Terms of Service
Effective Date: 2025-01-01
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of DiscoverStories ("the Site"), a platform providing novel reading, audio book, and comment services (collectively "the Services"). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please stop using the Site immediately.
1. Scope of Services
The Site provides the following services to users (subject to availability):
- Novel Reading: Access to authorized novels (free and paid chapters) via the Site's web interface.
- User Comments: Post and view comments on novel detail pages (subject to content moderation).
- Account Management: Register an account to save reading progress, add novels to your bookshelf, and track chapter updates.
Note: The Site reserves the right to modify or discontinue services (e.g., remove a novel due to copyright issues) without prior notice, but will refund any prepaid fees for unused paid chapters.
2. User Obligations
When using the Site, you agree to comply with the following rules (violation may result in account suspension or legal action):
- Do not use the Site for illegal purposes (e.g., distributing malware, promoting hate speech, or violating intellectual property laws).
- Do not engage in piracy or unauthorized distribution: You may not copy, download, screenshot, or share novel content (including chapters) without explicit written permission from the Site or copyright holders.
- Do not create fake accounts or misuse accounts: You may only register one account per person; do not share your account credentials with others or use others' accounts without permission.
- Do not post inappropriate comments: Comments containing harassment, discrimination, obscenity, or spam will be removed; repeated violations will result in comment privileges being revoked.
3. Intellectual Property Rights
All content on the Site is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and international copyright laws:
- Novel Content: All novels, chapters, and covers on the Site are owned by the Site or licensed from third-party authors/publishers. You may only access this content for personal, non-commercial use.
- Site Design & Code: The Site's layout, logo, CSS, JavaScript, and other technical assets are owned by DiscoverStories; unauthorized copying or modification is prohibited.
- User Comments: You retain copyright to your comments, but grant the Site a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, store, and use your comments on the Site (this license ends when you delete your comments).
DMCA Copyright Infringement Complaints
If you believe your copyright has been infringed on the Site, please send a "DMCA Takedown Notice" to our copyright agent containing the following information (per 17 U.S.C. § 512):
- Your full name, contact information (email, phone number), and signature (electronic signature is acceptable).
- A detailed description of the infringed work (e.g., "Novel title: The Magic Sword, Chapter 5").
- The URL(s) of the infringing content on the Site (e.g., "https://yourdomain.com/detail.html?id=123&chapter=5").
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the content is unauthorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
Send the notice to:
Email: ruilangao5@gmail.com
4. Service Limitations & Fees
The Site offers both free and paid services; please note the following:
- Free Chapters: Most novels offer a limited number of free chapters (typically 1-10 chapters) for preview; free chapters may be modified or removed at any time.
- Paid Chapters: If you unlock paid chapters, you agree to pay the stated fee (displayed on the novel detail page). Fees are non-refundable except in cases of service failure (e.g., chapter content is missing or unreadable).
- Payment Processing via Stripe: All paid transactions are processed by Stripe (a PCI DSS-compliant payment processor). We never store your credit card details, CVV, or billing address—all payment data is encrypted and processed directly by Stripe. By making a payment, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service (available at https://stripe.com/us/terms).
- Payment Issues: If a payment fails (e.g., insufficient funds, card expiration), access to paid chapters will not be granted. You may retry payment via Stripe's secure interface; contact us if issues persist.
- Account Termination: If your account is terminated for violating these Terms, you will lose access to all paid chapters, and no refunds will be issued.
5. Disclaimers
The Site provides services "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, in compliance with U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Rules, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
- No warranty of accuracy: The Site does not guarantee that novel content, comments, or recommendations are accurate, complete, or up-to-date (e.g., typos in chapters may occur during formatting). All user-generated content (comments) reflects the author’s opinion, not the Site’s stance.
- No warranty of availability: The Site may experience downtime due to server maintenance, technical issues, or legal requirements (e.g., DMCA takedown notices); we are not liable for any damages caused by service unavailability.
- No liability for third-party content: The Site is not responsible for the content of user comments, third-party links, or embedded content (e.g., ads). Access to third-party content is at your own risk, and you agree to comply with third-party terms of service.
- Copyright Disclaimer (DMCA Compliance): The Site complies with DMCA § 512. We do not actively monitor user-uploaded content but will promptly remove infringing content upon receiving valid DMCA takedown notices. Users are solely responsible for uploading copyright-compliant content; the Site shall not be liable for copyright infringement by users.
- Limitation of liability: To the maximum extent permitted by law (including California Civil Code § 1714 and EU Directive 1999/44/EC), the Site shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages (e.g., loss of profits, loss of data, emotional distress) arising from your use of the Site or service interruptions.
- Minor Use Disclaimer: The Site is not intended for users under 13 (U.S. COPPA) or 16 (EU GDPR). Minors must use the Site with parental/guardian supervision. The Site shall not be liable for unauthorized use by minors.
- Geographic Restrictions: Some content may be unavailable in certain regions due to copyright or legal requirements. The Site shall not be liable for access issues caused by geographic restrictions or user-side internet connectivity problems.
6. Service Maintenance
To ensure website stability and service quality, we will conduct regular system maintenance (including routine maintenance, major upgrades, and emergency fixes). Some or all services may be suspended during maintenance, and we will make every effort to minimize downtime and impact.
Maintenance Schedule
- Routine Maintenance: 1-2 times per month, 1-4 hours each time, scheduled at UTC 02:00-06:00 (corresponding to EST 22:00-02:00 / CET 03:00-07:00).
- Major Maintenance: 1 time per quarter, 4-8 hours each time, scheduled at UTC 00:00-08:00 (corresponding to EST 18:00-02:00 / CET 01:00-09:00), notified 72 hours in advance.
- Emergency Maintenance: Only initiated for system failures, security vulnerabilities, etc., downtime ≤4 hours, with real-time maintenance progress updates.
Impact During Maintenance
Routine maintenance only suspends non-core functions (e.g., purchases, comments), and reading downloaded content is not affected; major maintenance may suspend the entire website, preventing access to the site and related functions.
Notification Methods
Notifications will be sent via website announcements and registered emails before maintenance; emergency maintenance will be informed in real-time via pop-up windows on the homepage; a completion notification will be sent after services are restored.
Compensation Policy
If maintenance exceeds the announced duration by more than 50%, premium users will receive an extension of their membership period corresponding to the overtime (e.g., 2 hours of overtime = 24 hours of membership extension).
7. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms to comply with new laws or reflect service changes. Material changes will be notified to you via:
- A new "Effective Date" on this page;
- Email notification to registered users (7 days in advance);
- Homepage pop-up reminder (14 days).
Your continued use of the Site after the update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the new Terms.
8. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, United States (excluding conflict of law principles).
Any dispute arising from these Terms or your use of the Site shall first be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If negotiation fails, the dispute shall be submitted to arbitration in San Francisco, California, USA, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The arbitration award shall be final and binding on both parties.
For EU users: Nothing in this section shall prevent you from exercising your rights under GDPR, including filing a complaint with your local data protection authority (e.g., CNIL in France, ICO in the UK).
9. Contact Us
For questions about these Terms, please contact us via: