Terms of service

By creating a Littory account, downloading the app, or using any part of the service, you agree to these terms. If you don't, please don't use Littory.

Littory ("Littory", "we", "us") is a digital reading and publishing platform headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. We operate the Littory mobile apps (iOS and Android), the author dashboard, the admin portal, the in-app reader, and the website at littory.app (together, the "Service").

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding contract between you and Littory. They apply whether you read, write, run a book club, tip an author, buy coins, or simply browse. Some sections only apply if you publish work or earn money — those are flagged.

Our Privacy Notice is incorporated by reference. So is any in-app disclosure shown to you at the moment of purchase (e.g. the price and renewal terms of a subscription).

We grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use the Littory app on devices you own or control, and to use the Service for personal, non-commercial reading and writing.

The app is licensed, not sold. We keep all rights we don't expressly give you. You may not:

• Copy, modify, translate, or create derivative works of the app.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the app, except where this restriction is prohibited by law.
• Remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or proprietary notices.
• Rent, lease, sublicense, or otherwise transfer the app or your account.

The licence ends automatically if you break these Terms. We may also revoke or limit it for security or legal reasons; we'll tell you when we do.

You need an account to read, write, or join a book club on Littory. You can sign in with email + password, Google, or Apple. If you sign in with Apple, your email may be relayed through Apple's private-relay service; that's fine with us.

Eligibility

• You must be at least 13 years old to read on Littory. If you're between 13 and the age of majority where you live, a parent or guardian must agree to these Terms on your behalf.
• You must be at least 18 years old to publish books, receive royalties, or withdraw earnings.
• Adult content (rated 18+) requires age confirmation before a book opens.
• One human, one account. Don't impersonate someone else, and don't create accounts on someone's behalf without their permission.

Account security

You are responsible for what happens under your account. Keep your password to yourself, enable two-factor where offered, and write to security@littory.app if you think your account has been compromised.

Deleting your account

You can delete your Littory account at any time, and it takes about a minute:

1. Open the app and go to Settings → Account → Delete account.
2. Confirm the deletion in the prompt.

You can also request deletion from the web by writing to privacy@littory.app from the email address on the account, or by using the form at littory.app/privacy. We complete deletions within 30 days. See the Privacy Notice for exactly what is removed and what we must retain by law.

When you read a book on Littory — free, paid, or unlocked with coins — we grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to access that book inside the Littory apps for as long as your access is valid.

This licence is for personal reading. You may not:

• Download, copy, redistribute, or rehost any book, chapter, audio file, or excerpt outside the Service.
• Strip, bypass, or interfere with our content protection, watermarks, or rate limiting.
• Scrape Littory by any means — manual, automated, AI agent, or otherwise — to train models, build derivative catalogues, or mirror our content elsewhere.
• Share your account login with anyone else, including family members outside your household.

If a book is removed from the catalogue (because the author unpublished it, it failed re-moderation, or there's a copyright dispute), it may stop being available to you. We'll do what we can to give you notice, but we can't always promise it.

Any reader can request to become an author. Once approved, you can upload manuscripts, set pricing, run promotions, manage chapters, and earn from your work.

You keep your copyright

We do not own your book. You do. Always. You retain all intellectual property rights in everything you upload — the text, the cover, the audio narration if you provide it.

To run the Service, you grant Littory a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to host, store, reproduce, transmit, display, and (with your permission) convert your work into the formats needed to deliver it to readers (EPUB, PDF rendering, audio streaming, previews, marketing thumbnails). This licence lasts only as long as your work is on the platform; it ends when you take your work down.

Your warranties

By publishing a work on Littory, you confirm that:

• You wrote it, or you have the rights to publish it.
• It does not infringe anyone else's copyright, trademark, privacy, or publicity rights.
• It does not contain anything we list as prohibited under Things you can't do.
• Any biographical claims, expert credentials, or non-fiction facts you make are honest.

AI-generated and AI-assisted writing

You may use generative-AI tools to help draft, edit, or translate your work. You may not pass off material that is substantially AI-generated as if it were written entirely by a human, and you may not upload AI output that infringes a third party's rights.

When you publish, you must:

• Disclose, on the book's details page, whether AI played a significant role in writing, translation, narration, or cover art.
• Confirm that any AI training data your tool relied on does not give a third party a claim against the output (e.g. you didn't knowingly use a model trained on copyrighted books without permission).
• Make sure AI-narrated audio doesn't impersonate a real person's voice without their explicit, written consent.

Moderation

Every book passes through automated screening (plagiarism, safety, age suitability) and a human moderation queue before going live. We may ask for changes. We may reject a submission. We may unpublish a book at any time if it violates these Terms, our content policies, or applicable law.

Littory Coins are an in-app virtual currency. You buy them with real money and spend them inside the Service.

What coins can do:

• Unlock chapters and full books.
• Tip authors directly.
• Pay for audiobook access.
• Pay for occasional in-app features we may launch later.

The fine print on coins

• Coins have no cash value to you. They are a licence to use features on Littory, not money or stored value.
• Coins are non-refundable by us, and cannot be exchanged, transferred to another user, or converted back to cash by you. (Where you bought the coins via Apple or Google, those platforms' own refund policies still apply — see How payments work.)
• Coin prices, exchange rates, and bundle sizes can change. We won't retroactively change coins you have already purchased.
• If your account is terminated for breaking these Terms, any unused coins are forfeited.

For authors: when readers spend coins on your work, we convert the coin value into earnings on the platform side, according to the royalty rates shown in your author dashboard at the time of the transaction.

Littory offers paid subscription plans that unlock features like the full catalogue, ad-free reading, or extra book-club seats. The plans available, their price, the billing period, and what they include are shown inside the app immediately before you confirm the purchase.

How auto-renewal works

• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period at the price displayed at purchase, unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date.
• Where the law requires it, your payment method will be charged within 24 hours of the period ending.
• You can cancel any time. On iOS, manage and cancel from Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions. On Android, manage and cancel from Google Play → Subscriptions. For web subscriptions billed by Paystack, cancel in Littory → Settings → Subscription.
• Cancelling stops the next renewal; access continues until the end of the current paid period.
• We don't pro-rate refunds for partial periods. If you believe you were charged in error and you bought directly from us (web), contact billing@littory.app within 14 days. If you bought through Apple or Google, refund requests go through them.
• Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you start a paid subscription, where applicable law allows.
• If we materially change a plan, we'll tell you before the next renewal so you can decide whether to continue.

Where you buy from affects who handles the payment, who can refund you, and which extra terms apply.

On iOS (App Store)

In-app purchases on iOS — coins, subscriptions, audiobook unlocks — are processed by Apple through In-App Purchase. They're governed by Apple's standard EULA and the Apple Media Services Terms. Refund requests for these purchases must be made to Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.

On Android (Google Play)

In-app purchases on Android are processed by Google through Google Play Billing. They're governed by the Google Play Terms of Service. Refund requests follow Google Play's refund policy at support.google.com/googleplay.

On the web

Web payments are processed by Paystack and Flutterwave. We never receive your full card number — only a token and the result of the transaction. Refund requests go to billing@littory.app.

Taxes

Prices may be displayed exclusive of VAT or other indirect taxes. Where we are required to collect tax, it is added at checkout. Where Apple or Google collects on our behalf, their displayed price already includes it.

Authors earn from direct sales (cash or coins), tips, and their share of subscription revenue allocated by reading activity. Your current royalty rate and earnings are visible in the author dashboard.

Withdrawals

• Withdrawals are processed via Paystack payouts to a Nigerian bank account or, where supported, an equivalent payout channel in your country.
• Paystack performs identity / KYC checks before the first payout. You are responsible for keeping that information accurate.
• We may hold a payout while we investigate suspected fraud, a chargeback storm, a copyright dispute, or a coin-laundering pattern. We'll tell you why.

Taxes are your problem

You are responsible for declaring and paying any income, VAT, or other taxes on the money you earn on Littory in the country where you live. We may report payments to tax authorities where the law requires it.

Book clubs, chapter chats, comments, profile posts, reviews — anything you post that other readers can see — is user-generated content. Littory hosts it but is not its author.

The rules of the room

• No harassment, threats, doxing, or targeted hate.
• Spoiler tags belong in chapter chats; don't ruin a book in a public space.
• Don't use book clubs for spam, MLM pitches, or off-platform solicitations.
• Club owners moderate their own clubs. Littory moderators may step in when policy is broken.

Reporting and blocking

Every book, chapter, comment, post, message, and user profile has a Report action and, for users, a Block action. Use them. We commit to:

• Review reports of objectionable user-generated content within 24 hours, every day of the year.
• Remove content that breaks our content policies and, where appropriate, suspend or terminate the offending account.
• Let you block any user; blocked users can no longer message you, reply to your comments, or follow your activity.

You may not use Littory — and you may not upload anything to Littory — that is, or that helps anyone else:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any sexual content involving anyone under 18. There are no second chances. Accounts are removed immediately and reported to the relevant authorities (including NCMEC where applicable).
• Content that infringes another person's copyright, trademark, or publicity rights — including AI outputs trained or generated in ways that breach a third party's rights.
• Content that incites violence, terrorism, or genocide; promotes self-harm or suicide; or constitutes targeted hate against a protected group.
• Defamatory content, threats, harassment, stalking, doxing, or "revenge" intimate imagery.
• Fraudulent, deceptive, or illegal content — scams, financial misinformation marketed as advice, pirated material, malware.
• Content that promotes the sale of regulated goods (firearms, recreational drugs, prescription medication) in violation of applicable law.
• Attempts to manipulate coin balances, exploit referral bonuses, or game payouts using bots, fake accounts, or repeated chargebacks.
• Reverse-engineering, decompiling, or otherwise probing the Service for vulnerabilities outside of a coordinated disclosure to security@littory.app.
• Anything prohibited by Nigerian law, the laws that apply where you live, or the platform rules of the App Store or Google Play.

If you believe a work on Littory infringes your copyright, send a notice to copyright@littory.app including:

1. Your name, address, and a working contact email.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you say has been infringed.
3. The Littory URL or book/chapter ID of the allegedly infringing material.
4. A statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that you are the rights holder (or authorised to act for them) and that the use is not authorised.

We review notices quickly, contact the author if appropriate, and take down material that we determine likely infringes. Repeat infringers lose their author status. If you are an author whose work has been taken down in error, send a counter-notice to the same address.

We may suspend or close your account, hold funds, remove content, or restrict features if we believe in good faith that you have broken these Terms, our content policies, or applicable law — or that doing so is necessary to protect other readers and authors.

You can close your account at any time using the steps in Your account & deleting it. When you do:

• Your profile is hidden and your reading data is anonymised.
• Books you published remain online only if you explicitly leave them up; otherwise they are unpublished.
• Earned but unwithdrawn royalties are paid out on the next normal payout cycle, subject to KYC and minimum-balance rules.
• Unused coins are forfeited.

If you downloaded the Littory app from the Apple App Store, the following terms apply in addition to everything above. Where there's a conflict, this section wins for the iOS app:

1. Parties. These Terms are between you and Littory only — not Apple Inc. ("Apple"). Apple is not responsible for the Littory app or its content.
2. Scope of licence. The licence we grant you for the iOS app is limited to a non-transferable licence to use the app on any Apple-branded products that you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
3. Maintenance and support. Littory — not Apple — is solely responsible for providing any maintenance and support services for the iOS app.
4. Warranty. Littory is solely responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed. If the iOS app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the iOS app to you. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the iOS app.
5. Product claims. Littory, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the iOS app or your possession and/or use of it, including: (i) product-liability claims; (ii) any claim that the iOS app fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation.
6. Intellectual property claims. In the event of any third-party claim that the iOS app or your possession and use of it infringes that third party's intellectual property rights, Littory (not Apple) will be solely responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement, and discharge of any such claim.
7. Legal compliance. 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.
8. Third-party beneficiary. Apple and Apple's subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms. Upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

If you downloaded the Littory app from Google Play, the following terms apply in addition to everything above:

• Your use of the app is also subject to the Google Play Terms of Service.
• Purchases of subscriptions, coins, or audiobook unlocks made through the Android app are processed by Google Play Billing and governed by the Google Play Terms of Service. Refund requests follow Google Play's refund policy.
• These Terms are between you and Littory only. Google is not a party to them and has no obligation to provide support or warranty for the app, except as required by law.

We work hard to make Littory feel solid. Even so, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We don't guarantee that the Service will always be uninterrupted, error-free, or that a specific book will remain available. Recommendations, search results, and reading suggestions are generated automatically and may be imperfect.

Anything an author publishes is their statement, not ours. We host a lot of voices; we are not the speaker.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Littory's total liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid Littory in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, and (b) ten thousand naira (₦10,000).

In no event will we be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including lost profits, lost royalties, or lost data — even if we have been advised of the possibility.

Nothing in these Terms limits a liability that cannot lawfully be limited — including, where it applies, your statutory rights as a consumer in Nigeria, the EU, or the UK.

If a third party brings a claim against Littory because of something you uploaded, posted, or did on the Service — a copyright lawsuit over a chapter you wrote, a defamation claim over a review you posted — you agree to defend us, pay our reasonable legal costs, and cover any damages or settlement.

We may take over the defence at our option, and you'll cooperate with us if we do. This section does not apply if and to the extent the law where you live makes it unenforceable against consumers.

The Service grows; the Terms grow with it. When we change them in a way that materially affects your rights — new fees, new restrictions, new rights for us — we'll notify you in-app or by email at least 14 days before the change takes effect.

Continued use of the Service after that date means you accept the new Terms. If you don't, close your account before the change date.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. If you live in the EU, the UK, or another jurisdiction with mandatory consumer-protection rules, you keep the rights those rules give you regardless of this clause.

We'll always try to resolve a dispute with you informally first. Write to legal@littory.app and we'll have a real conversation.

Disputes that can't be resolved informally are submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Lagos State, Nigeria, except where applicable law gives you a non-waivable right to bring a claim in your own country's courts.

Littory · Lagos, Nigeria. The fastest way to get a human is by email:

• General — hello@littory.app
• Billing — billing@littory.app
• Copyright — copyright@littory.app
• Trust & Safety — trust@littory.app
• Security — security@littory.app
• Legal — legal@littory.app