Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a legally binding agreement between you and TraceAndTale (“TraceAndTale,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) governing your use of the TraceAndTale website and platform (the “Service”).

By accessing or using the Service, you confirm that you are at least 18 years of age, have read and understood these Terms, and agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms apply to all visitors, organizers, contributors, and any other parties who access or use the Service in any capacity.

TraceAndTale is a platform that enables groups of people to collaboratively create personalized art gifts. Organizers create campaigns, invite contributors to submit drawings, and purchase professionally printed products assembled from those contributions.

TraceAndTale acts as a facilitator — we provide the platform, the assembly service, and the print fulfillment. We are not the author of contributor drawings and are not responsible for the content of user-submitted material beyond our enforcement obligations under these Terms.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time with reasonable notice where practicable.

Organizers must register for an account using a valid email address. You agree to provide accurate, complete, and current information and to update it as necessary.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. Notify us immediately at hello@traceandtale.com if you suspect unauthorized access.

Contributors access the platform via a unique token link provided by the organizer. No account registration is required for contributors.

You retain all ownership rights to the drawings, messages, and other content you submit through the Service (“User Content”).

By submitting User Content, you grant TraceAndTale a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, process, assemble, display, and fulfill the order associated with that content. This license is limited to the purposes of operating and providing the Service and expires when the associated campaign data is deleted in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

You represent and warrant that: (a) you own or have the necessary rights to your User Content; (b) your User Content does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third party; and (c) your User Content does not violate any applicable law or these Terms.

User Content must not:

• Infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other intellectual property right
• Contain defamatory, obscene, sexually explicit, or harassing material
• Depict or promote illegal activity, violence, or discrimination
• Contain personal information of third parties without their consent
• Impersonate any person, organization, or entity

We reserve the right to remove User Content that violates these Terms without prior notice and without liability to you.

All prices are listed in US Dollars (USD). Payment is required to initiate production of your order. We use Stripe for payment processing. By making a purchase, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in addition to these Terms.

In organizer-funded mode, payment is due at the time of checkout when the campaign is created. In group-funded mode, contributors may submit payments as they draw; the organizer is the guarantor and is responsible for any remaining balance when the campaign closes.

Platform credits awarded from optional chip-ins are non-transferable, have no cash value, and expire after 12 months of account inactivity. Credits may not be redeemed for cash or applied toward third-party services.

We reserve the right to correct pricing errors at any time. In the event of a pricing error, we will notify you and offer the option to complete the order at the correct price or cancel for a full refund.

Cancellation and refund eligibility is governed by our Refund Policy, incorporated herein by reference. In summary:

• Campaigns may be cancelled for a full refund before artwork assembly begins
• No refunds are available once production (assembly or printing) has started
• Damaged or defective products are replaced or refunded at our discretion
• Personalized products are exempt from general return rights under applicable law

The TraceAndTale name, logo, platform design, software, and all associated materials are owned by TraceAndTale and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. No license to use these materials is granted by these Terms.

If you believe content on our platform infringes your copyright, please send a DMCA takedown notice to hello@traceandtale.com with: (a) identification of the copyrighted work; (b) identification of the allegedly infringing material; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement of good faith belief that the use is not authorized; and (e) a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner.

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of these Terms
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service or its related systems
• Scrape, crawl, or data-mine any part of the Service without our express written consent
• Use automated tools to submit drawings, create accounts, or interact with the Service
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service
• Use the Service to transmit spam, phishing content, or malware
• Impersonate TraceAndTale or any other person or entity
• Circumvent any security, rate-limiting, or access control feature of the Service

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES. IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS, THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, TRACEANDTALE'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF: (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO TRACEANDTALE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) FIFTY US DOLLARS ($50).

IN NO EVENT WILL TRACEANDTALE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DAMAGES. IN THOSE JURISDICTIONS, LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TraceAndTale and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any rights of a third party.

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. If you are a consumer residing in a jurisdiction whose laws provide stronger protections, those protections are not waived by this clause.

Informal resolution: Before initiating any formal proceeding, you agree to contact us at hello@traceandtale.com and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.

Binding arbitration: If informal resolution fails, any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Arbitration will be conducted in English. The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding, subject to limited review rights.

Class action waiver: YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR ARBITRATION. Claims may only be brought individually.

Small claims exception: Either party may bring an individual claim in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction.

Arbitration opt-out: You may opt out of binding arbitration within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing hello@traceandtale.com with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out” and your full name. Opting out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by sending an email to the address associated with your account or by posting a prominent notice on the Service at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you disagree with the changes, you must stop using the Service before they take effect.

Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Refund Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and TraceAndTale regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

No waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.

Assignment: You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights without restriction.

Force majeure: TraceAndTale is not liable for delays or failures caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, carrier disruptions, or service outages.

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at hello@traceandtale.com. We aim to respond within 2 business days.