Terms of Service

Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of DawnScribe, including all content, features, and services offered on or through the platform ("Service"). By creating an account, clicking "I Accept," or otherwise accessing the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms, including our Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, which are incorporated by reference.

DawnScribe is a platform for sharing original web novels, artwork, and creative collaborations, with collectible Characters and Banners, Character Bonds, profile customization, and a community marketplace. These Terms exist to protect creators, readers, and the integrity of the community.

Eligibility

By agreeing to these Terms, you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least 18 years of age. DawnScribe is for adults only; no one under 18 may create an account or use the Service.
• You have not previously been suspended, removed, or banned from DawnScribe.
• Your registration and use of the Service complies with all applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction.
• If you are using DawnScribe on behalf of an entity, organization, or company, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms and agree to be bound by them on its behalf.

Accounts & Security

To access most features of DawnScribe, you must register for an account. When doing so, you agree that:

• All information you provide — including your email address, username, date of birth, and profile details — must be accurate, complete, and current at all times. Providing false information, including a false date of birth, is a breach of these Terms and may result in immediate termination.
• You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You must not share your password or allow anyone else to access your account.
• If you believe your account has been compromised or accessed without your consent, you must notify DawnScribe immediately.
• DawnScribe will never ask for your password through any channel other than the official login interface. Any such request is fraudulent — report it immediately.
• Your account is personal and non-transferable. You may not sell, trade, or assign it to another person.

License to Use

Subject to your full and ongoing compliance with these Terms, DawnScribe grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use the Service solely for your personal, non-commercial purposes.

You may not reproduce, distribute, publicly display, or perform the Service or its content without express written permission; make modifications to any part of the Service; interfere with or circumvent any security feature; or use the Service if prohibited from doing so by applicable law.

The visual interface, design, graphics, software, DawnScribe branding, and all other platform elements ("Materials") are owned by DawnScribe or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property law. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

Your Content

You retain ownership of original work you create and publish on DawnScribe. By posting User Content, you represent and warrant that you are the creator or owner, or have all necessary rights and permissions to post it, and that your content does not infringe any third-party rights or violate any applicable law.

License Grant to DawnScribe. By posting User Content, you grant DawnScribe a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, display, reproduce, distribute, and promote your content through the Service. This license is granted solely to operate the platform and does not transfer ownership of your work. This licence applies equally to work that was already copyrighted before you posted it; posting does not alter your ownership of that copyright.

License to Other Users. By sharing User Content, you grant other users a non-exclusive license to access and use that content as permitted by the platform's features.

DawnScribe is not responsible for any public display or misuse of your User Content by other users. You are solely responsible for the content you publish and all consequences of doing so.

Original Artwork

DawnScribe is a home for original visual art, including illustrations, cover art, character designs, and other creative imagery. The following additional rules apply to artwork specifically:

• All artwork you post must be your own original creation, or work you have explicit permission to post from the rights holder.
• You must not post artwork created by commissioning another artist without that artist's consent to publish it on this platform.
• Artwork that reproduces or closely imitates the distinctive style of another identified artist — whether or not AI tools are involved — and that is presented as your own original work is a violation of these Terms.
• You retain full moral rights in your original artwork. DawnScribe will not crop, modify, recolor, or alter your artwork in any way without your consent, except for technical formatting adjustments required for display (such as thumbnail generation or responsive sizing).
• DawnScribe does not train AI models on your work, and does not sell or license your work to any third party for that purpose. The licence you grant in Section 5 covers hosting, displaying and promoting your work on the platform, and does not extend to AI training. Each work additionally carries an AI-training exclusion flag, set to excluded by default, which signals your intent to third parties. DawnScribe cannot guarantee that third parties will honour that signal or refrain from using publicly visible work without authorization, and you remain responsible for policing unauthorized use of your work to the extent permitted by law.
• Proof of authorship. When you submit artwork to the Marketplace as a Character or Banner, you must upload the full-size original working file it was made from. That file is stored privately, is visible only to you and DawnScribe staff, and is used to resolve any dispute over who created the work. Submissions without it are not accepted.
• Artwork posted to the DawnScribe Marketplace as Characters or Banners is subject to the additional terms in Section 13 (Embers, Quills & Virtual Items) and Section 13a (Creator Sales & Revenue Sharing).

Intellectual Property

For the purposes of these Terms, "Intellectual Property Rights" means all copyright rights, trademark rights, patent rights, mask work rights, moral rights, rights of publicity, goodwill, trade dress and service mark rights, trade secret rights, and all other intellectual property and moral rights — including all applications, registrations, renewals, and extensions thereof under the laws of any jurisdiction.

You agree that any User Content you post does not and will not violate the Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. DawnScribe reserves the right, but is not obligated, to reject and/or remove any User Content that we believe, in our sole discretion, violates these provisions.

AI-Generated Content

DawnScribe is a platform for human creativity. The following rules apply to all AI-generated and AI-assisted content:

• Stories written predominantly or entirely by AI are not permitted. The story, characters, plot, voice, and core creative decisions must be substantially yours. You may use AI tools to assist with editing, grammar checking, brainstorming, or research — but the work must be genuinely yours.
• AI-generated artwork must be disclosed. If artificial intelligence tools generated the primary or material visual elements of your artwork — including characters, backgrounds, or major compositional elements — you must clearly tag the work as "Created Using AI Tools" at the time of posting. This is required, not optional. Using AI for minor assistive tasks (such as image upscaling, content-aware fill, or noise reduction) that do not introduce AI-generated elements into the work does not require disclosure.
• AI-generated artwork that is disclosed as such is permitted on the platform but may be restricted from certain features — such as marketplace sales or collaboration credit — at DawnScribe's discretion.
• Using AI tools to reproduce or closely imitate another creator's established visual or written style, and presenting that output as your own original work, is a violation of these Terms regardless of disclosure.
• You remain fully responsible for any AI-assisted content you post, including all representations about ownership and originality.

Fanfiction

DawnScribe permits fanfiction — stories based on existing published works, characters, or universes — subject to the following conditions:

• Fanfiction must be clearly labelled as such at the time of posting. Do not present fanfiction as wholly original work.
• Fanfiction may not be monetized in any form. This includes donation links, Patreon links, Ko-fi links, and any other mechanism that allows readers to pay for fanfiction. Fanfiction is not eligible for DawnScribe's Marketplace, creator revenue-sharing programs, or any premium content features.
• Fanfiction must comply with all other content rules in these Terms, including all prohibitions on sexual content involving minors and all other prohibited content.
• Fan art depicting characters from existing IP must also be labelled as fan art and is subject to the same no-monetization rule.
• If a rights holder submits a valid takedown request for fanfiction or fan art based on their intellectual property, DawnScribe will comply and remove the content. You post fanfiction and fan art at your own legal risk.

Prohibited Conduct

By using DawnScribe, you agree not to:

• Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any applicable law.
• Violate or encourage others to violate the rights of any third party, including intellectual property rights.
• Interfere with security-related features of the Service, or reverse engineer any portion of the platform.
• Upload or disseminate any virus, malware, adware, spyware, or other malicious code.
• Attempt to collect personal information about another user without their consent.
• Perform any fraudulent activity, including impersonating any person, entity, or DawnScribe staff member, or accessing another user's account without permission.
• Use bots, scripts, scrapers, or other automated means to access or collect data from the Service without express written permission.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service, its servers, or any connected network.
• Solicit other users for commercial purposes unrelated to your creative work on the platform.
• Sell, transfer, or attempt to transfer your account or any access rights granted under these Terms.
• Post, upload, or link to content hosted on external sites for the purpose of bypassing DawnScribe's content policies.

Prohibited Content

You agree not to post User Content that is unlawful, harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy, harassing, libelous, threatening, or otherwise objectionable; that may create a risk of harm to any person or animal; that may constitute or contribute to a crime; that is illegal or that you do not have the right to post; or that constitutes spam or unsolicited advertising.

The following are absolutely prohibited with no exceptions:

• Any content — written, illustrated, or otherwise — that sexualizes individuals under 18, whether real or fictional. This is grounds for immediate permanent termination and referral to law enforcement.
• Content that promotes or encourages real-world non-consensual sexual acts. (Depicting such acts between fictional adults in a properly rated story is governed by Section 10a of the Community Guidelines.)
• Content depicting or encouraging illegal sexual acts including but not limited to bestiality or necrophilia.
• Pornographic content — defined as content where explicit sexual acts are the primary focus rather than an element of a broader narrative or artistic work.

We reserve the right to monitor content and remove or reject any material we believe, in our sole discretion, to be unlawful or objectionable — without prior notice.

Collaborations

Ending a Collaboration. Either party in a collaboration may choose to end it at any time. Both parties retain the right to remove their respective contributions from the collaborative project, subject to any private agreement between themselves. DawnScribe is not a party to any such arrangement and assumes no responsibility for resolving resulting disputes.

Marketplace Items from Collaborations. If a collaboration has produced items available for sale in the DawnScribe Marketplace, those items will continue to be sold even after the collaboration ends. Once a marketplace item has been purchased by a user, neither the original author nor the artist may request its removal from that customer's account. The item belongs to the customer permanently. DawnScribe may delist an item from future sale following a verified legal dispute, but will not revoke items already owned by customers.

Legal Disputes Between Collaborators. DawnScribe will provide all legally required information in any dispute between collaborating parties — including artwork files, written content, platform messages, and transaction records — but will not involve itself further, take sides, or act as mediator.

Embers, Quills & Virtual Items

DawnScribe operates two distinct virtual currencies, alongside Characters, profile Banners, and other digital goods offered through the Marketplace. By participating in any virtual currency or Marketplace feature, you agree to the terms in this section and in Section 13a.

Embers. Embers are a free currency. They are earned through ordinary participation on the platform — reading, publishing, and community activity. Embers are spent on crowd-unlocks, draws from the free randomizer, profile customization (described below), and similar features. Embers cannot be purchased with money, and have no cash value.

Quills. Quills are a paid currency purchased with real money in fixed bundles, as described in Section 14. Quills are spent within the platform on Characters, Banners, commissions, gifts, and other paid features. Quills have no cash value and cannot be cashed out.

The two currencies are separate. Embers cannot be converted into Quills, and Quills cannot be converted into Embers. Creator earnings and payouts are governed by Section 13a.

Characters. A Character is a single illustrated figure drawn from a published novel on DawnScribe, together with its artwork, poses, expressions, and any lines of dialogue approved for it. Characters may be obtained by buying them with Quills, by contributing Embers to a crowd-unlock, by winning one in the free randomizer, by receiving one as a gift, or by earning one through reading. Characters are not gambling: the randomizer draws only from Characters and Banners that have been donated to it and are free to everyone, the price of a draw is shown before you spend, and nothing you can win can be sold, traded, or exchanged for money or currency of any kind.

Profile Customization. You may spend Embers to decorate your profile: your aura colour, the fonts and colours of your name and title, and your profile background and its colour. Most of these are obtained by a random roll from a fixed list. The Ember price of every roll is shown before you spend, the possible results are the same for everyone, and a roll can only ever be paid for with Embers — never with Quills or real money. Because Embers cannot be bought, profile customization involves no purchase and no chance of winning anything of monetary value. What you roll is added to your collection; DawnScribe may adjust roll prices or the items in a roll list at any time, but this does not affect anything you already hold.

Character Bonds. Each Character you hold has a bond with you that grows only while it is your main Character and you read chapters on DawnScribe; it cannot be bought, gifted, or sped up with Quills, and it never goes down. When you unlock a romanceable Character you choose, once and permanently, whether the bond is a friendship or a romance. The romance option is never available for a Character who is, or appears to be, under 18 or whom its creator has marked as young-looking; these bonds are always friendships. This is enforced by the platform and cannot be overridden by the user or the creator. When a bond reaches its maximum you may be given a Friendship Ring or, for a romance, an Oath Ring, which raises the bond cap and unlocks further rewards. Rings are given free during events and may in future also be offered for Quills; a ring is a virtual item under the rules below. Everything a Character says to you, including reminder pop-ups, is fictional dialogue written by the Character’s creator or by DawnScribe and reviewed before it is shown. It is not a real person speaking to you, is not advice, and does not represent the views of DawnScribe.

Titles. Titles shown on your nameplate are earned, not bought — for example by reading stories with particular tags or by reaching milestones on the platform. DawnScribe may rename, reword, or retire a title to keep titles unique, readable, and in line with the Community Guidelines. If a title you have earned is renamed, you keep it under its new name; if it is retired, you keep it unless it is removed under Section 17 (Enforcement) or because it breaches the Community Guidelines. Titles suggested by users are subject to review and may be declined.

Nature of Virtual Items. All virtual currency and virtual items on DawnScribe — including Characters, Banners, titles, badges, auras, nameplate fonts and colours, profile backgrounds, and other decorative elements — are licensed to you for personal, non-commercial use within the Service. You do not acquire ownership of the underlying artwork or any intellectual property in it. The artist and, where applicable, the novel's author retain all rights in their work.

Non-Transferability. Virtual items and currency may not be sold, traded, transferred, or exchanged for real-world money or goods outside of DawnScribe. The only transfer DawnScribe permits is the gift feature described below.

Gifts. You may buy a Character or Banner as a gift for another user. Your Quills are held, not spent, while the offer is open. If the recipient declines, if they do not respond within 14 days, if you cancel, or if either party blocks the other, the offer closes and the held Quills are returned to you in full. An accepted gift is treated as a sale for the purposes of Section 13a, and the sender is the buyer.

Marketplace Conduct. Creators who sell items through the DawnScribe Marketplace agree that:

• All items listed must be your own original work. You must upload the full-size original working file with every submission, as described in Section 6.
• Fan art based on another platform's or rights holder's characters may not be listed for sale in the Marketplace.
• AI-generated artwork may not be listed for sale in the Marketplace, regardless of disclosure.
• A Character must be based on a published novel on DawnScribe. Where the novel is not your own, its author must approve the specific Character or Banner before it becomes available to anyone.
• Before you may sell Characters, you must donate one Character to the free randomizer, where it remains free for all users permanently. Banners carry the same requirement separately: a donated Banner permits the sale of Banners, and a donated Character permits the sale of Characters. Neither permits the other.
• DawnScribe receives a platform fee from each Marketplace transaction. The current fee and the full revenue splits are set out in Section 13a, and may be updated with advance notice.
• Prices are set by creators within limits DawnScribe may establish.

What You Obtain Stays Yours. Once you have bought, won, earned, or been gifted a Character or Banner, it remains in your collection for as long as your account is active and DawnScribe operates the Service, including any poses or lines you have unlocked. The same applies to profile customization items you have rolled and titles you have earned, subject to the title rules above. If an item is retired, it is withdrawn from sale and from the randomizer only; every user who already has it keeps it.

Removal for Ownership Violations. As an exception to the paragraph above, if DawnScribe determines that an item infringes another person's rights — for example that it was traced, copied, generated by AI, or otherwise not the work of the creator who submitted it — the item will be removed from the Service and from every collection that holds it, and any Quills paid for it will be refunded to the users who paid them. Continuing to display infringing artwork is not an option available to DawnScribe, and no user acquires a right to retain such an item. Where an item is under investigation, DawnScribe may hide it from sale while the matter is resolved, without removing it from existing collections.

Account Termination and Virtual Items. If your account is suspended or permanently terminated for a violation of these Terms, you forfeit all virtual currency, virtual items, Characters, and any pending or unpaid creator earnings, without refund.

Platform Discontinuation. In the event that DawnScribe discontinues the Service or the Marketplace feature, all virtual currency and virtual items cease to function, and no refund or compensation is owed, except where required by applicable law.

Creator Sales & Revenue Sharing

This section governs Paid Creator Items — Characters, profile Banners, and commissions sold on DawnScribe and purchased with Quills.

Definitions. Three terms are used throughout this section:

• Artist. The user who created and submitted the artwork.
• Author. The user who published, on DawnScribe, the novel a Character or Banner is drawn from.
• Donated Item. A Character or Banner placed in the free randomizer, where any user may obtain it with Embers. Donated Items are never sold and generate no revenue for anyone.

Author Approval. Where the Artist and the Author are different people, the Author must approve the specific item before it is made available to anyone. Approval is per item: it is not a standing licence, it cannot be granted in advance, and an Author may decline any submission for any reason.

Quills and Real-Money Payouts. Quills are a virtual currency purchased with real money and spent within the platform. Quills themselves have no cash value to the user who spends them. When Quills are spent on a Paid Creator Item, DawnScribe converts the real-money value of that sale into creator earnings according to the splits below, at a Quill-to-currency rate set by DawnScribe and applied at the time of the sale.

Revenue Splits. For each sale, the real-money value of the Quills spent is divided as follows. DawnScribe retains 25% of every sale, from which payment processing costs are met.

• Character or Banner drawn from the creator's own novel, or from no novel: the creator receives 75%.
• Character or Banner drawn from another user's novel, with that Author's approval: Artist 55%, Author 20%.
• Character commissioned by DawnScribe from an existing novel under a separate written agreement: Author 20%, with DawnScribe retaining the remainder in place of an Artist share, as it has paid for the artwork directly.
• Commissions between users: the Artist receives 75%. Commissions are paid work and follow the same standard as Characters and Banners: they may be suggestive but may not include nudity, sexual acts, or explicit content of any kind. Requests for explicit commissions will be declined and may be removed.
• Donated Items: no revenue is generated and no share is payable.

The exchange rate between Quills and real-money value is set by DawnScribe and may change over time, but the real-money value of a given sale is locked in at the time of purchase and is not retroactively adjusted.

Gifts. A gifted item pays the Artist and Author exactly as a purchase does. The user who sent the gift is treated as the buyer, since they paid.

Tips and Early Access. Readers may tip an author in Quills (minimum 10 Quills) or pay Quills to read a chapter the author has placed in paid early access before it becomes free. For each tip or early-access unlock, the author receives 90% of its real-money value and DawnScribe retains 10%, from which payment processing costs are met. Neither feature is available on adult-rated works (see Section 16). Tips and early-access earnings follow the same age, hold, payout, and reversal rules as other creator earnings in this section.

Eligibility to Sell and to Be Paid. Every DawnScribe user must be 18 or over (Section 2). Before creating Characters or Banners, listing any item for sale, or receiving any share of revenue, you will be asked to confirm your age and accept the Creator Age & Liability Agreement before your first submission. If your date of birth is later found to show that you are under 18, your account is closed and your listings are withdrawn from sale.

Pricing. Artists set the Quill price of their items, subject to minimum and maximum limits DawnScribe may establish to keep pricing consistent across the platform.

Payout Schedule, Holds and Taxes. Creator earnings accrue as sales occur and can be withdrawn once your available balance reaches the minimum payout, currently US$10. You may also switch on automatic monthly payouts, which pay out any available balance at or above that minimum once a month. Payouts are made through Stripe Connect to an account you set up and verify with Stripe. Earnings are subject to a holding period, currently 30 days from the date of each sale, before they become available for withdrawal; this protects against chargebacks and allows ownership disputes to be resolved. You are responsible for any taxes due on your earnings, and for providing accurate payout details.

Reversal of Earnings. Where a sale is reversed, charged back, or refunded, or where an item is removed under the ownership-violation rule in Section 13, the corresponding creator earnings are reversed. If those earnings have already been withdrawn, the resulting negative balance is recovered from future earnings. Where an item is removed for an ownership violation, the Artist's earnings from it are reversed in full, and any share paid to an Author is reversed with them.

Effect of Account Termination. If your account is permanently terminated for a violation of these Terms or the Community Guidelines, any pending, held, or unpaid earnings are forfeited.

Content Standards. All Paid Creator Items, including their artwork, preview images, and any dialogue written for a Character, are subject to Section 16 (Mature Content) and the Marketplace rules in the Community Guidelines. Every line of dialogue is reviewed before it is shown to any user, and an approved line that is later edited returns for review.

Purchases, Lorescout & Loreseer

All core features of DawnScribe, including the Lorebook, are free to use. The paid products are Quills, purchased as one-time bundles, and two optional writing tools for authors, each available as a monthly subscription, a one-time pass, or a one-time block of reads:

• Lorescout compares your chapters with the facts on your Lorebook cards and points out possible contradictions with them. It uses a smaller AI model that does only this task, and it can only check facts your cards contain.
• Loreseer does the same check twice using a larger AI model, and also points out new facts that could be filed on your cards, unresolved threads, characters acting against their cards, and repeated scenes. It includes manuscript export.

Prices are shown before you pay. If you hold reads of both kinds, Loreseer reads are used first.

One-Time Purchases. Quill bundles and Lorescout and Loreseer passes are single, one-off transactions at a stated price. They do not renew and there is nothing to cancel. The reads a pass gives you do not expire; any extras that come with it, such as manuscript export with a Loreseer pass, last 30 days.

Loreseer Subscriptions. A Lorescout or Loreseer subscription renews each month at the stated price until you cancel it. You can cancel at any time from the Marketplace in one step; you keep Loreseer until the end of the period you have already paid for, and you are not charged again. Cancelling has no effect on your stories, your Lorebook, or your readers. The only recurring charge DawnScribe ever makes is a Lorescout or Loreseer subscription you started yourself — if you see any other recurring charge from us, contact us immediately.

Loreseer Reads. Each time Loreseer reads a chapter whose text has changed, one read is used from your balance. Reading exactly the same text again is free, and a read that fails for any reason is not charged.

What Lorescout and Loreseer Are, and Are Not. Both are automated, AI-assisted readers. They compare your chapters with your Lorebook and points out possible contradictions, unresolved threads, and similar issues. It will not find every problem, and some of what it points out will not be a problem at all. Its findings are suggestions only: nothing in your story or your Lorebook changes unless you choose it. Neither Lorescout nor Loreseer is a professional editing, proofreading, or fact-checking service, and responsibility for your work remains yours. To improve its accuracy, findings that authors mark as wrong may be reviewed by DawnScribe without identifying the author.

Fees and Billing. All prices are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Payments are processed by a third-party payment processor; DawnScribe does not receive or store your full card details. You must be authorised to use the payment method you provide.

Delivery. Quills are credited to your account once the payment processor confirms the transaction. If a payment is later reversed, charged back, or refunded, DawnScribe may remove the corresponding Quills from your balance, and may remove items purchased with them or suspend the account where the reversal appears fraudulent.

Refunds. Quill purchases and Loreseer purchases are final and non-refundable except where required by applicable law, or at DawnScribe's discretion in the case of a demonstrable billing error. Quills that have already been spent, and Loreseer reads that have already been used, cannot be refunded; a Loreseer finding that turns out to be mistaken is not in itself a billing error. If you believe a charge was made in error, contact DawnScribe within 14 days.

Price and Bundle Changes. DawnScribe may change bundle prices, bundle contents, and the Quill cost of platform features at any time. Changes are not retroactive: Quills already purchased are not devalued or removed, and a completed purchase is not affected by a later price change.

Unauthorised Purchases. You may only use a payment method you are authorised to use. If a purchase was made without the payment-method owner's permission, they should contact us.

Creator Revenue. A portion of the real-money value of Quills spent on Paid Creator Items is paid to the creators involved, as set out in Section 13a.

DMCA & Takedown Requests

DawnScribe complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512). To submit a valid takedown notice, provide: a physical or electronic signature of the rights holder or authorized agent; identification of the infringed work; identification and location of the infringing material; your contact information; a good faith belief statement; and a statement under penalty of perjury that you are authorized to act on the rights holder's behalf. Send notices to our designated copyright agent through the contact page, choosing DMCA / Copyright as the subject.

Repeat Infringers. DawnScribe will terminate, without notice, the accounts of users determined to be repeat infringers — defined as users who have had content removed for infringement on two or more separate occasions.

Counter-Notices. If you believe your content was removed in error, you may submit a counter-notice. DawnScribe will follow the procedures set forth under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).

Mature Content

• Content containing graphic violence, explicit language, or mature themes must be accurately tagged and rated at the time of posting. Mislabeling mature content to reach a wider audience — particularly to reach younger users — is a violation.
• DawnScribe applies content filters based on your settings and each work's rating, so that readers see only the kinds of mature content they have chosen to see.
• Sexual content involving minors — real or fictional — is absolutely prohibited and will result in immediate permanent account termination and a report to law enforcement. No exceptions.
• Pornographic content, as defined in Section 11, is not permitted on the platform.
• Works may include sexual content, including explicit scenes, provided it is tagged accordingly and is not the primary focus or driving point of the story. Works whose central purpose is sexual content (erotica) are not permitted. DawnScribe may contact an author for clarification before taking action if a work appears to be trending toward this line.
• Adult-rated written works are free to read and are never sold. Works rated adult cannot use paid early access and cannot receive Quill tips; every chapter of an adult-rated work is available at no charge. Authors of adult-rated work remain free to link their own external support pages. This restriction exists because payment providers prohibit the sale of sexually explicit material, written fiction included, and it is enforced by DawnScribe automatically.
• Characters and Banners are held to a stricter standard than written works. They may be suggestive — revealing clothing, flirtatious poses — but may not contain nudity, sexual acts, or explicit content of any kind, regardless of the rating of the novel they are drawn from.
• No suggestive depiction of any character who is, or reasonably appears to be, under 18 is permitted in a Character or Banner, irrespective of any age stated for that character in a work of fiction. This is an absolute rule, enforced at review, and results in immediate permanent termination and a report to law enforcement where the law requires it.
• Ratings are permanent once a work is live. A Gore or Erotica rating that a work has been published with cannot later be removed by its author. A rating may always be added if a work grows darker. Only DawnScribe can remove a rating, on request, where it was clearly set by mistake.
• DawnScribe reserves the right to re-classify or remove content that has been inaccurately or insufficiently rated, regardless of the creator's intent.

Enforcement

Violations of these Terms may result in any or all of the following, with or without notice: temporarily hiding content while a report is reviewed; content removal; formal warning; temporary suspension; permanent termination; forfeiture of all virtual items and currency; and reporting to law enforcement where content is illegal or involves harm to minors.

A permanently terminated user may not return under a new account or any other identity. DawnScribe assumes no liability for any User Content posted or transmitted over the Service.

Legal Disputes & Arbitration

DawnScribe will cooperate fully with any lawful legal process — including court orders, subpoenas, and formal requests from law enforcement — and will provide all information required of us by law. Beyond fulfilling our legal obligations, DawnScribe will not involve itself as a party in any dispute between users or between a user and a third party.

Informal Resolution First. Before filing any claim, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting DawnScribe and allowing 60 days from the date of that notice for the parties to reach a resolution. This step is a condition of bringing a formal claim.

Binding Arbitration. If the dispute is not resolved informally, you and DawnScribe agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Service — other than the exceptions below — will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, and not in court before a judge or jury. Arbitration will be administered by a recognised arbitration provider under its consumer arbitration rules, before a single arbitrator, in the English language. The arbitrator, and not any court, has exclusive authority to resolve disputes about the interpretation, applicability, or enforceability of these Terms, except that a court decides whether the Class Action Waiver below is enforceable.

Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property rights or to address unauthorised access to the Service. Nothing in this section prevents you from reporting a matter to a government agency.

Opt-Out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement and the Class Action Waiver by notifying DawnScribe in writing through the contact page within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your username and your intent to opt out. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms, and will not be held against you in any way.

Changes to This Section. If DawnScribe makes a material change to this arbitration section, you may reject the change by notifying us within 30 days, in which case the version you last accepted continues to govern disputes between us.

Disclaimer of Warranties

Limitation of Liability

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless DawnScribe and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses — including reasonable attorneys' fees — arising out of or connected with your access to or use of the Service, your User Content, your violation of these Terms or any applicable law, your violation of any third-party right, or any dispute between you and any third party. This obligation survives termination of your account and these Terms.

Feedback

If you choose to provide suggestions, ideas, or feedback regarding the Service, you grant DawnScribe an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use that feedback for any purpose — including improving the Service and developing new features — without any obligation of compensation or attribution to you.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico and applicable United States federal law, including the Federal Arbitration Act, without regard to conflict of law principles. For any dispute not resolved under Section 18, you agree to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The Service is controlled and operated from facilities in the United States. DawnScribe makes no representation that the Service is appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access the Service from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are fully responsible for compliance with applicable local law.

Statute of Limitations. Regardless of any law or statute to the contrary, any cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the Service or these Terms must commence within one (1) year after the claim accrues. Otherwise, such claim is permanently barred.

Account Termination

By You. You may close your account at any time through your account settings. You remain obligated to pay any outstanding fees incurred prior to closure.

30-Day Reactivation Window. When you close your account, it is deactivated rather than immediately erased. Your username, display name, bio, avatar, and banner are removed from your profile at once and replaced with an anonymous placeholder, and your active sessions are ended on every device. A private copy of those profile details is retained so that the account can be restored. For 30 days you may sign back in and reactivate, which restores your profile, Embers, Quills, virtual items, and badges as they stood at closure. After the 30 days pass, reactivation is no longer available and the private copy is deleted.

Your Published Works. Closing your account does not automatically unpublish your novels, chapters, or artwork. Published work remains readable on the platform, attributed to the anonymous placeholder, because other users' reading lists, active collaborations, and Characters that other people have already paid for depend on it. If you want your work taken down, unpublish it yourself before closing your account, or contact us and we will remove it. Section 9 of the Privacy Policy describes what is retained and for how long.

Records we are required to keep — including purchase, earnings, payout, and age-eligibility records — are retained after closure for the periods described in the Privacy Policy, regardless of the reactivation window.

Any creator payout balance owed to you at the time of voluntary closure is not voided by closure. Contact DawnScribe before closing your account to arrange payment of an outstanding balance; unclaimed balances are handled in accordance with applicable law.

By DawnScribe. DawnScribe may terminate or suspend your account at any time, with or without notice, for any reason — including violation of these Terms. We also reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Service at any time without liability. Upon termination for violations, you forfeit all virtual assets as described in Section 13.

Sections 5, 6, 7, 13, 13a, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 25 of these Terms survive termination.

General Provisions

• Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, and any agreements expressly incorporated by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and DawnScribe regarding the Service.
• Severability. If any provision is found invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be given effect to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
• No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision will not be considered a waiver of our right to enforce it in the future.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. DawnScribe may assign these Terms at any time without notice.
• Electronic Communications. By using the Service, you consent to receive electronic communications from DawnScribe. You agree that any notices sent electronically satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing.
• Third-Party Links. The Service may contain links to third-party websites. DawnScribe is not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third-party site. You access such sites at your own risk.
• Survival. All provisions that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including without limitation ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.

Changes to Terms

DawnScribe reserves the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. For material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and provide at least 30 days' notice through the platform before the change takes effect. Immaterial modifications are effective upon publication. Disputes will be resolved under the version in effect at the time the dispute arose. Your continued use after any change constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, wish to report a violation, report a compromised account, or submit a DMCA notice, please contact the DawnScribe team through the platform's contact page or messaging system.