Terms of Service

Leafmines is a writing community platform for writers and readers to share stories, participate in writing contests, and connect with a creative community. These Terms of Service govern your use of leafmines.com and any related services we provide.

Throughout these terms, "Leafmines," "we," and "us" refer to the operator of leafmines.com. "You" refers to any person who accesses or uses the platform. By creating an account or using the site, you agree to these terms in full.

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account on Leafmines. If you are between 13 and 18, you represent that you have the permission of a parent or legal guardian to use the platform.

By registering, you confirm that you meet these age requirements. If we learn that an account belongs to a person under 13, we will delete it without notice.

You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for all activity that takes place under your account. Do not share your login credentials with others. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.

You agree to provide accurate information when registering and to keep it up to date. We may suspend or terminate accounts that provide false information or that are used in ways that violate these terms.

We reserve the right to reclaim usernames that are inactive, misleading, or in violation of our policies.

You retain full ownership of the creative work you write and post on Leafmines. We do not claim ownership of your stories, contest entries, or any other content you produce.

You are responsible for ensuring that you have the right to share anything you post — including the text of your stories, cover images, avatars, and any other uploaded files. Do not post content that infringes the copyright or other intellectual property rights of others.

You are also responsible for the accuracy of any statements you make on the platform, including in feedback and profile information.

By posting content on Leafmines, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, store, format, and distribute your content as part of operating the platform — for example, showing your story to readers, displaying your entry to contest judges, or featuring your work on the site.

This license does not transfer ownership of your work. It exists only to allow us to provide the service. It ends when you remove the content from the platform, subject to the storage and availability limitations described below.

We will not sell your creative work to third parties or use it in ways unrelated to operating Leafmines.

The following are not permitted on Leafmines under any circumstances:

• Any content that sexualizes minors, including fictional characters depicted as underage in sexual situations
• Content designed to harass, threaten, intimidate, or target specific individuals
• Hate speech directed at people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or similar characteristics
• Spam, malware, phishing, or any content intended to deceive or harm users
• Content that impersonates another person or entity in a misleading way
• Content you do not have the right to share, including pirated or plagiarized work
• Copying, reproducing, or redistributing another user's work — whether on Leafmines or anywhere else — without that author's permission
• Doxxing — publishing private or identifying information about others without their consent

Other users' work remains theirs. Much of the writing on Leafmines, including contest entries, is visible only to logged-in members. Being able to read another member's work does not give you any right to copy, republish, distribute, or submit it elsewhere. Plagiarising or redistributing another user's writing is one of the most serious violations of these terms, and we will terminate accounts for it.

Violations may result in immediate account suspension or termination without warning. We take these rules seriously and expect you to as well.

Writing contests on Leafmines are created and run by individual contest creators — other users of the platform. Leafmines provides the tools to host contests but is not the organizer of any specific contest.

Prize amounts, eligibility requirements, judging criteria, and winner selection are entirely the responsibility of the contest creator. Leafmines makes no guarantee that any prize will be awarded, fulfilled, or delivered. We do not verify that contest creators have the resources or intention to pay out prizes.

If you have a dispute about a prize, that dispute is between you and the contest creator. We encourage contest creators to be transparent about their prize terms before accepting entries, and we encourage entrants to review those terms carefully before submitting.

Contest creators are responsible for complying with any applicable laws governing competitions, sweepstakes, or prize-based contests in their jurisdiction.

Void where prohibited. Contests on Leafmines are open to eligible participants worldwide except where prohibited or restricted by law. Any contest or prize is void where prohibited, and you are responsible for ensuring that entering a contest is lawful where you live. Where a contest sets additional eligibility conditions — such as location, age, or limits on how a prize can be delivered — those conditions will be stated on the contest page.

Leafmines provides a direct messaging feature that allows registered users to communicate privately. By using this feature, you agree to the following:

• Prohibited content applies. The content restrictions in the Prohibited Content section of these Terms apply equally to messages. You may not use messaging to send spam, threats, harassment, unsolicited promotions, or illegal content.
• No guarantee of delivery or availability. Leafmines does not guarantee that messages will be delivered, that the messaging feature will be available at all times, or that message history will be retained indefinitely.
• Leafmines may review messages. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Leafmines may access message content to investigate reports of abuse or violations of these Terms.
• Do not share sensitive information. You should not share passwords, financial information, home addresses, government-issued ID numbers, or other sensitive personal data over messages. Leafmines cannot verify the identity of other users and is not responsible for any harm resulting from information you voluntarily share in messages.

You are solely responsible for the content of messages you send. Leafmines reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that misuse the messaging feature.

Some contests charge an entry fee. Entry fees are set by the contest creator and processed through Stripe, our third-party payment processor. By paying an entry fee, you also agree to Stripe's terms of service.

Entry fees are generally non-refundable once submitted. Exceptions may apply if the contest creator explicitly states a refund policy, or if the contest is cancelled by the creator before the submission window closes. Leafmines is not responsible for disputes about entry fees between entrants and contest creators.

We strongly recommend reviewing a contest's full terms and prize structure before paying an entry fee.

Leafmines offers an optional Premium subscription that unlocks additional features. Premium is currently billed at $5 per month or $40 per year, processed through Stripe.

Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period unless you cancel it. You can cancel at any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period — you retain Premium access until then.

We do not offer refunds on subscription payments. If you cancel mid-period, you will not receive a prorated refund for the remaining time.

We reserve the right to change subscription pricing. If we increase prices, we will provide at least 30 days' notice before the change affects your next billing date.

Leafmines includes a system for readers and contest participants to leave star ratings (1–10) and written feedback on stories and contest entries. This system is an important part of the writing community experience.

You agree to provide feedback honestly and in good faith. You may not coordinate with others to manipulate ratings — for example, organizing groups to mass-rate entries in order to skew contest results. Such behavior is a violation of these terms and may result in account termination.

Authors and entrants may receive feedback they disagree with or find harsh. Critical feedback, while sometimes unwelcome, is a normal part of a writing community. However, feedback that crosses into harassment or personal attacks is prohibited.

Leafmines hosts creative writing across a wide range of genres and styles. Some content on the platform may contain mature themes, graphic violence, dark subject matter, horror, explicit language, or other material that some readers find disturbing or upsetting.

Authors may attach content warnings to their posts at their own discretion, but we cannot guarantee that all content is labeled. By using the platform, you acknowledge that you may encounter content of this nature and accept that risk.

If you encounter content that violates our terms — rather than content that is simply difficult to read — you can flag it for review.

Some features on Leafmines are powered by third-party artificial intelligence services. These features are provided as-is, and we do not guarantee their availability, accuracy, or output quality. AI-generated results may vary and are not endorsed or verified by Leafmines.

By using AI-powered features, you acknowledge that limited content you submit through those features may be processed by third-party AI providers as described in our Privacy Policy.

Leafmines is a writing community platform, not an archival or storage service. We do not guarantee the permanent availability of any content posted to the site.

Your posts may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: removal for policy violations, account deletion (by you or by us), technical failures, data loss, service outages, or if Leafmines ceases to operate.

We strongly encourage you to maintain your own copies of your writing. Do not rely on Leafmines as your only backup. We are not liable for any loss of content, regardless of the cause.

We also cannot guarantee the security of content you post. While we take reasonable steps to protect the platform, no system is completely secure. Private or group-restricted posts may be exposed due to security vulnerabilities, and you should consider this risk when deciding what to post.

We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these terms or that we determine, in our sole discretion, is harmful to the community or the platform. We may also suspend or permanently terminate accounts for repeated or serious violations.

We try to apply these standards reasonably and consistently, but moderation decisions are ultimately final. We are not obligated to explain moderation decisions or to provide warnings before taking action in serious cases.

If you believe content has been removed in error, you may contact us. We will consider good-faith appeals, though we are not required to reinstate removed content.

We respect intellectual property rights and expect users to do the same. If you believe that content on Leafmines infringes your copyright, you may submit a takedown notice to us.

A valid takedown notice must include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work you believe has been infringed
• Identification of the infringing material and its location on the site
• Your name and contact information
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on their behalf

We will investigate valid notices and remove infringing content where appropriate. Users who repeatedly infringe the copyrights of others will have their accounts terminated.

Leafmines is provided "as is" and "as available." We make no warranties — express or implied — regarding the reliability, availability, security, or fitness of the platform for any particular purpose.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Leafmines is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to: loss of data, loss of earnings, unauthorized access to your content, service outages, or any harm arising from your use of the platform or content you encounter on it.

Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising from your use of Leafmines will not exceed the total amount you have paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim. If you have not paid us anything, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Leafmines and its operators from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to: your use of the platform; your content; your violation of these terms; or your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party.

We may update these terms at any time. When we do, we will post the revised terms here with a new effective date. For significant changes, we may also notify users via email or a notice on the site.

Your continued use of Leafmines after updated terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of the new terms. If you do not agree to the updated terms, you should stop using the platform and may delete your account.

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which Leafmines operates. Any disputes arising from these terms or your use of the platform will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that jurisdiction.

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.