Ellipsus Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of our services. When we say "services," we’re referring to our website (ellipsus.com) and writing app (write.ellipsus.com). (And "we" and "our" refers to Ellipsus GmbH.)
Okay, no more legalese quotes.
By accessing and using our services, you agree to be bound by these terms.
Last updated: November 27, 2024.
Your use of our services
Eligibility: To use our services, you confirm that you're at least 13 years old, or the applicable age of digital consent in your country, whichever is older.
User account: To access our core services, you'll need to create a user account, consisting of an email address and display name. You're responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account.
Prohibited activities: By using our services, you must comply with these terms and all applicable laws. And you agree that you won't:
- Interfere with the proper functioning of our services: Don't attack our systems; scrape our services; transmit viruses, malware, or any other harmful code to our systems; or copy our product or use our intellectual property without permission.
- Use our services to do harm to writers or readers: Don't use our services to spam, harass, abuse, or defame writers or readers; harvest, collect, or gather user data without the user’s consent; or infringe on anyone else's intellectual property without permission.
- We do not police the content you write privately within Ellipsus, but we encourage respect for intellectual property and ethical creation.
- We value fair use and transformative creative expression, including works like fan fiction. However, plagiarism—the unacknowledged use of someone else’s words or ideas claimed as one’s own—is not permitted.
- Use our services to do anything illegal: Write about fictional or historical crime as much as you want—please don't use our services to plan or or commit any IRL illegal activity.
If you suspect someone is violating these restrictions, please get in touch at privacy@ellipsus.com.
Our intellectual property
Our services includes content that belongs to us, like brand illustrations, user interface and website design, and our writing. When it comes to our services, we retain all intellectual property rights. You acknowledge that our services contain proprietary and confidential information protected by applicable intellectual property laws. In exchange for compliance with these terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use our services.
(That being said, if you want to use our art or logo somewhere, that's probably fine if you're not passing it off as your own. Send an email to support@ellipsus.com and we can discuss!)
Privacy
By using our services, you consent to the practices described in our Privacy Policy, which governs the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of your personal information.
Content in Ellipsus
Your content
Okay, one more set of legalese quotes! "Content," in this case, refers to files, documents, drafts, comments, chat messages, etc. And it's yours, all yours. But! When you add content to Ellipsus, you're giving us permission to display and distribute your content in a manner that's consistent with your privacy preferences and our Privacy Policy. That means we can do things like store and display your content or reformat your content to correctly render across devices. This does not prevent you from licensing your work to others.
The permission—or license—you grant us is worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and transferable. It can be terminated at any time by deleting your content or account. Until we offer self-service account deletion, you can email us at support@ellipsus.com.
Note that you are ultimately responsible for your work, and any consequences of sharing, publishing, or transmitting it. We will take reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality and integrity of your work, but we are not responsible for any loss, damage, or unauthorized access that stems from sharing your work. Please maintain appropriate backups and safeguards.
Other content
By using our services, you might have access to other users' content (i.e., someone invites you to a document or shares a view-only link with you). You may not use or modify this content without their consent.
Liability
Our website and the materials on our website are provided on an 'as-is' basis. To the extent permitted by law, we make no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaim and negate all other warranties including, without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property, or other violation of rights.
In no event shall we or our suppliers be liable for any consequential loss suffered or incurred by you or any third party arising from the use or inability to use this website or the materials on this website, even if we (or an authorized representative) have been notified, orally or in writing, of the possibility of such damage.
Because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.
Governing Law
These terms are governed by US and New York State law. Any disputes will be resolved in the courts of New York County (Manhattan). While our legal home is in New York, we adhere to GDPR privacy protections for all our writers worldwide. We believe in making our platform a safe space for creativity while protecting your rights.
Changes to terms
Transparency is important to us—just like it is to you. These terms are a living guideline—a WIP—and we’ll continue to alert you to any changes made in the future.
We may update these terms to reflect service or business changes, comply with laws, prevent abuse, or better protect and serve our users. By continuing to use our services after updated terms have been posted, it means that you agree to the changes. If they don't feel right for you anymore, you're always free to close your account.
Termination
At any time, you're free to stop using our services, for any time and for any reason. If you wish to delete your account, you can email us at support@ellipsus.com.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your right to use our services immediately for any breach of these terms. We'll let you know in writing before taking any action.
Contact us
If you have any questions about these terms, get in touch at privacy@ellipsus.com.