Terms of Service

Welcome to Bookist! These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Bookist mobile application and website (collectively, the "Service"), operated by Bookist (Pty) Ltd ("Company," "we," "us," or "our").

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the Service.

You must be at least 13 years of age to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 13 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

If you are under 18 years of age, you represent that you have your parent's or guardian's permission to use the Service and that they have read and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.

To access certain features of the Service, you may be required to create an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update such information to keep it accurate, current, and complete.

You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your personal, non-commercial purposes.

This license does not include any right to:

• Modify, copy, or create derivative works based on the Service
• Sell, resell, or commercially exploit the Service
• Distribute, publicly perform, or publicly display the Service
• Reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code of the Service

The Service may allow you to submit, post, or share content, including but not limited to reviews, ratings, and reading lists ("User Content"). You retain ownership of your User Content, but by submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, and display such User Content in connection with operating and improving the Service.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to submit your User Content and that your User Content does not violate any third party's rights.

You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable laws
• Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the Service or any other systems or networks
• Harass, abuse, or harm another person or group
• Post or transmit any content that is defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable

Automated Access and Data Collection

You may not, directly or through automated means:

• Use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper, or other automated means to access the Service or collect content or data
• Circumvent, disable, or interfere with security-related features or robots.txt directives
• Harvest, collect, or store personal information about other users
• Copy, reproduce, download, or archive any substantial portion of the Service's content
• Access or search the Service through any automated means other than through our publicly supported interfaces

API and Data Restrictions

• Access or use any undocumented or private APIs
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service
• Create derivative works based on Service content without express written permission
• Sublicense, sell, resell, or exploit any content obtained from the Service

You may not use any content from the Service, including but not limited to book metadata, descriptions, user reviews, images, or any other materials, to:

• Train, develop, or improve any machine learning or artificial intelligence system, model, or algorithm
• Create training datasets for machine learning purposes
• Build, enhance, or supplement any database or dataset for AI/ML training
• Enable any third party to do any of the foregoing

This prohibition applies regardless of the method used to access or obtain the content, including manual collection, automated scraping, API access, or any other means.

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or content that are not owned or controlled by us. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services.

Book information, cover images, and other content displayed on the Service may be provided by third parties. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of such content.

The Service and its original content (excluding User Content), features, and functionality are and will remain the exclusive property of Bookist (Pty) Ltd and its licensors. The Service is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

"Bookist" and the Bookist logo are trademarks of Bookist (Pty) Ltd. You may not use these trademarks without our prior written consent.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bookist (Pty) Ltd, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including attorney's fees) arising from:

• Your use of and access to the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any third-party right, including any intellectual property or privacy right
• Any claim that your User Content caused damage to a third party

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL STACKMOUSE (PTY) LTD, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM:

• Your access to or use of or inability to access or use the Service
• Any conduct or content of any third party on the Service
• Any content obtained from the Service
• Unauthorized access, use, or alteration of your transmissions or content

Violations of the automated access, data use, and AI/ML training restrictions in these Terms may result in:

• Immediate termination of your account
• Civil liability for damages, including statutory damages where applicable
• Injunctive relief
• Recovery of attorneys' fees and costs

We may terminate or suspend your account and access to the Service immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if you breach these Terms.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service will immediately cease. All provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Republic of South Africa.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable while preserving its original intent.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Bookist (Pty) Ltd regarding your use of the Service and supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements, proposals, or representations, written or oral, concerning the Service.

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of such right or provision. The waiver of any such right or provision will be effective only if in writing and signed by a duly authorized representative of Bookist (Pty) Ltd.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Bookist (Pty) Ltd
Email: support@bookist.app

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material, we will provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new terms taking effect by posting the updated Terms on the Service with a new "Last Updated" date.

Your continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.