Terms of Service

1.The Service

Story Beneath the Story provides AI-assisted narrative and manuscript-development analysis. The Service may evaluate events, meaning, beliefs, character identity, behavior, collision, mirror relationships, choices, reconstruction, character architecture, manuscript evidence, and potential revision opportunities.

The Service may produce numerical scores, development findings, an Executive Summary, revision priorities, optional revision approaches, and other editorial observations.

2.Your Manuscript Remains Yours

You retain ownership of your manuscript.

Story Beneath the Story does not acquire ownership of your screenplay, novel, manuscript, characters, plot, dialogue, or other original creative material merely because you upload it to the Service.

By uploading a manuscript, you grant Story Beneath the Story and the service providers necessary to operate the Service a limited, non-exclusive right to process, transmit, analyze, and reproduce portions of the manuscript solely as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, maintain, and support the Service and your analysis.

This permission does not transfer ownership of your manuscript to Story Beneath the Story.

3.Your Right to Upload the Work

You represent that you own the manuscript or otherwise possess sufficient rights and authorization to submit it for processing and analysis.

You may not knowingly upload material in violation of another person’s copyright, confidentiality obligations, privacy rights, contractual rights, or other legal rights.

4.AI Processing

You understand that the Service uses artificial intelligence and third-party AI infrastructure to analyze submitted manuscripts.

Manuscript text may be transmitted to third-party AI infrastructure for processing as described in our Privacy Policy.

AI-generated analysis is probabilistic and interpretive. Different readers, editors, writers, producers, publishers, representatives, or AI systems may reach different conclusions about the same work.

5.Editorial Guidance — Not a Guarantee

Story Beneath the Story provides developmental and editorial guidance.

Scores, findings, diagnoses, character interpretations, revision priorities, market-readiness observations, and optional revision approaches represent analytical assessments, not objective determinations of artistic quality or commercial value.

We do not guarantee representation, publication, financing, production, distribution, optioning or sale, contest placement, awards, commercial success, audience reception, critical reception, or any particular creative or financial outcome.

You remain responsible for all creative decisions concerning your manuscript.

6.Optional Revision Approaches

Where the Service suggests a scene change, structural modification, character adjustment, or other revision approach, that suggestion is an optional development approach, not a required rewrite.

You decide whether and how to revise your work.

7.Not Legal Advice

The Service does not provide legal advice.

Analysis should not be relied upon to determine copyright ownership, infringement, defamation, privacy rights, clearance, chain of title, contractual rights, fair use, trademark rights, or any other legal issue.

Consult qualified legal counsel when legal advice is required.

8.Purchase and Analysis Credit

A Complete Manuscript Analysis purchase currently provides the number of analyses specified at checkout.

An analysis credit is associated with the verified purchase and is consumed according to the Service’s purchase and analysis workflow.

You are responsible for providing accurate purchase information when accessing the Service.

9.Refund Policy

You may request a full refund before manuscript analysis begins.

Once manuscript analysis has begun, the purchase is generally non-refundable, because computational and processing resources are incurred in providing the Service.

An exception may be made where a material technical failure prevents us from providing the purchased analysis or a refund is required by applicable law.

A disagreement with a score, interpretation, development finding, or optional revision recommendation does not by itself constitute a technical failure.

Refund requests should be sent to reports@thestorybeneath.com.

Any refund processed through the payment provider may result in revocation of access to the corresponding analysis and stored report.

10.Completed Reports

When an analysis is successfully completed, the Service may store the resulting report so that you can return to it later.

The report may include selected verbatim manuscript excerpts as evidence supporting the analysis.

A downloadable PDF may be generated from the stored report.

We may modify formatting, presentation, report organization, or delivery methods over time without changing the substantive underlying analysis.

11.Your Use of Your Report

Subject to these Terms, you may use your individual completed analysis report for your own personal, creative, professional, educational, development, pitching, revision, or consultation purposes.

You may share your report with collaborators, representatives, editors, producers, publishers, consultants, or others involved with your work.

12.Story Beneath the Story Intellectual Property

Your manuscript remains yours.

However, the Service itself and its underlying materials—including Story Beneath the Story™ branding, Narrative Reconstruction Method™, nine-stage analytical framework, methodology, scoring framework, report architecture and presentation, software, prompts and analytical systems, website content and design, and proprietary processes—are owned by or licensed to Story Beneath the Story and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Purchasing an analysis does not transfer ownership of these systems or methodologies to you.

You may not copy, reverse engineer, reproduce, sell, license, or commercially exploit the underlying Service, methodology, prompts, software, or proprietary framework except as permitted by law or with our written authorization.

13.Acceptable Use

You may not use the Service to interfere with or disrupt the Service; attempt unauthorized access to another customer’s report or purchase; probe or circumvent security measures; misuse access codes or secure links; upload content you do not have authority to process; introduce malicious software; use automated means to abuse or overload the Service; or use the Service for unlawful purposes.

14.Availability and Technical Limitations

We aim to provide a reliable Service, but uninterrupted operation cannot be guaranteed.

Manuscript size, file format, browser compatibility, model availability, third-party infrastructure, network conditions, and other technical factors may affect processing.

We may establish or change reasonable file-size, manuscript-length, processing, or usage limits.

15.Third-Party Services

The Service depends on third-party services, including hosting/infrastructure providers, artificial-intelligence providers, and payment services.

Third-party outages, changes, restrictions, or failures may affect Service availability.

Your use of certain third-party services may also be subject to their applicable terms and privacy policies.

16.Disclaimer of Warranties

To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that every analysis, interpretation, quotation locator, score, recommendation, or other output will be accurate or appropriate for every manuscript.

Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

17.Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Story Beneath the Story and its owners, affiliates, contractors, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or relating to the Service, including loss of opportunity, profits, revenue, reputation, or anticipated commercial success.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, our aggregate liability arising from a particular purchase or use of the Service will not exceed the amount you paid to Story Beneath the Story for the Service giving rise to the claim.

These limitations do not apply where liability cannot legally be limited or excluded.

18.Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Story Beneath the Story and its owners and service providers from claims arising from material you upload in violation of these Terms, your violation of another person’s rights, or your unlawful misuse of the Service.

19.Termination and Access

We may suspend or terminate access where reasonably necessary because of fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, security concerns, chargebacks/refunds, violation of these Terms, or legal requirements.

Refunded or revoked purchases may lose access to associated analyses and stored reports.

20.Changes to the Service or Terms

We may modify the Service and these Terms over time.

Material changes will be reflected by posting updated Terms with a new effective date.

Your continued use of the Service after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by applicable law.

21.Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable consumer law requires otherwise.

22.Contact

Story Beneath the Story™

reports@thestorybeneath.com