Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

Welcome to StorytimeHero.ai ("Company," "we," "our," or "us"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of our website, services, and personalized children's storybook products. By placing an order or using our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT USE OUR SERVICES.

2. Eligibility and Account Requirements

2.1 Age Requirement

You must be at least 18 years old or the age of majority in your jurisdiction to use our services. By using StorytimeHero, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement and have the legal capacity to enter into binding contracts.

2.2 Parental Responsibility

Our services involve creating personalized storybooks featuring children's photographs. By uploading photos of a child, you represent and warrant that:

• You are the parent, legal guardian, or authorized representative of the child
• You have the legal right to upload and authorize use of the child's photograph
• You have obtained consent from all necessary parties (e.g., both parents if required)
• The uploaded photos do not violate any third-party rights

3. How Our Service Works

3.1 Order Process

3.2 AI-Generated Content

Important: Each book is created using AI (Google Gemini) that generates unique illustrations every time. This means:

• No two books are exactly identical, even with the same template and child
• Illustrations will vary in artistic interpretation while maintaining story consistency
• The cover preview you see is representative but may differ slightly from interior pages
• AI generation is not perfect - minor artistic variations are expected and intentional

By placing an order, you acknowledge and accept the unique, AI-generated nature of our products.

4. Pricing and Payment

4.1 Initial Purchase

Initial book purchases are made through Etsy or other authorized sales channels. Pricing is clearly displayed at the time of purchase and includes one personalized storybook. Shipping costs are calculated separately based on your location.

4.2 Upsells and Add-Ons

After uploading your child's photo, you may be offered optional upsells:

• Additional personalized books at a discount
• Audio narration featuring your child's name ($10)
• Other premium features as available

Upsell payments are processed securely through Stripe. All prices are in USD unless otherwise stated.

4.3 Payment Authorization

By providing payment information, you authorize us to charge your payment method for all purchases, including any applicable taxes and shipping fees. You represent that you are authorized to use the payment method provided.

5. Shipping and Delivery

5.1 Processing Time

After you upload your child's photo and complete the order process:

• Quality Control: 1-3 business days for internal review
• Book Generation: 1-2 business days for full AI generation and PDF creation
• Printing: 3-7 business days (via Gelato print-on-demand)
• Shipping: Varies by location (standard shipping times apply)

5.2 Delivery Estimates

Total delivery time is typically 7-14 business days from photo upload, depending on your location. Delivery estimates are not guarantees. Delays may occur due to printing, shipping, customs, or other factors beyond our control.

5.3 Shipping Address

You are responsible for providing an accurate shipping address. We are not responsible for orders shipped to incorrect addresses provided by the customer. Address changes must be requested before the book enters production.

5.4 Lost or Damaged Shipments

If your book is lost in transit or arrives damaged, please contact us at support@storytimehero.ai within 14 days of expected delivery. We will work with our shipping partners to resolve the issue and may offer a replacement or refund at our discretion.

6. Refund and Cancellation Policy

6.1 Cancellations Before Production

You may cancel your order for a full refund if you contact us before your book enters production (i.e., before quality control approval). Once production begins, orders cannot be cancelled due to the custom, personalized nature of each book.

6.2 Refunds for Defects or Errors

We stand behind the quality of our products. You may request a refund or replacement if:

• The book arrives with printing defects (misprints, binding issues, damaged pages)
• We made an error in personalization (wrong name, incorrect dedication text)
• The book is significantly different from what was described

Refund requests must be made within 30 days of delivery with photographic evidence of the issue.

6.3 No Refunds for Artistic Interpretation

Because our books feature AI-generated illustrations, we do not offer refunds for:

• Stylistic or artistic differences in how the AI interprets your child's photo
• Variations between the cover preview and interior illustrations
• Personal preferences regarding illustration style, colors, or composition
• Minor AI artifacts or imperfections (these are inherent to AI-generated art)

Our cover preview serves as a representative sample of the AI's personalization capabilities. By proceeding with your order, you acknowledge and accept the unique, AI-generated nature of the final product.

6.4 Refund Processing

Approved refunds will be processed within 10 business days to the original payment method. Shipping costs are non-refundable except in cases of our error or defective products.

7. Intellectual Property Rights

7.1 Your Content (Photos)

You retain all ownership rights to the photographs you upload. By uploading photos, you grant StorytimeHero a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to:

• Process your photos with AI to create personalized book illustrations
• Include AI-generated content in your custom storybook
• Print, reproduce, and distribute your personalized book
• Store photos for the retention period specified in our Privacy Policy

This license terminates upon deletion of your photos from our systems (per our Privacy Policy retention schedule or upon your deletion request).

7.2 AI-Generated Illustrations

AI-generated illustrations in your book are created through a combination of:

• Your child's photograph (your intellectual property)
• Our proprietary story templates and AI prompts (our intellectual property)
• Google Gemini AI generation technology

Personal Use License: You receive a personal, non-transferable, non-commercial license to the final book and its AI-generated illustrations. You may not:

• Resell, license, or commercially exploit the book or illustrations
• Extract illustrations for separate use or redistribution
• Reverse-engineer our prompts or generation methods
• Create derivative works based on our templates or story structure

7.3 StorytimeHero Intellectual Property

All content on our website, including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, story templates, AI prompts, software, and compilation of user-generated content, is the property of StorytimeHero or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not use, copy, or distribute our content without written permission.

8. Prohibited Uses

You agree NOT to use our services to:

• Upload photos you do not have rights to use
• Upload photos of individuals without proper consent
• Create content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable
• Upload photos containing nudity, violence, or inappropriate content
• Impersonate any person or entity
• Interfere with or disrupt our services or servers
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems
• Use automated tools to scrape or extract data from our services
• Violate any applicable laws or regulations

We reserve the right to refuse service, cancel orders, or terminate accounts that violate these prohibitions.

9. Quality Control and Content Review

All orders undergo quality control review by our team before final book generation. We reserve the right to reject or request modification of orders that:

• Contain inappropriate photos or content
• Violate our Terms of Service or policies
• Present technical issues that prevent quality book creation
• Appear to violate third-party rights

If we reject your order, we will notify you and offer a full refund.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

11. Disclaimers

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless StorytimeHero and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Your use of our services
• Photos or content you upload
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any third-party rights
• Your violation of any applicable laws

13. Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

13.1 Informal Resolution

If you have a dispute with StorytimeHero, please first contact us at support@storytimehero.ai to attempt to resolve the issue informally. We're committed to working with you in good faith to resolve complaints.

13.2 Binding Arbitration

If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you agree that any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or our services will be resolved through binding arbitration rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify.

13.3 Class Action Waiver

You agree that disputes will be resolved on an individual basis only, and not as part of a class action, consolidated action, or representative proceeding.

14. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and the state in which StorytimeHero is registered, without regard to conflict of law principles.

15. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will provide notice of material changes by email or prominent website notice at least 30 days before the effective date. Continued use of our services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

17. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and StorytimeHero regarding our services and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.

18. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us: