This just in – a modest proposal as an update to the Inkican Terms of Service. As I’m sure you’re aware, Terms of Service are changing all the time and Inkican doesn’t want to be left behind in this area.
As an author, I didn’t think about this before but my books should have a terms of service, too! We can’t just ‘buy’ things anymore – we subscribe. We don’t ‘own’ things – even if we paid money. I have to guarantee recurring revenue from readers – it’s not enough to simply *write* a story and *publish* it. That’s crazy – we’re leaving money on the table! If we’re subscribers, our relationship might change at any time. I should use this opportunity to re-align my expectations as a successful author so I can maximize value and minimize risk!
For all these reasons – and more, I’m a greedy little cuss, after all – I’m updating the Inkican Terms of Service. Here’s what you should expect from me as an author and here’s what I expect from you as a reader:
1.1 Our Access to Your Stories
As a platform for publishing our sci-fi stories, we may access, view, or listen to your device (defined in section 1.2 below) through both automated and manual methods, but only in limited ways, and only as permitted by law. For example, to provide our books and experiences, we may need to access, view, or listen to your Content to (A) respond to feedback or support requests; (B) detect, prevent, or address issues related to fraud, security, legal matters, or technical problems; and (C) enforce the Terms, as further detailed in Section 1.2.
1.2 Content
“Content” refers to any text, information, communication, or material, including audio files, video files, electronic documents, or images, that you upload, import into, embed for use by, or create using our Services and Software. We reserve the right (but are not obligated) to remove or restrict access to any Content if it violates our Terms. While we do not review all Content uploaded to our Services and Software, we may use technologies, vendors, or manual review to screen for illegal or abusive content.
1.3 Free Account Inactivity
To keep your book active, you must open it and read it periodically. Additionally, you must provide regular positive reviews on our books whenever a new publishing platform is introduced. If your account remains inactive, we reserve the right to assume it is abandoned, and we may permanently delete your books, your reviews or close your account. We will attempt to notify you before taking such actions.
1.4 Notice of Claim and Dispute Resolution Process
If you have a concern or dispute that our Customer Care cannot resolve, you agree to first try to resolve it informally by contacting us and providing a written Notice of Claim to the address in Contact Us (Notice to Inkican). This Notice must include your identity, a description of your claim, and the relief you seek, including any monetary amount. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of receipt, legal actions must be resolved through small claims court or binding arbitration. The arbitrator, not any court, will have the exclusive authority to resolve disputes about the interpretation or enforceability of these Terms. Claims related to the Inkican Books or Experiences must be brought within one year of the event causing the Claim, or they will be permanently barred.
There we go – the updates to our Terms of Service – I hope you found these helpful and I appreciate your value as a reader. We at Inkican look forward to delighting you, the annual recurring revenue reader in the months and years to come. Cheers!
Does this sound stupid to you? Good, now you know how I feel about Adobe’s update to Photoshop’s Terms of Service that came out yesterday. I get the need to manage costs, but putting creative professionals’ right to privacy behind a paywall is beyond inappropriate. It’s insane.
Predatory capitalism is killing everything that’s joyous and meaningful to the human experience. I read about this today and the blog post wrote itself. If Adode wants to do this, let’s do a Modest Proposal – Update to Inkican Terms of Service. Everything you read or think as a result of my stories belongs to ME! (Do I need to say that I’m being sarcastic?)
I feel bad for all the artists and creatives directly impacted by this – some part of me was always jealous that I could never afford to purchase an Adobe subscription and I had to make due with an old copy of CS6. Now, I’m not so jealous.
Do better, Adobe. This is *NOT* how you help foster human creativity and aspiration. Putting books and experiences and human dignity shoves us *that much* farther into the boring dystopia we’re desperately trying to avoid. I wrote this Terms of Service and modest proposal to help you see what you look like when I treat you the way you treat us.
