Terms of Use

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old, or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction to consent to digital services, to use the Service. If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, you may use the Service only with the permission and supervision of a parent or legal guardian. If you are a parent or guardian allowing a minor to use the Service, you are responsible for that minor's use of the Service.

2. Accounts, guest use, and local device storage

You may use some parts of the Service without creating an account. When you use the Service in guest mode, certain information such as saved words, furigana preferences, story progress, lesson progress, and similar learning state may be stored locally in your browser or on your device. Local-only data may be lost if you clear browser data, switch devices, uninstall the web app, or use private browsing modes.

If you create or use an account, you agree to provide accurate information and keep your login credentials secure. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account. You must promptly notify us if you believe your account has been accessed without authorization.

We may support sign-in by email link and by approved third-party identity providers. Your use of any third-party login method may also be subject to that provider's own terms and privacy practices.

3. What the Service does

Readnihongo is a Japanese-learning product focused on reading practice. The Service may include stories, lessons, dictionary lookups, saved words, review tools, progress syncing, reader preferences, installable/offline web app features, audio playback, text-to-speech, and related educational functionality.

Some features may:

• be available only to signed-in users;
• depend on your browser, device, internet connection, or third-party services;
• be rate-limited or temporarily unavailable; or
• change, move, or be discontinued over time.

We may update, improve, suspend, or remove any feature at any time.

4. License and permitted use

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your personal, non-commercial use.

You may not, unless we give written permission:

• copy, reproduce, republish, sell, rent, sublicense, or distribute substantial portions of the Service or its content;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract content or data from the Service;
• use automated tools to access the Service in a way that burdens or disrupts it;
• use the Service or its content to build, benchmark, train, or improve a competing product, dataset, or model;
• modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive source code from any part of the Service except to the extent such restriction is prohibited by law; or
• remove or alter copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices.

5. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

• use the Service in violation of any law or regulation;
• interfere with the operation, integrity, or security of the Service;
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, systems, or data;
• upload, transmit, or submit malicious code, spam, or harmful material;
• impersonate another person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with one;
• use the Service to harass, exploit, or harm others;
• use the Service in a way that could damage our systems, content, reputation, or other users; or
• bypass or attempt to bypass authentication, rate limits, or technical restrictions.

6. Educational content disclaimer

The Service is provided for educational and informational purposes only. Stories, lessons, translations, definitions, readings, grammar notes, examples, and audio may include simplifications, approximations, or errors. The Service is not a substitute for professional instruction, certified translation, legal advice, or any other professional service.

You are responsible for independently verifying anything important that you rely on.

7. Feedback, support messages, and submissions

If you send us feedback, suggestions, ideas, bug reports, survey responses, or support messages, you keep ownership of your content, but you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, and incorporate that feedback or submission to operate, improve, and promote the Service, without compensation to you.

Please do not send us confidential information you expect us to keep under a separate confidentiality obligation unless we have expressly agreed to that in writing.

8. Intellectual property

The Service and its contents, including the Readnihongo name, branding, interface design, original stories, lessons, text, graphics, audio, compilations, and arrangement of content, are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

Except for the limited rights expressly granted in these Terms, no rights are transferred to you.

9. Third-party services and links

The Service may rely on or link to third-party products and services, including hosting, authentication, storage, browser features, audio services, analytics, advertising, or external websites. We do not control third-party services, and we are not responsible for their content, availability, security, or practices.

Your use of third-party services may be governed by their own terms and policies.

10. Advertising and promotions

We may display sponsored content, promotions, or advertising in some parts of the Service. The appearance of advertising does not mean we endorse any advertiser, offer, or third-party product.

Any dealings you have with an advertiser or third party are solely between you and that party unless we expressly state otherwise.

11. Availability, offline use, and updates

We try to keep the Service available, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Service may be unavailable because of maintenance, outages, bugs, security issues, browser limitations, or third-party failures.

If you install the Service as a web app or use offline features, cached pages and local data on your device may become outdated, incomplete, or unavailable. You are responsible for maintaining your own device, browser, internet connection, and data backups.

12. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you acknowledge that we may process information as described there.

13. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service at any time.

We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Service, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe:

• you violated these Terms;
• your use creates security, legal, or operational risk;
• we are required to do so by law; or
• continuing to provide the Service to you is no longer commercially or technically feasible.

Termination does not limit any rights or remedies available to either party.

14. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, and quiet enjoyment.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free from harmful components, or that content will always be accurate, complete, or current.

15. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

1. We will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, or business opportunity, arising out of or related to the Service or these Terms.
2. Our total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of USD $100 or the amount you paid us, if any, for the Service in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

16. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Elm and Ink LLC and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, service providers, licensors, and agents from and against claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

• your violation of these Terms;
• your misuse of the Service; or
• your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Except where prohibited by applicable law, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Missouri, and you and we consent to those courts' personal jurisdiction and venue.

If you live in a jurisdiction that gives you mandatory consumer protection rights or requires disputes to be resolved in your home forum, those rights remain unaffected.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version and update the “Last updated” date.

If a change is material, we may also provide additional notice, such as through the Service or by email if you have an account. Unless we state otherwise, updated Terms become effective when posted. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the updated Terms means you accept the updated Terms.

19. Miscellaneous

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms that apply to specific features, form the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.

20. Contact

For questions about these Terms, please contact us using the contact information provided on the Service or by mail at:

Elm and Ink LLC
9755 N Lucerne Ave
Kansas City, Missouri 64154
United States