Terms and Conditions

Version 2026-08-28-v3, dated 28 August 2026

These Terms and Conditions govern the use of Geschichtenkünstler.de and contracts concluded through it. The user's contracting party is the operator identified in the legal notice of Geschichtenkünstler.de, referred to below as the “Operator”. The special terms for authors, the privacy notice, and separate information presented during a particular order or feature process also apply. More specific terms for a particular transaction prevail in the event of a conflict.

Notice before production launch: This detailed draft reflects the platform logic currently intended. Operator details, prices, tax treatment of credits, the withdrawal process, youth protection, consumer dispute resolution, and international use must be reviewed from a legal and tax perspective for the specific Operator before launch. These Terms do not restrict mandatory statutory rights.

1. Platform and definitions

Geschichtenkünstler.de is a platform for reading and collaboratively creating branching stories. A “Story” may consist of several story branches and chapters by different authors. “Content” includes text, stories, chapters, comments, ratings, messages, profiles, character and world sheets, location data, maps, covers, chapter images, and fan art. “Credits” are accounting units that can be used only within the platform to unlock paid content. “Complimentary Credits” are bonus, trial, promotional, or goodwill credits granted free of charge.

The Operator does not promise any particular number or length of stories, any continuation, or any particular plot. Decisions, continuation chapters, and changes of author are part of the branching narrative concept.

2. Scope and contract language

These Terms apply to guests, registered readers, authors, family accounts, Education main accounts, and their subaccounts. Authors also accept the separate Author Agreement. Education accounts may require additional arrangements concerning data processing, organisational use, consent, or institutional access.

These Terms are provided in German and English and are intended to have the same meaning. If their interpretation differs, the German version prevails to the extent permitted by mandatory law and unless an individual agreement was expressly concluded in English.

3. Registration and user accounts

• Information requested during registration and account maintenance must be accurate, complete, and current. If inaccurate information is provided, the account may be suspended; in that case there is no entitlement to payout of existing or future balances.
• As a rule, each person may maintain only one personal main account. Permitted family and Education subaccounts are unaffected.
• Login details, two-factor codes, and recovery codes must be kept confidential. Unauthorised use or a suspected security incident must be reported to the Operator without delay.
• Accounts may not be sold, transferred, rented, or permanently made available to third parties without the Operator's consent.
• There is no entitlement to registration, a particular role, or access to a particular feature.

The Operator may require email verification, two-factor authentication, or other reasonable security evidence. Author and administrator accounts must meet the designated enhanced security requirements.

4. Minors, family accounts, and Education accounts

Minors may use the platform only to the extent permitted by law and with any consent required from their legal representative. Designated family and Education accounts may set age, content, reading-time, and credit limits. The main account is responsible for managing subaccounts and retaining any required verifiable consent.

Education subaccounts are assigned to an Education main account. Their stories, chapters, assignments, approvals, and economic results are technically attributed to the main account, while internal assignment to groups and members remains visible. Education authors may create their own Stories, initially limited to their own group. Final publication approvals are issued by the main account or by a Lecturer authorised for this purpose. The group name may be displayed as the group author upon publication. A minor's personal name is displayed only with valid consent or after the person reaches the age of majority.

5. Free and paid services

Depending on the current platform setting, published chapters are provided free of charge or by redeeming Credits. Credits can be purchased individually, as a gift code, or through a Credit subscription. Before a paid transaction, the platform displays which service is subject to payment, its price, and its essential features. Free features may be changed or discontinued to a reasonable extent unless mandatory rights or a separate promise prevent this.

Where trial access, starting balance, or other free benefits are granted, there is no entitlement to their continued or repeated provision. Complimentary Credits cannot be paid out or transferred and do not create author earnings.

6. Prices, orders, and payment

Prices displayed to consumers are total prices in euros, including applicable statutory VAT unless expressly stated otherwise. Immediately before a paid order, the platform displays the package or subscription, price, term, any automatic renewal, and accepted payment methods.

The presentation of a Credit package or subscription is not a binding offer. By placing an order that is clearly labelled as carrying an obligation to pay, the user makes a binding offer. The contract is formed when the Operator confirms the order, accepts payment, or credits the purchased or subscribed Credits. Payments are processed by the payment provider identified during checkout, in particular Stripe. That provider's additional payment terms may apply.

If a payment fails, is reversed, or is challenged without justification, the Operator may temporarily suspend the associated purchased Credits, subscription Credits, or unlocks and make traceable correcting entries. Further statutory claims remain unaffected.

7. Credits, balances, and billing

Purchased Credits and Complimentary Credits are recorded separately. When a chapter is unlocked, the system may use available Complimentary Credits and purchased Credits in accordance with the displayed booking logic. Only purchased Credits actually redeemed may generate remuneration for the relevant author. Complimentary Credits are not converted into author earnings.

Credits are not a bank balance or legal tender and do not bear interest. They may not be traded outside the platform or transferred to other users in exchange for money. Statutory withdrawal, reimbursement, and conformity rights remain unaffected. A voluntary cash payment for unused purchased Credits is made only where expressly offered or agreed in an individual case.

The platform maintains a transaction record. Refunds, cancellations, returned payments, chargebacks, abuse, and technical duplicate bookings may be corrected by attributable counter-entries. Billing documents are made available in the user account and may also be announced by email. Where purchased Credits are treated for tax purposes only when used, the Operator may combine paid unlocks made during a month into a monthly invoice.

8. Chapter unlocks and Credit subscriptions

The Credit price is displayed before every paid chapter unlock. A confirmed unlock applies to the unlocked chapter and the user account used. It generally remains available for the lifetime of the account. Access may nevertheless cease if Content must be removed for legal reasons, rights expire, a refund is made, or the account is validly suspended for an important reason attributable to the user. Mandatory user claims remain unaffected.

A Credit subscription credits the number of paid Credits displayed before conclusion after each successfully paid monthly invoice. It is not a flat rate, does not grant general access to paid chapters, and does not unlock chapters automatically. Each paid chapter must still be unlocked individually using the available Credit balance. Its term, billing interval, renewal, price, Credit amount, and cancellation options are displayed before conclusion. The Credit subscription can be cancelled monthly with 30 days' notice to the end of the month, unless immediate termination is agreed or required by law. It can be managed through the account feature or payment portal provided for this purpose.

9. Consumer right of withdrawal

Consumers generally have a statutory right of withdrawal for distance contracts. Details, time limits, exercise, and consequences are set out in the withdrawal information provided before the contract is concluded. These Terms do not replace any withdrawal information required by law.

For digital content not supplied on a tangible medium, the right of withdrawal can expire only after the Operator has begun performance, the consumer has expressly agreed to performance beginning before the end of the withdrawal period, the consumer has acknowledged that this causes the right of withdrawal to be lost, and the consumer has received any contract confirmation required by law. Where required, this consent is obtained separately during the purchase or unlock process; what this consent means is explained on the page Right of withdrawal for digital content.

For services and subscriptions, the statutory rules on commencement of performance, possible proportionate payment, and expiry of the withdrawal right apply. Merely accepting these Terms does not replace a separate declaration required by law.

10. User Content and required rights

Users retain their rights in their own Content. By uploading or publishing Content, the user grants the Operator a non-exclusive, worldwide right, limited to the term of the contract, to store, technically reproduce, format, make available within the platform, connect with associated Stories and profiles, and create necessary previews and backup copies of that Content. After the contract ends, the right continues only to the extent required for published collaborative branches, existing unlocks, billing, preservation of evidence, or statutory obligations.

The user warrants that they hold all required rights, licences, and consents. Copyright, trade mark, personality, privacy, and other third-party rights must be respected. Sources, licences, and image credits must be stated in full where required. The more specific grant of rights and remuneration rules in the Author Agreement apply to authors.

11. Branching Stories and contributions by multiple authors

A published chapter may become the starting point for independent continuation chapters by other authorised authors. Continuations do not alter the original contribution. Within the available settings, the Story creator determines who may continue writing and who may supplement or change world information. Reservations, invitations, rank thresholds, friend groups, and approvals for characters, locations, family trees, and world-sheet changes must be respected.

There is no entitlement to acceptance of a chapter, continuation, fan art submission, world-sheet change, or other proposal. Publication and approval take place only through the designated functions.

12. Prohibited Content and uses

Prohibited conduct includes illegal Content, criminal statements, threats, targeted harassment, hate speech, defamatory claims, plagiarism, malware, spam, manipulation of ratings or billing, impersonation, circumvention of age, security, approval, or payment systems, and publication of personal or confidential data without a sufficient legal basis.

Content depicting the sexual abuse of children, sexualised Content involving minors or persons appearing to be minors, grooming, and any trivialisation of such conduct are strictly prohibited. Adult, violent, or developmentally harmful Content must comply with applicable law, age ratings, and visibility settings.

13. Moderation, notices, and automated checks

Content may be reported and reviewed for legal, youth-protection, security, and rule violations. Where there is sufficient suspicion or a violation, the Operator may label Content, restrict its visibility, temporarily withhold it, remove it from search results, disable access to it, delete it, or temporarily restrict features or accounts. Measures are taken diligently, objectively, proportionately, and with due regard to the rights of all affected parties.

Automated systems and AI models may be used for triage, safety analysis, or detection of possible violations. Material permanent sanctions are not based solely on an unreviewed automated assessment. Where required by law, the affected user receives reasons and may request human review through the stated complaint channel.

A notice should identify the Content concerned, the reason, and the information needed for assessment as precisely as possible. Abusive or knowingly false notices are prohibited. The Operator's statutory notice, information, and removal duties remain unaffected.

14. Ratings, comments, messages, and fan art

Ratings must be based on the user's own genuine experience and may not be purchased, coerced, or manipulated through multiple accounts. Chapter ratings may contribute to the relevant author's rating under the transparently displayed logic. Author ratings may include optional text. The Operator may remove irrelevant, abusive, illegal, or manipulated submissions.

Private messages may not be used for spam, advertising without consent, harassment, or distribution of illegal Content. Fan art is also subject to the upload, approval, rights, and labelling requirements. Approval by the Operator does not confirm that all third-party rights have been conclusively reviewed.

If an author rewards approved fan art with author-selected author Credits, those Credits are credited to the submitter as Complimentary Credits. The author-funded portion is not calculated using a flat package value; it is offset against the author's open remuneration at the actual gross payout value generated by the underlying paid reader Credits. This euro value is displayed before submission and reduces the later author credit note. Any additional platform bonus is funded by the Operator, is also credited as Complimentary Credits, and does not reduce the author's credit note.

15. Backups, exports, and availability

The Operator endeavours to provide secure and largely uninterrupted operation but does not promise uninterrupted availability unless a specific service level has been expressly agreed. Maintenance, security updates, network or service-provider outages, and events outside the Operator's reasonable control may temporarily impair access.

Automatic saving protects drafts and never causes publication by itself. Users should additionally safeguard important original Content using the available export functions. The Operator creates operational backups but does not guarantee unlimited restoration of every intermediate version.

16. Changes to the platform and digital services

The Operator may change features and digital services for a valid reason, including changes in law, security requirements, technical development, accessibility, prevention of abuse, changes to third-party services, or improved usability. No additional cost is imposed on the user without a separate agreement.

Material changes are communicated clearly. If a change to a digital service supplied over time impairs access or usability beyond a minor extent, the consumer is informed within a reasonable period on a durable medium about the nature and timing of the change and their statutory rights. Statutory rights to terminate free of charge remain unaffected.

17. Suspension, termination, and account deletion

Users may terminate an indefinite user account at any time through the provided contact or account channel. Subscriptions must also be cancelled through the displayed subscription function. A requested account deletion may be withdrawn during the displayed grace period. Afterwards, data is deleted or pseudonymised in accordance with the privacy notice; billing, evidence, and security data that must be retained by law remains protected.

The Operator may terminate an account on reasonable notice where no longer commitment has been agreed. In the event of a serious or repeated violation, payment default, manipulation, a specific security risk, or illegal use, the Operator may temporarily suspend features or the account or terminate for cause. Where reasonable, the user is first given an opportunity to comment. Accrued payment, reimbursement, and conformity claims remain unaffected.

18. Conformity of digital products

Paid digital content and services are governed by the statutory rules on digital products. The Operator supplies the agreed service and provides required security and functional updates. In the event of a fault or lack of conformity, the user should provide the Operator with a sufficiently precise description so that a remedy can be assessed.

Statutory rights to cure, terminate, reduce the price, claim damages, or obtain reimbursement are not excluded. Rights do not apply to faults caused exclusively by an unsuitable or unsupported user environment where the Operator clearly communicated the technical requirements in advance and enabled the cooperation required by law to determine the cause.

19. Liability

The Operator has unlimited liability for intent and gross negligence, injury to life, limb, or health, under product liability law, for expressly assumed guarantees, and in all other cases of mandatory statutory liability.

For a slightly negligent breach of a material contractual obligation, liability is limited to the loss typical of the contract and foreseeable when the contract was concluded. Material obligations are those whose performance is essential for proper performance of the contract and on whose fulfilment users may regularly rely. Liability for other slight negligence is excluded. These limitations also apply to legal representatives and agents and do not apply where mandatory consumer rights for digital products provide otherwise.

20. Indemnity for culpable infringement

If a user culpably infringes third-party rights or these Terms, the user indemnifies the Operator against justified third-party claims and the necessary, reasonable costs of legal defence. The Operator informs the user without delay, allows the user to participate in the defence, and does not acknowledge claims without consultation where this is reasonable. For consumers, this applies only to the extent they are at fault.

21. Data protection

The privacy notice explains the nature, extent, purposes, legal bases, recipients, retention periods, and data-subject rights for personal-data processing. Bank, tax, Education, minor, and moderation data is processed only within the designated permissions. Exercising statutory data-protection rights may not be penalised through contractual penalties or loss of already-paid rights.

22. Changes to these Terms

The Operator may amend these Terms for the future where this is required by changes in law, new case law, security requirements, new features, or to close an unforeseen regulatory gap, provided this does not unreasonably shift the contractual balance against users.

Registered users are informed of material changes in good time in text form or through their account. Where consent is required by law, it is obtained expressly. Without consent, an amendment applies only where permitted by law. The specific statutory requirements for changes and termination rights concerning paid digital services remain unaffected.

23. Consumer dispute resolution

The former European Online Dispute Resolution platform has been discontinued. Unless the legal notice contains a different statement, the Operator is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute-resolution proceedings before a consumer conciliation body. Where a statutory participation or information duty applies in a particular case, the information published in the legal notice or provided after the dispute arose applies.

24. Governing law and jurisdiction

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Mandatory protections of the state in which a consumer habitually resides remain unaffected. Exclusive jurisdiction at the Operator's registered office applies only to merchants, legal persons governed by public law, special funds under public law, or persons without general jurisdiction in Germany, to the extent permitted by law.

25. Final provisions

Individual agreements take precedence. If any provision is wholly or partly invalid, the remaining provisions remain effective and the statutory rule applies in its place. Notices, complaints, and terminations may be submitted at least in text form through the contact channels stated in the account or legal notice.