Terms of Use

1. Our services

The Services are free to use. Shelfcat has no paid plans, in-app purchases or advertising at this time.

The information provided through the Services is not intended for distribution to or use by anyone in a country where that would be contrary to law or regulation, or would subject us to any registration requirement in that country. If you choose to use the Services from another location, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for complying with local laws that apply to you.

2. Intellectual property rights

Our intellectual property

We own or license all intellectual property rights in the Services, including the source code, software, design, text, graphics, sounds, the Shelfcat name, the cat mascot and logo (together, the “Content” and “Marks”). The Content and Marks are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws.

Book information shown in the Services, such as titles, descriptions and covers, belongs to its respective owners and is provided by third parties (see section 9).

Your use of the Services

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Services for your own non-commercial use. Except as set out in this section or elsewhere in these Terms, no part of the Services and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, distributed, sold, licensed or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without our prior written permission.

If you want to use the Services, Content or Marks in a way not allowed by these Terms, please contact us at [email protected]. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you. Any breach of these rights is a material breach of these Terms, and your right to use the Services ends immediately.

Your feedback

If you send us questions, comments, suggestions, ideas or other feedback about the Services (“Feedback”), we may use it for any purpose without payment or attribution to you.

3. User representations

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that:

1. all registration information you submit is true, accurate, current and complete, and you will keep it accurate;
2. you have the legal capacity to agree to these Terms;
3. you are at least 16 years old;
4. you will not access the Services through automated or non-human means, such as bots or scripts;
5. you will not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and
6. your use of the Services will not violate any applicable law or regulation.

If you provide information that is untrue, inaccurate or incomplete, we may suspend or terminate your account and refuse any current or future use of the Services.

4. User registration

You need an account to use Shelfcat. You can register with an email address and password, with Sign in with Apple or with Google sign-in. You agree to keep your password confidential and are responsible for all use of your account. Tell us right away at [email protected] if you think someone else has access to your account.

Use your real first name (and, if you like, your last name), so your friends can recognize you. We may ask you to change a name or photo, or hide it, if it is inappropriate, offensive, impersonates someone else or otherwise breaks these Terms.

You can delete your account at any time in the app (Profile › Delete account).

5. Prohibited activities

You may not use the Services for any purpose other than the one for which we make them available. As a user, you agree not to:

• systematically retrieve data or other content from the Services (for example by scraping) to create or compile a collection, database or directory;
• trick, defraud or mislead us or other users, especially in an attempt to learn sensitive account information such as passwords;
• circumvent, disable or interfere with security features of the Services, including features that limit the use of content or the number of requests;
• disparage, tarnish or otherwise harm us or the Services;
• use information obtained from the Services to harass, abuse or harm another person;
• use the Services in a way that violates any applicable law or regulation;
• engage in unauthorized framing of or linking to the Services;
• upload or transmit viruses, Trojan horses or other material that interferes with anyone’s use of the Services or modifies, impairs or disrupts the Services;
• use automated systems, such as scripts, bots, scrapers or offline readers, to access the Services, or send automated messages;
• remove copyright or other proprietary rights notices from any content;
• impersonate another user or person, or use someone else’s account;
• interfere with, disrupt or create an undue burden on the Services or the networks connected to them;
• harass, annoy, intimidate or threaten other users, or keep contacting someone who has blocked you through other means;
• attempt to bypass any measure that prevents or restricts access to the Services;
• copy or adapt the app’s software, or decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer it, except as permitted by applicable law;
• misuse the reporting tools, for example by reporting content you know does not break the rules;
• manipulate ratings, rankings, votes or reviews, for example with fake accounts;
• use the Services to advertise or offer to sell goods and services, or to send spam;
• sell or otherwise transfer your account.

6. User contributions and community rules

Shelfcat lets you create and share content, such as reviews, comments, ratings, your name and profile photo, names and descriptions of shelves and book clubs, club photos and book suggestions (together, “Contributions”). Depending on your settings and where you post them, Contributions can be seen by your friends, members of your book clubs or other Shelfcat users. See our Privacy Policy for who can see what.

You are responsible for your Contributions. When you create or share a Contribution, you represent and warrant that:

• you own it or have the rights and permissions needed to share it, and it does not infringe anyone’s copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights;
• it is not false, misleading or defamatory;
• it is not spam, advertising or a chain letter;
• it is not obscene, sexually explicit, violent, harassing, hateful, discriminatory or otherwise objectionable;
• it does not ridicule, mock, intimidate or abuse anyone, and does not threaten or encourage violence or self-harm;
• it does not include anyone else’s personal information without their consent;
• it does not exploit or sexualize minors in any way;
• it does not violate any applicable law;
• reviews that give away a book’s plot are marked as containing spoilers.

Any use of the Services that breaks these rules violates these Terms and may result in, among other things, removal of your Contributions and suspension or termination of your account.

7. Contribution license

You keep full ownership of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights in them. We do not claim ownership of them.

By creating or sharing a Contribution, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, display and distribute it within the Services, and to adapt its format (for example resizing a photo or showing an excerpt of a review in the feed), only as needed to operate, provide and improve the Services and to show it to the people you share it with. This license ends when you delete the Contribution or your account, except where your Contribution has been shared with others and they have not deleted it, or where we must keep it for legal reasons.

You can edit or delete your reviews and comments in the app at any time. We are not responsible for statements or representations in your Contributions, and you agree not to hold us responsible for them.

8. Moderation, reporting and blocking

• Automatic checks. Reviews, comments on reviews and comments in book clubs are checked automatically before they are shown to others. A Contribution that is flagged is not published.
• Reporting. You can report reviews, comments, profiles, shelves, book clubs and Home cards in the app. Reported content may be hidden automatically when several users report it, and we review reports and decide whether to hide the content or keep it.
• Blocking. You can block any user. Blocked users and the people who blocked them cannot see each other’s profiles, activity, reviews or comments, and any friendship between them ends.
• Book club admins can remove members and delete comments in their club.
• Our rights. We may, but are not obliged to, monitor the Services for violations of these Terms, and we may remove, hide or refuse any Contribution, and restrict, suspend or terminate any account, at our sole discretion and without notice if a Contribution or behaviour violates these Terms or the law, or is harmful to other users or to us. We may report illegal content to the authorities.

If you believe content in the Services infringes your copyright or other rights, or is otherwise illegal, please report it in the app or email us at [email protected] with a description of the content, where it appears and why you believe it is unlawful.

9. Book data and AI features

Book information in Shelfcat, such as titles, authors, covers, descriptions, series, editions, genres, moods, content warnings and ratings, comes from third parties, mainly Hardcover. We show this information as we receive it and do not check or correct it, so it may be incomplete, outdated or wrong. Average ratings combine third-party ratings with ratings of Shelfcat users.

Some features use artificial intelligence: short texts on Home cards, book summaries, book suggestions, recognizing a book from a cover photo, and the automatic checks of Contributions. Vote percentages on new Home cards may start from an estimate and then follow what Shelfcat users answer. AI output can be inaccurate or unexpected; it is provided for fun and convenience and should not be relied on as fact. You can report a Home card that seems wrong or inappropriate.

Content-warning heads-ups depend on the content warnings available for a book and may miss content that you find upsetting.

The Services may link to or show content from third parties. We are not responsible for third-party content or websites, and their own terms and privacy policies apply to them.

10. Mobile application license

Use license

If you use the Shelfcat app, we grant you a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to install and use the app on wireless electronic devices that you own or control, and to access and use the app on those devices strictly in accordance with these Terms. You shall not: (1) except as permitted by applicable law, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, or decrypt the app; (2) make any modification, adaptation, improvement, translation or derivative work from the app; (3) violate any applicable laws, rules or regulations in connection with your use of the app; (4) remove, alter or obscure any proprietary notice (including any copyright or trademark notice); (5) use the app for any commercial or revenue-generating purpose for which it is not designed or intended; (6) make the app available over a network or other environment that permits access or use by multiple devices or users at the same time; (7) use the app to create a product, service or software that competes with or substitutes for the app; or (8) use the app to send automated queries to any website or to send unsolicited commercial email.

Apple and Android devices

The following terms apply when you use the app obtained from the Apple App Store or Google Play (each an “App Distributor”):

1. the license granted to you for our app is limited to a non-transferable license to use the app on a device that uses the Apple iOS or Android operating system, as applicable, and in accordance with the usage rules in the App Distributor’s terms of service;
2. we are responsible for providing any maintenance and support services for the app as set out in these Terms or as required by applicable law, and you acknowledge that each App Distributor has no obligation whatsoever to provide maintenance and support services for the app;
3. in the event of any failure of the app to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify the App Distributor, and the App Distributor, in accordance with its terms and policies, may refund the purchase price, if any, paid for the app; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the App Distributor will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the app;
4. we, not the App Distributor, are responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the app, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to conform to any legal or regulatory requirement, and claims under consumer protection, privacy or similar laws;
5. in the event of any third-party claim that the app or your possession and use of it infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, we, not the App Distributor, are responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of that claim;
6. you represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. government embargo or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties;
7. you must comply with applicable third-party terms of agreement when using the app; and
8. you acknowledge and agree that the App Distributors and their subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms with respect to the app, and that each App Distributor will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

These Terms are concluded between you and Big Meow only, not with any App Distributor.

11. Services management

We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to: (1) monitor the Services for violations of these Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Terms, including reporting them to law enforcement authorities; (3) refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions or any part of them; (4) remove from the Services, or otherwise disable, files and content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems; and (5) otherwise manage the Services in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate their proper functioning.

12. Privacy policy

We care about data privacy and security. Please read our Privacy Policy: https://getshelfcat.app/privacy. By using the Services, you acknowledge that your personal data is processed as described there. The Services are operated from the Netherlands and our database is hosted in the European Union.

13. Term and termination

These Terms remain in effect while you use the Services. You can stop using the Services and delete your account at any time.

We may, at our discretion and without liability, suspend or terminate your account or your access to all or part of the Services if you breach these Terms or applicable law, if your use harms other users, us or third parties, or if we are required to do so by law. Where reasonable, we will tell you why and give you an opportunity to respond. If we terminate or suspend your account, you may not register a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party.

We may also decide to stop offering the Services altogether. In that case we will tell you in advance where reasonably possible.

14. Modifications and interruptions

We may change, update or remove features and content of the Services at any time, for example to improve them, for security or for legal reasons. We may change these Terms; if a change is material, we will let you know in the app or by email before it takes effect. If you keep using the Services after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you can stop using the Services and delete your account.

We cannot guarantee that the Services will be available at all times. We may experience hardware, software or other problems, or need to perform maintenance, which may result in interruptions, delays or errors. We are not liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused by your inability to access or use the Services during any downtime or discontinuance, to the extent permitted by law. Nothing in these Terms obliges us to maintain and support the Services or to supply any corrections, updates or releases.

15. Governing law

These Terms and your use of the Services are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. If you are a consumer and live in another country of the European Union, you also keep the protection of the mandatory provisions of the consumer law of your country of residence.

16. Dispute resolution

Informal negotiations

To resolve any dispute, controversy or claim related to these Terms or the Services (each a “Dispute”) quickly and at low cost, you and we agree to first try to settle it informally for at least thirty (30) days before starting court proceedings. Informal negotiations start when one party sends written notice to the other, for us at [email protected].

Competent court

If a Dispute cannot be resolved informally, it will be submitted exclusively to the competent court in Utrecht, the Netherlands. If you are a consumer, you may also bring a Dispute before the competent court of the place where you live, and nothing in this section limits the rights you have under mandatory consumer law.

17. Corrections

The Services may contain typographical errors, inaccuracies or omissions, including in book descriptions, ratings, availability and other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update the information in the Services at any time, without prior notice.

18. Disclaimer

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS-AVAILABLE” BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES AND YOUR USE OF THEM, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICES’ CONTENT, INCLUDING BOOK DATA AND AI-GENERATED CONTENT FROM THIRD PARTIES, OR OF THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THE SERVICES, AND WE ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES, (3) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SERVERS AND ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION STORED THERE, (4) INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICES, (5) BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICES BY ANY THIRD PARTY, OR (6) CONTENT POSTED BY OTHER USERS. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION LIMITS RIGHTS YOU HAVE UNDER MANDATORY CONSUMER LAW.

19. Limitations of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for damage caused by our intent or gross negligence, for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

20. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold us harmless, including our directors, employees and agents, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim or demand, including reasonable legal fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) your Contributions; (2) your use of the Services in breach of these Terms; (3) a breach of your representations and warranties in these Terms; (4) your violation of the rights of a third party, including intellectual property rights; or (5) any harmful act toward any other user of the Services. We will notify you of any such claim when we become aware of it.

21. User data

We keep the data you add to the Services in order to operate them, and we take reasonable measures to protect it. However, you are responsible for the data you add to the Services. If you want a copy of your data, you can ask us at [email protected] (see our Privacy Policy). To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss or corruption of such data.

22. Electronic communications

Using the Services, sending us emails and completing online forms are electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications from us, such as emails about your account and notifications in the app, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications we provide to you electronically, by email and in the Services, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing.

23. Miscellaneous

These Terms and any policies or operating rules we post in the Services, including our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms does not waive that right or provision. These Terms apply to the fullest extent permitted by law. We may assign any or all of our rights and obligations to others at any time, provided this does not reduce your rights. If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, that part is severable and does not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. No joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship is created between you and us as a result of these Terms or your use of the Services. These Terms are written in English; if we provide a translation, the English version prevails to the extent permitted by law.

24. Contact us

To resolve a complaint about the Services or to receive more information about their use, please contact us at: