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Definitions

Author

the natural person or legal entity using an account and authorized to dispose of the Book.

Book

the manuscript and the title, cover, illustrations, metadata, and other materials supplied therewith by the Author.

Platform

The Next Title, including writing, AI, analysis, translation, reading, and publisher functions.

Read the Next Title

the part of the Platform where an Author can make a Book available to readers for payment.

Publisher Agreement

any agreement whereby a publisher or other professional operator acquires rights to the Book, including publishing, translation, audio, film, stage, and other subsidiary rights.

Sales Proceeds

the amount paid by a reader for the Book, excluding VAT and reduced by refunds and chargebacks, but before deduction of Stripe or other payment processing fees.

Application and formation

1. These terms and conditions apply to the account and to any use of paid services of the Platform by the Author.
2. Prior to concluding a paid agreement, the Author is shown the current terms and conditions, the chosen service, the total price, the payment frequency, and the method of cancellation, and is able to save the terms and conditions.
3. A paid agreement is formed only after the Author explicitly agrees and confirms an order with a payment obligation. The full legal name, establishment details, and contact details of the operator of The Next Title are stated therein and on the invoice.
4. Mandatory consumer law always takes precedence over a deviating provision in these terms and conditions.

Ownership of the Book and limited license

1. The Book is not our text. All copyrights and other intellectual property rights of the Author in the Book remain with the Author. These terms and conditions do not transfer any copyright, ownership, or exclusive publication right to The Next Title.
2. The Author grants The Next Title solely a non-exclusive, worldwide license, valid for the duration of the chosen service, to technically store, secure, process, reproduce, and—solely at the Author's explicit choice—analyze, translate, show to selected publishers, or make available to readers via Read the Next Title.
3. The Next Title may engage technical service providers to the extent necessary to perform the chosen function. They shall not receive broader rights than necessary for that purpose.
4. Upon withdrawal, the license terminates, except for secure backups within the applicable retention period, legal obligations, dispute resolution, and continuing to provide access that readers have already lawfully purchased.
5. The Author declares to be authorized to have the Book and all parts thereof used in this manner and indemnifies The Next Title against substantiated claims by third parties due to material supplied by the Author. This indemnification does not apply to the extent that The Next Title itself acts outside the granted license.

Platform services and human direction

1. The Next Title offers tools for writing, analysis, AI support, publication preparation, reading, and publisher contact. The Author determines which functions are used and remains responsible for editorial and commercial decisions.
2. Analyses, suggestions, translations, and AI outputs are tools. The Next Title does not guarantee that a Book will be published, sold, or is suitable for a specific purpose.
3. A mention, shortlist, bid, or transfer to a publisher environment does not in itself constitute a transfer or license of copyrights. A separate agreement is required for that purpose.

Platform subscription and AI credits

1. Basic is free and requires no payment card. For paid features, the Author chooses Medium for € 24.99 per month or € 249.90 per year, or Premium for € 49.95 per month or € 499.50 per year. All consumer prices include VAT. The included features and payment frequency are displayed on screen prior to ordering. With annual prepayment, two out of the twelve months are excluded from the annual price.
2. No commercial trial period applies to Medium and Premium. A valid payment method is required, and Stripe attempts to collect the previously displayed monthly or annual amount immediately upon ordering. Paid access is only granted after a successful payment.
3. Medium and Premium are billed monthly or annually in advance and automatically renewed for the same period until the Author cancels. Following cancellation, no new renewal takes place, and access remains available until the end of the current billing period. This is without prejudice to any statutory cooling-off period.
4. A month or year period already commenced and paid for will not be refunded pro rata, except where required by law or where The Next Title has culpably failed to deliver the service. In the event of a failed initial payment, no paid access will be granted.
5. AI credits are separate from the subscription and are deducted according to actual usage based on the number of credits displayed prior to the assignment. A technically failed assignment for which no usable result is delivered will not be billed definitively.
6. Purchased, unused credits remain available during the active account. Credits are not money, do not accrue interest, and are not transferable, unless otherwise provided by law.
7. The Next Title will not increase a subscription price within an ongoing payment period. A change will be clearly announced in advance; the Author may cancel free of charge prior to the effective date.

Statutory cooling-off period and online cancellation

1. An Author who concludes a subscription or other service online as a consumer is generally entitled to a fourteen-day statutory cooling-off period starting from the day after the contract confirmation.
2. If the service is commenced at the express request of the consumer during the cooling-off period and is subsequently revoked, only a proportional amount is owed for the part already delivered, provided that request and the corresponding acknowledgement were correctly requested in advance.
3. For directly delivered digital content, the right of withdrawal may only lapse after the consumer has explicitly agreed to this in advance, has acknowledged losing the right of withdrawal as a result, and has received confirmation thereof.
4. Revocation, withdrawal, and cancellation can be carried out using the designated, clearly findable online function. The Author will receive a confirmation that can be saved. Statutory rights may also be exercised via the contact point stated with the order and on the invoice.

Linked Stripe account and payout

1. For sales via Read the Next Title, the Author links their own Stripe account. Stripe may require identification, company details, and other information and applies its own terms and conditions.
2. The chosen payment setup determines whether Stripe fees, refunds, chargebacks, and negative balances lie with the Author or with The Next Title. This is shown concretely before activation of the sales function and must correspond with the actual Stripe Connect configuration.
3. Where technically feasible, Stripe automatically withholds the 15% platform fee and pays out the remaining balance directly to the linked account. Stripe's payout terms and checks fall outside the direct influence of The Next Title.
4. The Next Title does not store complete card or bank details and only receives the transaction and account data necessary for sales, settlement, fraud prevention, and statutory administration.

Obligations of the Author

1. The Author shall provide accurate account, rights, tax, and payment data and keep this information up to date.
2. The Book contains no unlawful content and does not infringe upon copyright, privacy rights, portrait rights, or any other rights of third parties. The Author shall not use personal data or confidential information in AI assignments without a valid legal basis and necessary security.
3. The Author shall not share account access without authorization and shall report a suspected security breach immediately via the available contact point.
4. The Author is personally responsible for taxes, tax returns, and their own administration of received income, to the extent that the law does not place that responsibility on another party.

Privacy, confidentiality, and AI

1. Personal data is processed in accordance with the separate privacy statement. This statement specifies, among other things, the processing purposes, legal bases, recipients, retention periods, and privacy rights.
2. The Next Title does not use manuscript text for training public AI models without separate, explicit permission from the Author.
3. AI services process only the data necessary for the chosen assignment. The Next Title does not log full manuscripts or raw AI prompts and outputs by default for operational analysis.
4. AI output may be incorrect, resemble existing works, or not qualify for copyright protection. The Author evaluates output prior to use and remains the final editor.
5. Google Analytics 4 is only loaded after your consent. Google then processes the visited pages, technical browser and device data, the origin of the visit, and temporarily the IP address for a rough location to generate aggregated visitor statistics. Ad storage, ad personalization, and the transmission of account identity are disabled. The choice is stored for 180 days in a necessary first-party cookie and can be changed via Cookie Settings.

Availability, maintenance, and changes to features

1. The Next Title makes reasonable efforts to provide a secure and usable service, but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability.
2. Maintenance and security measures may temporarily restrict access. In the event of a substantial, permanent reduction of a paid service, The Next Title will inform the Author in advance, and the statutory rights to remedy, price reduction, or termination shall apply.
3. The Author shall reasonably keep their own export or backup copy of the Book. This obligation does not limit The Next Title's responsibility for its own storage service.

Liability

1. The Next Title is liable for direct damage resulting from a culpable failure, within the limits permitted by law.
2. The Next Title is not liable for choices made by publishers or readers, the failure of a deal or sale, or damage arising solely from the Author using an AI suggestion without appropriate review.
3. No limitation in these terms and conditions applies in the event of intent or deliberate recklessness by The Next Title, in the event of injury or death, in the event of violation of mandatory consumer law, or in other cases where limitation is not permitted by law.

Withdrawal, suspension, and termination

1. The Author may withdraw the Book via the account environment. New presentations to publishers and new reader sales will then stop as quickly as technically reasonably possible, and the subscription will not be renewed.
2. The Next Title may temporarily restrict access when necessary for security, a legal request, payment arrears, or a serious suspicion of unlawful use. If safe and legally permissible, the Author will be notified in advance and given the opportunity to remedy the situation.
3. Termination does not affect existing payment obligations, paid reader access, confidentiality, and evidentiary and administrative duties.

Amendments to these terms and conditions

1. The Next Title may amend these terms and conditions in the event of statutory amendments, security requirements, or reasonable changes to the service. The Author will receive the new text and effective date in advance on a durable medium.
2. A material change in price, the platform fee for reader sales, or the scope of the license shall not apply without express consent to publisher agreements already concluded or reader sales already paid for.
3. If a change materially and adversely affects the ongoing agreement, the Author may cancel free of charge prior to the effective date.

Governing law and complaints

1. Dutch law applies to the agreement. A consumer retains the mandatory protection of the country where they habitually reside.
2. Complaints can be submitted via the contact point stated in the account environment, contract confirmation, and on the invoice. The Next Title will acknowledge the complaint and respond substantively within a reasonable timeframe.
3. Disputes shall be submitted to the court with jurisdiction according to law. This provision does not limit a consumer's right to use another court with legal jurisdiction or available out-of-court dispute resolution procedures.