Terms of Service

HotNovel Services ("HotNovel" or "Services") are provided by ZHIKU (HONG KONG) TECHNOLOGY LIMITED. ("We," "Our") to you ("User" or "Users").

Welcome to HotNovel! Make yourself comfortable and have fun while you're here, but please play by our rules. In other words, if you use any of our Services, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy.

Your Acceptance

1. By using the HotNovel mobile app, website, or any other HotNovel product or service provided to you by HotNovel (collectively the "Services"), you signify your agreement to (1) these terms and conditions (the "Terms of Service") and (2) our Privacy Policy
2. Although we will attempt to notify you when major changes are made to these Terms of Service, you should periodically review the most up to date version. We may, in its sole discretion, modify or revise these Terms of Service at any time. Modifications and revisions will take effect 5 days after they have been posted. Nothing in these Terms of Service shall be deemed to confer any third party rights.
3. If you are using our Services on behalf of a business, that business accepts these terms.

Ability to Accept Terms of Service

1. You affirm that you are 13 years of age or older, and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms of Service, and to abide by and comply with these Terms of Service.
2. In any case, you affirm that you are 13 or older, as the Service is not intended for people under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the Service. There are tons of other fantastic websites for you.

Service

HotNovel operates and maintains an online literature platform which provides online reading services, literature content generation services, and comics content distribution services.

1. These Terms of Service apply to all users of HotNovel 's Services, including users who are also contributors of Content to the Service. "Content" includes the text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, audiovisual combinations, interactive features and other Content you may view on, access through, or contribute to the Service. The Service includes all aspects of any HotNovel product, including but not limited to software and services offered via app, website, Share, Subscribe, RSS and Embed features, Dashboard and other applications.
2. The Service may contain links to third party websites that are not owned or controlled by HotNovel. HotNovel has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites. In addition, HotNovel will not and cannot censor or edit the content of any third-party site. By using the Service, you expressly relieve HotNovel from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website.

HotNovel User Accounts

In order to access some features of HotNovel Services, you will have to create a HotNovel user account. You may never use another's user account without permission. When you register for an account, you may be required to provide us with some information about yourself, such as your email address or other contact information. You agree that the information you provide to us is accurate and that you will keep it accurate and up-to-date at all times. When you register, you will be asked to provide a password. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, and you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account. If you have reason to believe that your account is no longer secure, then you must immediately notify us at bestreadads@gmail.com.

General Use of the Service

HotNovel hereby grants you permission to access and use their Services as set forth in these Terms of Service, provided that:

1. You do not alter or modify any part of the Service.
2. If you use the Embed feature on your website, you may not modify, build upon, or block any portion or functionality of the Embed feature, including but not limited to links back to the HotNovel website.
3. You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers," that accesses the Service in a manner that attempts to forge the presence of a user accessing the site for the purpose of artificially increasing "pageviews," "subscribers," or "likes" or other elements that contribute to a series popularity or advancement within any programs that HotNovel offers to users.
4. Notwithstanding the foregoing, HotNovel grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy Content from the site for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the Content, but not caches or archives of such Content. HotNovel reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.
5. You agree not to collect or harvest any personally identifiable information, including user account names, from the Service, nor to use the communication systems provided by the Service (e.g., comments, posting) for any commercial solicitation purposes.
6. In your use of the Service, you will comply with all applicable laws.
7. HotNovel reserves the right to discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time.

User Content and Conduct

1. As a HotNovel product account holder you may submit Content to certain HotNovel Services, including original literary works (such as fictions, short stories, essays, etc.), suggestions, messages, comments, reviews, photos, video, images, folders, data, text, and other types of works (“User Content”, or “Content”) . You understand that HotNovel does not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any Content you submit.
2. You shall be solely responsible for your own Content and the consequences of submitting and publishing your Content on a HotNovel Service.
3. You hereby affirm, represent, and warrant that you (1) own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to publish Content you submit and publish through the Service; and (2) all such Content are original works of authorship on your part and have not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work and do not violate, misappropriate or infringe any copyright, trademark or other proprietary right of any other person or entity.
4. You further agree that Content you submit to a HotNovel Service will not contain third party copyrighted material, or material that is subject to other third party proprietary rights, unless you have permission from the rightful owner of the Content or you are otherwise legally entitled to post the Content and to grant HotNovel all of the license rights granted herein.
5. You further agree that you will not submit to the Service any Content or other material that is contrary to the HotNovel Content and Community Guidelines, which may be updated from time to time, or contrary to applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations.
6. HotNovel does not endorse any Content submitted to the Service by any user or other licensor, or any opinion, recommendation, or advice expressed therein, and HotNovel expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with Content. HotNovel does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights on the Service, and HotNovel will remove all Content if properly notified that such Content infringes on another's intellectual property rights. HotNovel reserves the right to remove Content without prior notice.

Licensing

HotNovel does not claim ownership rights of your Content. Your Content belongs to you and HotNovel does not restrict you from using your Content for any purpose unless stated in additional terms for other programs or offerings HotNovel may provide.

1. For the purpose of enabling HotNovel to make your Content available on our platforms, you hereby grant HotNovel an ongoing, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license and right to utilize Content that you publish through our platforms for the commercial purpose of digital publication on our website, through mobile devices, through digital sharing methods and through other digital means currently existing or not yet invented.
2. If you agreed to participate in one or more of HotNovel's Programs defined herein the document, you may be compensated for Content published using one or more of our platforms. HotNovel does not claim ownership right in your Content when you participate in our HotNovel Programs.
3. In order to promote, publicize, market and further the success of your Content and HotNovel as a whole, you hereby grant HotNovel an ongoing, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license and right, but not obligation, to utilize Content that you publish on a HotNovel platform, or give to HotNovel, and your user persona including, but not limited to, your name, likeness, and biographical information for promotional purposes. Examples include, but are not limited to, sending samples of Content for use by the press, posting Content to social channels, or printing samples of Content for distribution at conventions.

HotNovel Programs

1. Ad Revenue Program

   When users visit our website, direct advertisers or third-party advertising companies are used to serve ads. Except for your name, address, email address or telephone number, these companies may use information about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

2. Virtual Currency and Purchases

   Certain features of the Service may require you to pay fees. Before you pay any fees, you will have an opportunity to review and accept the fees that you will be charged. All fees are are non-refundable. Viewing content on HotNovel's platform(s) may give you an opportunity to visit an in-app or online store. By accessing these stores, you may have the opportunity to use an online "currency" to license various virtual goods. You may also be awarded virtual Coins or other currencies to use for virtual "shopping." These currencies do not have a "real world" value, but may be exchanged for designated items. Some items have expiration dates while others do not. Items obtained by using virtual currencies will be added in your account until before the item's expiration date, your account's expiration or termination date, or such a time when the platform is discontinued. REGARDLESS OF THE CONSIDERATION OFFERED OR PAID IN EXCHANGE FOR THE VIRTUAL CURRENCY, YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY OWNERSHIP/ RIGHTS IN THE ITEMS OBTAINED WITH THE VIRTUAL CURRENCY. HotNovel does not have any liabilities for loss of your items from your account, but will use reasonable efforts to replace such items under certain circumstances in our reasonable discretion. We have no responsibility to and will not reimburse you for any item or any experience lost due to your violations of this and any other rules, policies, notices and/or agreements.

   HotNovel reserves the right to determine pricing for the Service, including the right to modify the pricing of subscriptions to the Service at any time on a forward-going basis. We encourage you to check our website periodically for current pricing information. HotNovel, at its sole discretion, may make promotional offers with different features and different pricing to certain HotNovel customers. These promotional offers, depending on your eligibility, may apply to you.

   You agree that you cannot and have no right to sell or otherwise transfer any of the items, virtual currency or any other content or information included in any HotNovel platform, in whole or in part, to any third person or entity whatsoever in return for anything of value (including "real" money) or otherwise. You further agree that any virtual currency you receive on any of HotNovel's platforms is not "real" currency or any type of real world financial instrument. Furthermore, it is not redeemable for any sum of money from HotNovel at any time.

   HotNovel will charge the payment method you specify at the time of purchase. You authorize HotNovel to charge to that payment method all sums for orders that you make and any level of Service you select as described in these Terms or published by the Company. If you pay any fees with a credit card, HotNovel may seek pre-authorization of your credit card account prior to your purchase to verify that the credit card is valid and has the necessary funds or credit available to cover your purchase. Payment processing services are provided by the third-party service through which the purchase is made (e.g., Apple In-App Purchases, Google Play, PayPal).


3. Subscription and Auto-Renewals.

   The Service may allow you to subscribe to a plan (“Subscription Plan”) for which you will be periodically billed the amounts indicated to you at the time of your subscription, as may be updated from time to time by HotNovel, on a forward-going basis, upon notice to you (the “Subscription Fee”). When you subscribe to a Subscription Plan, the Subscription Plan will be billed on a periodic basis. You hereby authorize HotNovel to charge you on a going-forward basis and until cancellation of either the Subscription Plan or your account. The “Subscription Billing Date” is the day of the month when you sign up to your Subscription Plan. Your account will be charged automatically on the Subscription Billing Date all applicable fees and taxes for the next subscription period.

   BY PURCHASING A SUBSCRIPTION, YOU AGREE THAT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW FOR SUCCESSIVE PERIODS UNLESS YOU CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION OR ACCOUNT AS FURTHER DESCRIBED BELOW.

   YOU MAY CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION PLAN AT ANY TIME, IN WHICH CASE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL EXPIRE AT THE END OF THAT SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD (AND UPON WHICH EXPIRATION YOUR SUBCRIPTION WILL NO LONGER BE RENEWED OR CHARGED). You must cancel your Subscription Plan before it renews in order to avoid billing of the next periodic Subscription Fee to your account. If you cancel your Subscription Plan within the first three (3) days after you initially sign up for your Subscription Plan, then we will provide you with a full refund of the Subscription Fee, but your subscription will expire immediately after that 3-day period ends. We will bill the periodic Subscription Fee to the payment method you provide to us during registration (or to a different payment method if you change your payment information).

   You may cancel your Subscription Plan [(i)For Apple phones, users can go to Settings>Itunes & App Store. Click Apple ID and choose Apple ID. They can enter their User Settings page to click, Subscription. Choose HotNovel to cancel the subscription. (ii)For Android Phones, users can go to the corresponding Google Play store choice to cancel the subscription.

Termination

1. You have the right to opt out of the Services at anytime by removing your Content or by sending a written notification with the subject line "Opt Out Notice" to HotNovel via email.
2. Users, who violate these Terms of Service, tamper with the operation of any program, or engage in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to HotNovel, the program or any other users (in each case as determined by HotNovel's sole discretion) are subject to suspension or cancellation of their user account(s) along with their ability to submit requests for payment.
3. HotNovel will terminate a user's access to the Service if, under appropriate circumstances, the user is determined to be a repeat infringer.
4. HotNovel reserves the right to decide whether Content violates these Terms of Service for reasons other than copyright infringement, such as, but not limited to, pornography, obscenity, or excessive length. HotNovel may at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion, remove such Content and/or terminate a user's account for submitting such material in violation of these Terms of Service.

Copyright Violations

1. If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any Content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing the following information email:
   1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
   2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
   3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
   4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail;
   5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
   6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

   You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section your DMCA notice may not be valid.

2. Counter-Notice. If you believe that your Content that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have the authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the material in your Content, you may send a counter-notice by either of the methods outlined containing the following information:
   1. Your physical or electronic signature;
   2. Identification of the Content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the Content appeared before it was removed or disabled;
   3. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the Content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the Content; and
   4. Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court in San Francisco, California, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

   If a counter-notice is received by HotNovel, we may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed Content or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the Content provider, member or user, the removed Content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at our sole discretion.

Warranties and Disclaimers

1. Other than as expressly set out in these terms or in additional terms, HotNovel will not make any specific promises about the Service. For example, HotNovel will not make any commitments about the content within the service, the specific function of the Service or their reliability, availability, or ability to meet your needs. HotNovel provides the Service AS IS.
2. Some jurisdictions provide for certain warranties, like the implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties.

Indemnification

You release HotNovel and any of its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, representatives, agents and agencies (collectively, the "Released Parties") from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with any HotNovel Service (including, without limitation, participation in the membership) or delivery, misdelivery, acceptance, possession, use of or inability to use any benefits (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory. Some jurisdictions do not allow (i) the exclusion of implied warranties on applicable statutory rights; and in the case of the countries of the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain, (ii) limitations on a contracting party's liability with regards to damages or death caused due to its negligence or intentional misconduct, so the above exclusions and limitations may not apply in some cases.

Limitation of Liability

1. The Service will be governed, construed and interpreted under the laws of the China. Members agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and by the decisions of HotNovel, which are final. HotNovel reserves the right to suspend or cancel user accounts and any benefits should viruses, bugs, unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond our control affect the administration, security or proper handling of the benefits or HotNovel otherwise becomes (as determined in its sole discretion) incapable of running the program as planned. In case of bankruptcy, HotNovel reserves the right to deny all benefits and obligations that it may have.
2. When permitted by law, HotNovel will not be responsible for lost profits, revenues, or data, financial losses or indirect, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages.
3. To the extent permitted by law, the total liability of HotNovel, for any claim under these terms, including any implied warranties, is limited to the amount you paid us to use the Service (or, if we choose, to supply you the Service again).
4. In all cases, HotNovel will not be liable for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable.
5. In case of any conflict or inconsistency, further agreements between you and HotNovel supersede these Terms of Service.