Terms of Service

Welcome to CharmWriter. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the CharmWriter platform, website, and services (collectively, the "Service") operated by CharmWriter ("we", "us", or "our").

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. The Service

CharmWriter is an AI-powered book writing companion. You provide story ideas, characters, and narrative direction through text or voice input, and our AI assists you in converting those ideas into polished prose. The Service includes features such as a Story Bible, chapter management, editorial suggestions, and manuscript export.

The AI functionality is powered by third-party AI providers, currently Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT for text, Whisper for transcription, gpt-image-1 for images and its speech models) and Google (Gemini text-to-speech for Ukrainian and Czech). We may change or add providers; the current list is always kept in our Privacy Policy.

2. Account Registration

To use the Service, you must create an account — either with a valid email address and password, or by signing in with your Google account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activities under your account. You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service.

3. Content Ownership & Intellectual Property

3.1 Your Content

You retain all ownership rights to the content you create, input, or generate through the Service ("Your Content"). This includes your story ideas, manuscripts, story bible entries, voice transcripts, and any AI-generated prose created at your direction.

We do not claim any ownership of Your Content.

3.2 Limited License to Us

You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, process, display, and transmit Your Content solely as necessary to provide and operate the Service. This license does not grant us the right to sell, distribute, or use Your Content outside of providing the Service to you.

3.3 AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

AI-generated content is produced using statistical language models and is provided "as-is." We make no representations or warranties regarding the originality, accuracy, or copyright status of AI-generated content. Copyright law regarding AI-assisted works is evolving, and we do not guarantee that AI-generated content is copyrightable in any jurisdiction.

You are solely responsible for reviewing, editing, and verifying all content before publishing. The more creative direction you provide and the more you edit the output, the stronger your potential copyright claim.

3.4 No Training on Your Content

We do not use Your Content to train any AI models. Our AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI and Google) do not use data submitted through their business APIs to train their models. Each retains it briefly for abuse monitoring and then deletes it; the current retention period for each is listed in our Privacy Policy.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to create, generate, store, or distribute content that:

• Sexualizes or exploits minors in any way
• Is designed to harass, threaten, bully, or defame specific real individuals
• Constitutes disinformation or impersonation intended to deceive
• Facilitates illegal activities including fraud, weapons production, or drug manufacturing
• Is used to train competing AI models or systems
• Violates the usage policies of our AI providers (Anthropic and OpenAI)

General fiction containing violence, adult themes, mature language, or controversial topics is permitted. These restrictions target real-world harmful use, not fictional content.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, with or without notice depending on severity.

5. Charm Credits & Payments

5.1 The Credit Model

The Service is prepaid. You buy Charm Credits ("credits") and spend them when AI features are used. Credits have no cash value, cannot be transferred between accounts, and do not expire — but they are tied to your account and are lost if you delete it.

5.2 Purchases & Taxes

Credit purchases are processed through Stripe. Prices are shown in US dollars and are exclusive of VAT; any VAT due is calculated and added at checkout based on your location.

5.3 Refunds

Unspent credits are refundable within 30 days of purchase. Credits you have already spent are not refundable, because the AI work they paid for has already been carried out and billed to us. To request a refund, email support@charmwriter.com with your order reference.

If you are an EU consumer, you also have a statutory right to withdraw from a purchase of digital content within 14 days. That right applies alongside the refund policy above, which is the more generous of the two for unspent credits.

5.4 Price Changes

We may change credit pricing with 30 days' notice. Price changes do not affect credits you have already purchased.

6. AI Disclosure & Publishing

We do not require you to disclose AI assistance when publishing your work. However, we strongly recommend that you:

• Disclose AI assistance per publishing platform requirements (e.g., Amazon KDP requires disclosure for AI-generated text content)
• Review all AI-generated content for accuracy and originality before publishing
• Consider running plagiarism checks on your final manuscript

7. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

7.1 Service "As-Is"

The Service is provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that AI outputs will be accurate, original, or suitable for any particular purpose.

7.2 No Liability for AI Output

We are not liable for any claims arising from the content generated by AI through the Service, including but not limited to copyright infringement, defamation, or factual inaccuracy. You assume all risk associated with using and publishing AI-generated content.

7.3 Liability Cap

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CharmWriter, its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from: (a) your use of the Service, (b) content you create, publish, or distribute using the Service, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any third-party rights.

9. Account Termination

You may delete your account at any time through the Settings menu. Deletion is permanent and immediate: your account and every chapter, note, and Story Bible entry associated with it are removed from our active systems right away. Standard backups roll off within the provider retention window (up to 30 days) and are not recoverable on request. Please export your data first if you want to keep it.

We may suspend or terminate your account for violations of these Terms. In cases of severe violations (e.g., prohibited content), termination may be immediate without notice.

10. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or in-app notification at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

11. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Czech Republic. Any disputes shall be resolved by the competent courts in Prague, Czech Republic. If you are an EU consumer, you retain the right to bring proceedings in your country of residence.

12. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact us at legal@charmwriter.com. For refunds, billing and account help, contact support@charmwriter.com.