Terms of Use

Version applicable to the test phase (MVP)

Last updated: 20 July 2026

1. Purpose and acceptance

These Terms of Use (“ToU”) govern access to and use of the Aethris platform (“the Service”), published by Nicolas Thys (“the publisher”, “we”), accessible via the associated website and application.

Aethris is a narrative-writing platform for organising, drafting and managing writing projects (novels, fanfiction, poetry, short stories, screenplays, essays), with features for character management, timeline, a mind map of the relationships between characters, and a dedicated text editor. The Service is currently offered as an evaluation version (“MVP”), free of charge and giving access to all available features.

By creating an account or using the Service, you unreservedly accept these ToU together with the Aethris Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part thereof. If you do not accept these terms, you must not use the Service.

The date of acceptance of these ToU is recorded and associated with your account.

2. Publisher of the Service

As indicated in the Privacy Policy, the publisher's legal status may evolve (in particular towards self-employed status or a company form) as the Service develops. Any such change will be the subject of an update to these ToU and will not affect the continuity of the rights and obligations described herein.

3. Access to the Service and account creation

3.1 Minimum age

Use of Aethris is reserved for persons aged 16 or over. By creating an account, you declare on your honour that you are at least 16 years old. The publisher does not actively verify the declared age; any false declaration is the responsibility of its author and may result in the suspension or deletion of the account concerned.

3.2 Account creation

Creating an account requires a username, a valid email address and a password meeting the minimum strength requirements imposed by the Service. You are responsible for the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity carried out from your account.

At this stage of the Service, the email address associated with an account cannot be changed after registration; this feature is planned for a later version of the Service. Please therefore use an email address to which you will have lasting access.

• You undertake to provide accurate information when registering;
• You undertake not to share your password with any third party;
• You undertake to inform us without delay of any unauthorised use of your account of which you become aware.

3.3 Single account and personal use

Each account is intended for personal use. The content of an account is, to date, visible only to its holder: there is currently no feature allowing a user to view another user's projects or writings. This architecture may evolve in the future (for example through a sharing or publishing feature), in which case these ToU will be updated to frame the new usage rules applicable to those features, before they are activated.

4. Evolving nature of the Service (MVP / beta phase)

You expressly acknowledge and accept that the Service is currently in a test phase (MVP) and, as such, has the following characteristics:

• The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without any guarantee of continuity, uninterrupted availability, or freedom from error;
• Interruptions, slowdowns, bugs or malfunctions may occur at any time, including without notice;
• Partial or total data loss cannot be entirely ruled out, despite the backup and security measures implemented by the publisher;
• The features offered may be modified, suspended or withdrawn at any time during this phase, without this giving rise to any right to compensation.

You are advised to export your projects regularly via the export feature available from your account, as a personal backup, in addition to the backup mechanisms implemented by the Service.

The publisher undertakes to give reasonable attention to the stability of the Service and the security of the data hosted therein, without this undertaking constituting an obligation of result.

The publisher intends to grant, at the full launch of the Service, specific benefits to users who created an account during the test phase, in return for their participation therein. The allocation of these benefits may be limited to a set number of accounts, determined in particular by order of registration, and may be subject to eligibility conditions (for example an active, non-deleted account). These benefits are granted on a discretionary, gratuitous basis, do not constitute contractual consideration and give rise to no right to compensation. Their precise terms, together with the applicable allocation criteria and limits, will be communicated in due course, before the full launch of the Service.

5. Intellectual property in user content

5.1 You remain the owner of your writings

You retain all intellectual property rights in the content you create on Aethris (texts, characters, synopses, and any other original content you write or upload, “your Content”). Aethris claims no ownership of your Content.

5.2 Limited licence granted to Aethris

In order to enable the technical operation of the Service, you grant the publisher a non-exclusive, free-of-charge licence, limited to the duration of your use of the Service, authorising it to host, store, display, reproduce and back up your Content solely to the extent necessary to provide the Service (for example: display in the editor, generation of a Word-format export, conversion of images to WebP format). This licence confers on the publisher no right of commercial exploitation, publication, assignment or modification of your Content for purposes other than the operation of the Service.

This licence terminates automatically upon the deletion of your account and your Content, in accordance with the terms described in the Privacy Policy (a 30-day period following the deletion request, then permanent erasure).

5.3 Responsibility for uploaded content

You warrant that you hold the necessary rights to any content you upload to the Service (texts, cover images, avatars, etc.) and you undertake not to infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. You remain solely responsible for the content you create and store on your account.

5.4 Intellectual property in the Service

The Aethris trademark, the logo, the interface, the source code, the graphic elements and the visual identity of the Service are the property of the publisher and are protected by intellectual property law. No provision of these ToU grants you any right over these elements.

6. Prohibited content and conduct

Aethris is a creative-writing platform and recognises that fiction may legitimately address mature or difficult themes (violence, conflict, dark subject matter, etc.) within a narrative framework. No restriction is imposed on fictional content beyond what the law requires.

It is, however, strictly prohibited to use the Service to create, store or distribute content that is unlawful under applicable Belgian or European law, in particular:

• Any child sexual abuse material or content sexualising minors, in any form whatsoever, including fictional;
• Any incitement to hatred, discrimination or violence within the meaning of the law;
• Any genuine glorification of terrorism or effective incitement to commit terrorist acts — this prohibition does not target the fictional depiction of terrorist characters or organisations within a narrative work (thriller, crime novel, geopolitical novel, etc.), including where they appear as antagonists; it targets the praise or justification, outside any fiction, of real terrorist acts;
• Any content infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties (plagiarism constituting infringement, unauthorised reproduction of protected works);
• Any use of the Service for fraudulent purposes, identity theft, or violation of the privacy of others;
• Any attempt to harm the security, integrity or proper functioning of the Service (intrusion, exploitation of vulnerabilities, misuse of the APIs, etc.).

The publisher reserves the right to suspend or delete any account whose use breaches this section, and to report to the competent authorities any manifestly unlawful content brought to its attention, in accordance with its legal obligations.

7. Termination

7.1 Termination by the user

You may request the deletion of your account at any time, freely and without justification, directly from your account settings. This request triggers a 30-day period during which you can cancel the deletion. Upon expiry of this period, your account and all associated data are permanently and irreversibly deleted, in accordance with the terms described in the Privacy Policy.

7.2 Termination by the publisher

The publisher reserves the right to suspend or delete an account, after notice where circumstances permit, in the event of a breach of these ToU, in particular where content or conduct falls under section 6 above. In the event of an emergency or a risk to the security of the Service or of third parties, such suspension may occur without notice.

7.3 Discontinuation of the Service

Should the publisher decide to permanently discontinue the Service, users would be informed at least 30 days before the effective closure of the Service, by notification in the application and by email, so as to allow them to export their data via the export feature provided for this purpose.

8. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the publisher may not be held liable for:

• Interruptions, malfunctions or data losses related to the evaluative nature of the Service during its MVP phase, as described in section 4;
• Content created or uploaded by users on their account, for which they remain solely responsible;
• Any indirect damage resulting from the use of or inability to use the Service;
• The consequences of any use of the Service that does not comply with these ToU.

These limitations may not exclude the publisher's liability in the event of gross or intentional fault, nor in cases where such exclusion would be contrary to a mandatory provision of applicable Belgian or European law.

9. Amendments to these ToU

These ToU may be amended to reflect the evolution of the Service, in particular upon the transition from the MVP phase to a full launch version, the introduction of paid features, or the addition of content-sharing features between users. Any substantial amendment will be subject to prior notice, by notification in the application or by email, before it takes effect. Continued use of the Service after an amendment takes effect constitutes acceptance thereof.

The date of last update appears on the first page of this document.

10. Governing law and disputes

These ToU are governed by Belgian law. In the event of a dispute relating to their interpretation or performance, the parties will endeavour to reach an amicable solution before any legal action. Failing an amicable agreement, the competent Belgian courts shall have sole jurisdiction, subject to the mandatory provisions applicable to consumers residing in another Member State of the European Union.

11. Contact

For any question relating to these ToU, you may contact us at:

contact@aethris.art

For any question relating to your personal data, please refer to the Aethris Privacy Policy and to the address contact@aethris.art.