Terms of Service
Please also review our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect and process personal information.
1. The Risingshadow Service
Risingshadow is an independent website and book database focused on fantasy, science fiction, and other speculative fiction. The Service includes, among other features, information about books, series and authors, upcoming releases, personal bookshelves, book ratings and reviews, discussions, articles, and other features that may be made available from time to time.
Risingshadow is continuously developed. We may add, modify, or remove features as the Service evolves.
2. User Accounts
2.1 Creating and using an account
Some features of the Service require a user account. You are responsible for protecting your login credentials and for activity that takes place through your account.
User accounts are personal. You may not use another person's account without permission or impersonate another person.
2.2 Age requirement
You must be at least 13 years old to create a Risingshadow account.
3. User Content
3.1 Responsibility for your content
Users may contribute content to the Service, including book reviews, comments, discussion posts, and other material. Users may also submit information and corrections for inclusion in the Risingshadow database.
You are responsible for the content you submit or publish and for ensuring that you have the necessary rights to provide that content.
3.2 Rights to user content
You retain ownership of content that you create. By submitting or publishing content on Risingshadow, you grant Risingshadow a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to store, display, publish, technically process, and, where reasonably necessary, modify that content for the purpose of operating, developing, and presenting the Service.
For example, a book review may be displayed on a book page, on your bookshelf, and in other parts of the Service where book reviews are presented or collected.
3.3 Information submitted to the database
Users may submit information or corrections relating to books, authors, series, editions, release dates, and other bibliographic information.
Risingshadow may verify, correct, supplement, combine, format, or otherwise edit submitted information before or after it is added to the database. Submitting information does not guarantee that it will be published. Risingshadow determines what information is included in the database and how that information is presented.
4. Prohibited Conduct and Content
You must use the Service responsibly and in accordance with applicable law. You may not use the Service to publish content or engage in activity that:
- is unlawful, threatening, defamatory, or seriously abusive;
- infringes copyrights, trademarks, or other rights;
- improperly discloses personal, confidential, or private information;
- constitutes spam, deceptive advertising, or disruptive mass messaging;
- attempts to damage, disrupt, overload, or circumvent technical protections of the Service;
- uses the Service for fraudulent, deceptive, or otherwise abusive purposes.
Additional community or discussion rules may apply to particular areas of the Service.
5. Moderation
Risingshadow administrators and moderators may edit, move, hide, or remove user content where reasonably necessary, including when content violates these Terms, community rules, or applicable law, or when moderation is necessary to maintain the functionality and quality of the Service.
In cases of serious or repeated violations, we may temporarily restrict access to the Service or suspend or terminate a user account.
6. Automated Access and Data Collection
Automated access to the Service is not permitted where it places an unreasonable load on our systems, interferes with the operation of the Service, or attempts to circumvent technical restrictions or access controls.
Systematic extraction, scraping, copying, reproduction, republication, or collection of the Risingshadow database, or substantial portions of it, for the purpose of creating or enriching another database, commercial service, or substantially similar service is not permitted without prior permission from Risingshadow.
Search engines and other ordinary web indexing services may access the Service in accordance with our robots.txt file and other technical instructions.
7. Intellectual Property
Original content created by Risingshadow, the structure and organization of the website and database, software, graphics, and other original elements of the Service belong to Risingshadow or their respective rights holders.
Book covers, author photographs, publisher descriptions, trademarks, logos, and other third-party materials remain the property of their respective copyright or trademark holders.
Rights to content created by users remain with those users, subject to the license granted to Risingshadow under these Terms.
8. Book and Release Information
Risingshadow aims to provide accurate and useful information about books, authors, series, editions, and release dates. However, information may change or contain errors.
This is particularly important for upcoming books. Titles, release dates, cover artwork, series numbering, publishers, formats, and other advance information may change before publication.
Risingshadow does not guarantee that information contained in the database is complete, accurate, or current.
9. External Services and Links
Risingshadow may contain links to websites, retailers, publishers, social networks, and other services operated by third parties. Risingshadow is not responsible for the content, availability, privacy practices, security, or operation of third-party services.
Some links on Risingshadow may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase after following an affiliate link, Risingshadow may receive a commission from the retailer at no additional cost to you.
10. Account Deletion and Termination
10.1 Deleting your account
You may delete your Risingshadow account using the account management features provided by the Service.
When an account is deleted, personal information associated with the account will be deleted or anonymized in accordance with our Privacy Policy, except where we have a legal or otherwise legitimate reason to retain particular information.
Discussion posts, book reviews, and other content that forms part of community discussions or the informational content of the Service may remain after an account has been deleted in order to preserve the integrity and continuity of discussions, reviews, and database content. Such content may be displayed without an active profile linked to the deleted account.
10.2 Suspension or termination by Risingshadow
Risingshadow may restrict access to the Service or suspend or terminate an account if a user materially violates these Terms, applicable law, or other rules of the Service.
11. Availability of the Service
The Service is provided on an "as available" basis. Risingshadow does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability. The Service may occasionally be unavailable due to maintenance, technical problems, third-party services, or circumstances outside our control.
Risingshadow may modify, suspend, or discontinue all or part of the Service where there is a reasonable basis for doing so.
12. Limitation of Liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Risingshadow is not liable for indirect or consequential losses resulting from the use or unavailability of the Service, inaccurate information, or third-party websites and services.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited under applicable mandatory law.
13. Changes to These Terms
Risingshadow may update these Terms when necessary, including when the Service, applicable law, or our operating practices change.
Where a change materially affects users' rights or obligations, we will provide reasonable notice through the Service when appropriate. The date of the most recent update is shown at the beginning of these Terms.
14. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Finland.
If you are a consumer residing outside Finland, this choice of law does not deprive you of any mandatory consumer protection rights that apply to you under the laws of your country of residence.