Terms of Service

1. Introduction and acceptance of the Terms

Read Pulse is an online story-reading platform providing works of fiction and features relating to reading, community interaction, CYOA stories and Gamification (AI-powered).

Read Pulse provides its service to users worldwide, subject to service availability and the legal requirements applicable in each region.

By creating an account, by choosing to confirm your agreement to the Terms, or by continuing to access and use Read Pulse where the law permits this, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to comply with these Terms.

If you do not agree to the Terms, you should not create an account or continue using Read Pulse.

The processing of personal data is described in the Read Pulse Privacy Policy. Agreeing to these Terms is not to be understood as consent to the optional processing activities for which the law requires Read Pulse to obtain separate consent.

Some features may come with additional instructions, rules or notices. Those provisions apply alongside these Terms to the feature concerned.

2. Eligibility and minimum age

You must be 13 years of age or older to create a Read Pulse account.

When you create an account, you confirm that:

• The date of birth you provide is accurate;
• You meet the minimum age for using the service;
• Your use of Read Pulse is not prohibited by applicable law.

Some stories or features may require a higher age.

Read Pulse currently uses the following content ratings:

• All Ages;
• Teen 13+;
• 18+.

Content rated 18+ is intended only for users aged 18 or over and may require you to sign in, as well as an age check based on the date of birth on the account.

In some countries or regions, the law may impose additional conditions in respect of minors, including the consent or involvement of a parent or guardian. Those mandatory requirements apply to the extent the relevant law requires them.

3. Registration and account security

To use certain features, you need to create an account using an email address, a password and a date of birth.

You are responsible for:

• Providing accurate information;
• Keeping your password secure;
• Not knowingly letting other people use your sign-in details in a way that creates a security risk;
• Notifying Read Pulse if you discover unauthorised access or a security issue affecting your account.

Your email address may need to be verified before you can sign in or make full use of your account’s features.

3.1. Multiple accounts

Read Pulse does not prohibit a person from holding more than one account.

However, you may not use multiple accounts in order to:

• Evade a warning, restriction or suspension;
• Manipulate polls, predictions, reactions or votes;
• Submit false or mass reports;
• Spam;
• Impersonate several different users;
• Or otherwise abuse Read Pulse.

3.2. Account transfers

You may not sell, rent or transfer your account to another person.

Nor may you share your account in a way that:

• Affects security;
• Conceals the identity of the person actually using the account;
• Or helps another person evade a moderation measure.

Read Pulse may require verification of control over an account before assisting with sensitive requests such as changing an email address, deleting an account or resolving a dispute over access.

4. Description of the Service

Read Pulse may provide features such as:

• Reading stories and chapters;
• Searching for and discovering content;
• Continue Reading and saved reading progress;
• Bookmarks;
• My Library;
• Reading lists;
• Follows;
• Comments and replies;
• Reviews;
• Theories and theory replies;
• Lore notes/Reader Pulse;
• Reactions and votes;
• Polls and predictions;
• CYOA content;
• Audio or narration;
• Personalized recommendations;
• Gamification;
• Reports;
• Appeals;
• Other community and reading features.

Some features may only be available to:

• Signed-in users;
• Users who meet a certain age;
• Certain types of stories;
• Or certain regions.

The points, scores or metrics that appear in polls and predictions currently serve the experience within Read Pulse only, and are not money, cryptocurrency, financial assets or credits convertible into money, unless Read Pulse clearly states otherwise in the future.

Read Pulse does not currently provide a feature for users to publish their own stories or chapters publicly.

Read Pulse also does not offer subscriptions, paid chapters, virtual currency or paid products as at the effective date of these Terms.

If Read Pulse implements paid features in the future, the terms on pricing, payment, renewal, cancellation and refunds will be provided before users enter into a transaction.

5. Licence to use the Service

Provided that you comply with these Terms, Read Pulse grants you a limited right to access and use the service for personal, non-commercial purposes.

This right is:

• Limited;
• Non-exclusive;
• Not saleable or transferable;
• Not sub-licensable to others;
• And terminable if you breach the Terms.

Your right to access Read Pulse does not mean that you own, or may copy or exploit, the content, software or intellectual property of Read Pulse.

You may:

• Read content through the Read Pulse interface;
• Share links to a story or chapter;
• Use the Share or Quote Image functions that Read Pulse provides;
• Use content in other ways expressly permitted by Read Pulse.

Except where mandatory law permits it or where you have obtained separate permission, this licence does not allow you to carry out the acts prohibited in Section 7.

6. Intellectual property rights

6.1. Read Pulse content and assets

Unless stated otherwise, the officially published stories, chapters, characters, story universes, artwork, covers, logos, interface design, software, databases and other assets provided through Read Pulse belong to:

• Read Pulse;
• The respective authors, owners or licensors.

The fact that content appears on Read Pulse does not transfer those intellectual property rights to users.

6.2. Community content created by users

Although Read Pulse does not currently allow users to publish their own stories or chapters, users may create certain community content such as:

• Comments;
• Replies;
• Reviews;
• Theories;
• Lore notes/Reader Pulse;
• Bios;
• Reading-list descriptions;
• And similar content.

You retain the rights you hold in the content you create.

However, when you post content on Read Pulse, you grant Read Pulse a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence, to the extent necessary to:

• Store the content;
• Display the content on Read Pulse;
• Format the content so that it fits the interface;
• Make backups;
• Distribute the content through Read Pulse features;
• Carry out moderation;
• Handle reports and appeals;
• And operate the service.

This licence does not mean that Read Pulse becomes the owner of your content.

When you delete content, Read Pulse will stop displaying it as part of normal functionality, except for copies or records that must be kept temporarily for backup, moderation, safety, legal obligations or the reasons described in the Privacy Policy.

6.3. Responsibility for the content you post

You may only post content that:

• You created yourself;
• You have the right to use;
• Or the law permits you to post.

You may not post content that infringes:

• Copyright;
• Trade marks;
• Privacy rights;
• Image rights;
• Or the lawful rights of others.

6.4. Intellectual property complaints

If you believe that content on Read Pulse infringes your intellectual property rights, you can use the appropriate report function or contact: [email protected]

Please provide enough information for Read Pulse to identify the content and review your request.

6.5. Feedback and suggestions

If you choose to send us ideas, suggestions or general feedback on how to improve Read Pulse, we may use them to develop or improve the service without any obligation to implement the idea or to pay for it, unless the parties agree otherwise.

7. Acceptable use and prohibited conduct

You must use Read Pulse lawfully and with respect for the rights of others.

You may not:

7.1. Unauthorised copying and exploitation of content

• Copy entire chapters;
• Copy or repost a substantial part of a story;
• Download content for the purpose of redistributing it;
• Re-upload stories or chapters to another website, application or platform;
• Scrape or harvest content in bulk;
• Use stories or chapters as a dataset;
• Use the content to train, fine-tune or build AI or machine-learning systems without permission;
• Translate, paraphrase, rewrite or adapt the content in order to repost it elsewhere without the right to do so;
• Commercially exploit covers, artwork, characters or story universes that you do not own.

7.2. Interference with the system

You may not:

• Bypass the age gate, authentication or access controls;
• Circumvent usage limits by deceptive means;
• Interfere with security mechanisms;
• Reverse engineer without authorisation;
• Use bots or automation that affect the service;
• Distribute malware or malicious code;
• Exploit vulnerabilities;
• Deliberately overload the system.

Security research may only be carried out within the limits permitted by law, and must not cause damage, unauthorised access or any impact on other users.

7.3. Abuse of the community

You may not use Read Pulse to:

• Spam or advertise without authorisation;
• Harass or threaten others;
• Incite hatred or unlawful violence;
• Impersonate another person;
• Publish another person’s personal information without the right to do so;
• Distribute unlawful content;
• Infringe copyright or trade marks;
• Sexually exploit children or post sexual content involving minors;
• Encourage or give instructions for seriously harmful real-world conduct;
• Manipulate polls, votes, predictions or other community systems;
• Abuse the report or appeal functions.

7.4. Moderation is not full prior review

Read Pulse may use moderation, automated detection systems and human review to protect the service.

However, Read Pulse does not undertake that every comment, review, theory, lore entry or other piece of community content is checked before it appears.

If you come across content that you believe breaches the Terms, please use the report function or contact Read Pulse.

8. AI features

Read Pulse may provide Gamification and other features that use artificial intelligence.

Gamification is a separate interactive feature and is not a tool used to write the officially published catalogue of Read Pulse.

8.1. How Gamification works

When you use Gamification, responses may be generated on the basis of:

• The scenario;
• The character/persona;
• Your choices;
• The content you enter;
• Part of the session context;
• And the safety rules of the system.

Read Pulse may use a third-party AI provider to process requests.

8.2. Usage limits

Gamification may apply:

• A limit on the number of turns;
• Input length limits;
• Output limits;
• An age gate;
• Moderation;
• Rate limits;
• Or other technical restrictions.

These limits may change depending on the state of the system, service availability or safety requirements.

Read Pulse does not undertake that any particular quota will be maintained permanently.

8.3. AI content rules

Gamification applies its own safety rules.

This means that a request may be refused even where the story concerned is rated 18+.

Gamification may refuse or block requests relating to prohibited content, including certain sexually explicit content, sexual content involving minors, instructions for real-world harm, abusive behaviour, or requests that seek to break the safety system.

8.4. Accuracy of AI

AI responses are generated automatically and may:

• Be inaccurate;
• Be inconsistent;
• Not match your intention;
• Or contain false information.

You should not treat Gamification as a reliable source of information for medical, legal, financial, safety or other important real-world decisions.

8.5. Rights in AI output

To the extent permitted by law and by the rights of third parties, you may:

• Save;
• Share;
• Edit;
• Or use the AI responses generated for your session.

However, the generation of AI output does not transfer to you ownership of pre-existing intellectual property appearing or referenced in the output, including:

• Characters;
• Story universes;
• Story titles;
• Artwork;
• Plot;
• Brands;
• Or assets belonging to Read Pulse or its licensors.

AI output may also not be unique. The system may generate identical or similar responses for other users.

Read Pulse does not warrant that all AI output is eligible for copyright protection, or that it does not infringe the rights of third parties in every country.

9. Fictional content and content for adults

Read Pulse is a platform for fictional content.

Stories may include themes such as:

• Violence;
• Relationships;
• Psychological themes;
• Conflict;
• Strong language;
• Horror;
• Dangerous situations;
• Or adult themes.

The characters, events, settings and plot elements in the stories are fictional or presented in fictional form, unless Read Pulse states otherwise.

The fact that conduct is depicted in a story does not mean that Read Pulse encourages or endorses that conduct in real life.

9.1. Content rating

Read Pulse uses the following levels:

• All Ages – content suitable for a broad readership.
• Teen 13+ – may contain themes more suitable for readers aged 13 and over.
• 18+ – for adults only, and may contain heavy themes or adult content.

People under 18 may not access 18+ content.

Age ratings and content warnings are designed to help readers choose content, but cannot guarantee that everyone will have the same reaction or the same level of sensitivity to a given work.

10. Third-party services and content

Read Pulse uses a number of third-party services to run the website, send emails, secure the infrastructure or provide AI.

Read Pulse may also contain:

• External links;
• Embedded content;
• Or connections to other websites or services.

When you visit a third-party service, that party’s terms and privacy policy may apply.

Read Pulse does not control independent third-party websites or services and is not responsible for content, availability or data processing that takes place entirely outside Read Pulse, except to the extent that mandatory law provides otherwise.

The fact that Read Pulse links to another service does not automatically mean that Read Pulse endorses or warrants that service.

11. Warnings, suspension and termination of access

Read Pulse may take moderation measures where there are reasonable grounds to believe that:

• The Terms have been breached;
• An account poses a safety or security risk;
• A user is abusing the service;
• Content infringes the rights of others;
• Or action is necessary to comply with the law.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the matter, the measures may include:

• A warning;
• Hiding or removing content;
• Restricting certain features;
• Suspending the account;
• Or terminating access to part or all of the service where appropriate.

Read Pulse is not required to use every step in a fixed order in all cases. A serious breach may lead to a stronger measure from the outset.

11.1. Reports

Users can report the content or behaviour supported by the system.

Read Pulse may review:

• The reported content;
• The reason for the report;
• The relevant history;
• The information necessary to assess the issue.

The identity of the person who submitted a report is not automatically disclosed to the person who was reported.

11.2. Appeals

Where a moderation action is eligible for appeal, a user may submit one appeal per action within 90 days of the action being applied.

Appeals are reviewed in accordance with the Read Pulse moderation process.

Submitting an appeal does not guarantee that the original decision will be changed.

11.3. Account deletion

You can stop using Read Pulse, or use the Delete Account function where it is available.

Certain records relating to safety, moderation, backups or legal obligations may be retained in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

Some provisions are by their nature intended to continue after an account is deleted or access is terminated — for example intellectual property rights, limitations of liability and obligations relating to prior conduct — and may remain in force.

12. Changes to or discontinuation of the Service

Read Pulse is under continuous development.

We may:

• Add features;
• Change the design;
• Change usage limits;
• Change how a feature works;
• Suspend a feature;
• Or remove a feature.

Read Pulse does not warrant that every current feature will always exist or always work in the same way.

We may suspend all or part of the service in order to:

• Carry out maintenance;
• Fix errors;
• Respond to a security incident;
• Deploy updates;
• Deal with abuse;
• Or comply with legal requirements.

Where a change materially affects users, Read Pulse may provide appropriate notice if the circumstances and the law require it.

If Read Pulse offers paid services in the future, changes to or discontinuation of those services will be handled in accordance with the applicable purchase terms and consumer rights.

13. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, Read Pulse is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

Read Pulse endeavours to operate the service reliably but does not warrant that:

• The website will always work without interruption;
• Every feature will always be available;
• Every error will be fixed immediately;
• Content will always be entirely accurate;
• Recommendations will always match your preferences;
• AI output will always be accurate or appropriate;
• Or that the service will be completely free of technical faults.

The fictional content on Read Pulse is provided for reading and entertainment purposes.

Gamification is likewise provided for interactive/entertainment purposes and is not a substitute for professional advice.

Content posted by users in comments, reviews, theories, lore or community areas represents the views of the person who posted it and does not automatically represent the views of Read Pulse.

Nothing in these Terms excludes any warranty or mandatory right that the law does not permit to be excluded.

14. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Read Pulse is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising solely from:

• Interruption of the service;
• Loss of the opportunity to use a feature;
• The conduct of other users;
• Content provided by third parties;
• AI output;
• Or your reliance on content that is not designed to serve as professional advice.

You are responsible for using Read Pulse features appropriately and for keeping copies of any personal content you need to retain long-term, where the corresponding function allows it.

Read Pulse does not limit or exclude liability where doing so is prohibited by law.

In particular, these Terms are not intended to remove:

• Mandatory consumer rights;
• Liability that cannot be excluded under the law;
• Or remedies that the law requires to be provided.

15. Consumer rights

Read Pulse serves users worldwide.

The consumer protection law of the country or region where you live may give you rights that cannot be waived by contract.

These Terms are not intended to restrict those mandatory rights.

If there is a conflict between these Terms and a consumer right that the law makes mandatory, that mandatory right prevails to the extent necessary.

Read Pulse does not currently sell subscriptions, paid chapters or paid digital goods to users.

If paid services are offered in the future, Read Pulse will provide information about:

• Pricing;
• Payment methods;
• Renewal;
• Cancellation;
• Refunds;
• And the related purchase rights,

before the transaction is completed.

16. Governing law and dispute resolution

16.1. Contact before dispute resolution

If you have an issue relating to Read Pulse or to these Terms, you can contact: [email protected]

Read Pulse encourages the parties first to try to discuss the matter in good faith in order to clarify and resolve it.

16.2. Governing law

These Terms apply together with the legal provisions relevant to Read Pulse and to its users. Depending on the country or region where you live, you may benefit from mandatory rights that these Terms cannot exclude or restrict.

Read Pulse does not currently require all users to resolve disputes by arbitration, and does not restrict the right to use the courts or any dispute resolution mechanism that applicable law allows.

16.3. Entire agreement

These Terms, together with any additional policies or rules expressly referred to for the relevant feature, constitute the agreement applying to your use of Read Pulse.

16.4. Severability

If a part of the Terms is held by a competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder continues in force to the extent permitted by law.

16.5. No waiver

The fact that Read Pulse does not immediately enforce a right or provision does not mean that Read Pulse permanently waives that right.

16.6. Assignment

You may not assign your rights or obligations under the Terms to another person without permission, except where the law provides otherwise.

Read Pulse may assign rights and obligations relating to the service in the case of a lawful restructuring or transfer of operations, provided that this does not deprive users of their mandatory rights.

17. Changes to the Terms

Read Pulse may update the Terms when:

• Features change;
• The service model changes;
• Safety or moderation policies change;
• Technology changes;
• Or the law requires it.

A new version will state:

• The version number;
• The date it was updated;
• The date it takes effect.

If a change materially affects users’ rights or obligations, Read Pulse may give notice by:

• Email;
• Banner;
• A notice on the website;
• Or another appropriate method.

Where the law requires users to actively accept new Terms, Read Pulse will ask for an appropriate confirming action.

In other cases, continuing to use Read Pulse after the new Terms take effect may be treated as acceptance of the updated version to the extent permitted by law.

If you do not agree with the new Terms, you can stop using Read Pulse and delete your account.

18. Contact

If you have questions about:

• The Terms of Service;
• Your account;
• Content;
• Copyright or intellectual property rights;
• Reports;
• Appeals;
• Gamification;
• Security;
• Or any other matter relating to Read Pulse,

please contact:

[email protected]

When you contact us, please provide enough information for Read Pulse to identify the issue and assist you.