUB / PDF / ONIX) or the library archive ZIP requires an active paid subscription with at least one completed billing cycle. Trial users do not have access to export; export unlocks at the start of your first paid month.

Every manuscript export is logged on your account server-side, with a timestamp and export type. This log is the source of truth for refund eligibility (see Section 6). You can review your own export history at any time from your account dashboard.

6. Refund policy

30-day money-back guarantee on subscription tiers: if you cancel within 30 days of your first paid charge AND you have not exported any manuscripts via Publishing Studio or the encrypted-archive ZIP, you receive a full refund.
Exporting your work ends the refund window. Once a manuscript export event has been logged on your account (any of: EPUB, PDF, ONIX, encrypted-archive ZIP, manuscript DOCX), the subscription value has been delivered and the subscription is non-refundable. This is a hard rule with no case-by-case exceptions for exports. The server-side export log is the source of truth.
Top-up packs: refundable within 7 days IF unused. Tokens consumed are non-refundable. Purchased token packs do not expire — unused tokens stay in your account indefinitely.

7. AI cost meter (subscription tiers)

Subscription tiers include a monthly token cap calibrated per tier. Exceeding the cap pauses AI features until the monthly reset or until you purchase a top-up pack. A daily hard cost ceiling protects you from runaway loops.

8. Acceptable use

Don't use Scribegrove to generate or distribute illegal content. Don't use the Service for content that violates upstream provider policies — Spice 4-5 explicit content routes only through model paths that support it contractually. Attempts to circumvent the export gate (for example, by routing chargebacks through third-party channels after exporting your work) constitute a violation of these Terms.

9. Service availability

We target 99.5% uptime for the Service (AI proxy, sync, web app). Planned maintenance windows are announced in advance on the changelog page.

10. Termination

You can cancel anytime. We may terminate accounts that violate these Terms after notice. On termination, your encrypted library is retained per the Privacy Policy's deletion schedule so you can return or request deletion.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Scribegrove is provided "as is" without warranty. We're not liable for indirect damages, lost profits, or data loss beyond the subscription cost paid in the past 12 months.

12. AI assistance & originality

Scribegrove is an authoring tool — not a publisher, and not a guarantor of originality. AI-assisted drafting can, in rare cases, produce text that resembles existing material. You are responsible for the originality of your final manuscript and for clearing any third-party material (quotations, song lyrics, trademarks) you choose to include.

Our optional originality check compares your manuscript against your own other chapters to flag passages duplicated near word-for-word. It does notcompare your work against published books, the web, or any external database, and it is not a plagiarism clearance. A clean result is not a guarantee of originality. We make no warranty that AI output is free of third-party material; see Section 11.

13. Changes

We may update these Terms with 30 days' notice via email and the changelog page. The version date at the top of this document is the effective version; continued use after that date constitutes acceptance.

14. Contact

Questions: hello@scribegrove.com