Terms of Service

Article 1 (Application)

These Terms set out the conditions for use of Penciive (the “Service”) provided by the Penciive operating team (“we” or “us”), and of the website provided at https://penciive.app (the “Site”). By using the Service, users agree to these Terms.

Article 2 (Account)

• Users shall provide accurate information when registering an account. Users are responsible for managing their own accounts.
• Users shall manage their account at their own responsibility.
• Under no circumstances may a user transfer or lend their account to a third party.
• We are not liable for damages arising from a third party's use of an account, except in cases of our willful misconduct or gross negligence.

Article 3 (Purchase)

The Service offers a free plan and a paid plan (Pro plan).

For the latest pricing and terms, please refer to the Site, the Apple App Store, and the Commercial Transactions Act disclosure.

Subscriptions may be purchased through the following methods:

• iOS in-app purchase (via App Store)
• Purchase on this Site (via Stripe)

Article 4 (Renewal and Cancellation)

Unless cancelled, the paid plan will automatically renew at the end of the current billing period at the same price.

• The paid plan is a monthly or annual subscription and renews automatically unless cancelled.
• The fees for the paid plan may change without prior notice.

“Cancellation” means stopping the next renewal. After cancelling, you may continue to use the Service until the end of the current billing period. We do not offer pro-rated refunds.

• To avoid automatic renewal: for App Store purchases, cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period; for Stripe purchases, cancel before the current period ends.
• To cancel via the App Store: on iPhone, go to “Settings” → “Apple ID” → “Subscriptions” → “Penciive”.
• To cancel via Stripe: use the Stripe Customer Portal link included in your purchase confirmation email.

Article 5 (Free Plan)

• If we offer a free trial period, the subscription automatically converts to the paid plan at the end of the trial.
• Cancellation during the trial period is also governed by Article 4.
• As a rule, each user is entitled to only one free trial.

Article 6 (Refunds)

• Due to the nature of digital content, refunds are generally not offered.
• For purchases made via the App Store, refund requests should be submitted to Apple (reportaproblem.apple.com).
• For purchases made via this Site, please contact support@penciive.app for refunds.
• We may issue a refund at our discretion in cases reasonably deemed appropriate, such as when we have failed to provide the Service due to our gross negligence.

Article 7 (User-Uploaded Content)

• Users may upload to the Service only EPUB files and other content for which they hold lawful rights.
• Copyright and other rights in user-uploaded content belong to the user or the original author.
• Users agree that we may perform the following processing:
  • Storing content for service delivery
  • Analyzing content (text extraction, structuring, etc.)
  • Processing for search, recommendation, summarization, and similar features
• Uploading content that infringes the intellectual property rights of third parties is prohibited.

Article 8 (Acquisition of External Content)

The Service may provide functions that, via URLs or other means specified by the user, import, store, format, and analyze content published or otherwise made available by websites, social networking services, and other media platforms (collectively, “Content Providers”).

• Each Content Provider has its own terms of service, copyright rules, and restrictions on reproduction, storage, redistribution, and similar acts. Users are solely responsible for determining whether their use complies with such terms and rules, and whether the import falls within the scope of private personal use.
• Users must not import, reproduce, store, redistribute, share, or publicly transmit content in a manner that violates a Content Provider's terms of service or any applicable laws.
• We assume no liability whatsoever for any complaints, disputes, damages, account suspensions, service restrictions, legal claims, or other disadvantages incurred by the Content Provider, any third party, or the user themselves arising from the user's breach of a Content Provider's terms of service or applicable laws.
• We do not warrant that we have any individual integration agreement or license arrangement with any Content Provider, nor do we warrant that the import function will continue to operate in the future.
• We may, without prior notice, suspend or restrict the import function for any specific Content Provider in response to a request from that Content Provider, a change in its policies, technical constraints, or any other reason.
• In principle, imported content may be used only for the user's own private personal use. Where the user intends to share, publish, or redistribute such content to third parties, the user is responsible for obtaining permission from the Content Provider and the original author.

Article 9 (Prohibited Acts)

Users must not engage in the following acts:

• Acts that violate laws, ordinances, or other regulations, or that may do so
• Acts contrary to public order and morals, or that may be
• Criminal acts or acts leading to crimes, or that may be
• Making false inquiries, applications, or notifications using a third party's name, email address, etc.
• Using or providing computer viruses, malicious scripts, or other harmful programs, or possibly doing so
• Destroying or interfering with our servers or network functions
• Unauthorized access to, acquisition of, or alteration of app data
• Reverse engineering of the Service
• Unauthorized access or attempts to gain unauthorized access
• Other acts we deem inappropriate as causing harm to us or third parties

Article 10 (Changes to and Termination of the Service)

We may, as necessary, modify the content of the Service or discontinue its provision. We will give prior notice of any such changes or discontinuation on the Site. We assume no liability for any damage caused to users by such changes or discontinuation.

Article 11 (Intellectual Property)

• All intellectual property rights in the Service belong to us or to legitimate rights holders.
• Rights to data created by users within the Service (highlights, notes, reading history, etc.) belong to the user.

Article 12 (Handling of Personal Information)

Handling of personal information is governed by our separate Privacy Policy (https://penciive.app/privacy).

Article 13 (Software License)

• We grant users a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app in accordance with these Terms.
• These Terms are between the user and us; Apple Inc. is not a party to these Terms.
• Apple Inc. is a third-party beneficiary of these Terms and has the right to enforce these Terms against users.
• Maintenance and support of the app is the sole responsibility of us, not Apple Inc.
• If a claim is made that the app infringes a third party's intellectual property rights, we are solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of such claim.

Article 14 (Disclaimers)

• The Service is provided without warranties of any kind, express or implied.
• We assume no liability for any damage arising from use of the Service, except in cases of our willful misconduct or gross negligence.
• Even when we are liable, the maximum amount of compensation is limited to the total fees the user paid to us during the immediately preceding 12 months.
• We are not liable for damages caused by a third party's use of an account, except in cases of our willful misconduct or gross negligence.

Article 15 (Governing Law)

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan.

The Tokyo District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction as the court of first instance over any disputes related to the Service.

Article 16 (Changes to the Terms)

We may, at any time and as necessary, change all or part of these Terms. We will announce material changes on the Site.

Article 17 (Contact)

For inquiries about the Service, please contact:

- Email: support@penciive.app