Terms & Conditions

Last updated: July 18, 2026

Poetic exists to bring the world’s greatest public-domain writing into your day. These terms keep that simple and fair for everyone, and we have written them as plainly and warmly as we can.

These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of the Poetic iOS application and this website (together, “Poetic”), provided by Poetic Studios LLC (“we,” “us”). Please read them carefully. If you do not agree, please do not use Poetic.

Eligibility

Poetic is intended for users who are at least 13 years old. By using Poetic, you represent that you are at least 13, that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms, and that if you are under the age of majority where you live, you are using Poetic with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf. If you use Poetic on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to accept these Terms for it.

Licence to use Poetic

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use Poetic for your own personal, non-commercial enjoyment, in accordance with these Terms and with the App Store’s Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the standard Apple EULA), which also applies to your use of the app.

Public-domain works, and how to raise a concern

All literary works that Poetic surfaces are drawn from the public domain and are, to the best of our knowledge and diligence, not protected by copyright in the United States. Poetic is offered in the United States, and public-domain status is determined under United States copyright law. Authorship, titles, and attributions are provided for educational and cultural context.

We take this seriously and curate carefully. If you are a rights-holder or anyone who believes that a particular work included in Poetic is not in fact in the public domain in the United States, or is included in error, we ask that you contact us first, by email, to request its removal before taking any other action. Write to poeticstudios.ops@gmail.com with enough detail to identify the work, and we will review your request promptly and, where appropriate, remove the work. Our aim is always to resolve such matters quickly and in good faith.

We research public-domain status carefully, but no one is infallible. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Poetic Studios LLC is not liable for including a work we believed in good faith to be in the public domain, even if it later turns out to be protected by copyright, misattributed, or included in error. If that ever happens, the simplest path is the removal process above: email us, and we will review it promptly and, where appropriate, take the work down. By using Poetic, you agree to resolve any such concern this way rather than holding us liable for the content of public-domain works.

(If and when Poetic becomes available outside the United States, we will revisit and update these terms to reflect the copyright laws of those jurisdictions.)

Poetic Premium subscriptions

Poetic is free to use. Certain features are available through Poetic Premium, an auto-renewing subscription, which may include a free trial:

• Billing. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. All payments are processed by Apple through the App Store; we do not handle your payment details.
• Auto-renewal. The subscription renews automatically for the same period and price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the period.
• Free trial. If a free trial is offered and you do not cancel before it ends, it converts automatically into a paid subscription. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable.
• Managing and cancelling. You can manage or cancel your subscription any time in your Apple ID account settings. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
• Refunds.Because Apple handles all payments, refunds are managed by Apple rather than by us, and are subject to Apple’s policies. If you would like a refund, you can request one directly from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. We are always glad to help point you in the right direction, though we are not able to issue App Store refunds ourselves.

Prices, trial lengths, and premium features may change. Where required, we will give notice of changes, and price changes will not apply to a billing period already paid for.

Your own writing

Poetic may let you write, annotate, or save your own words. Anything you create remains yours. It is stored in your own private iCloud (see our Privacy Policy) and we do not claim ownership of it. You are responsible for your own content and for keeping your own copies where it matters to you.

Submissions and feedback

Poetic may invite you to send us suggestions, feedback, or works you would like us to consider adding, such as a quote or passage that moved you (“Submissions”). You never have to send us anything. If you do, you agree that your Submission is non-confidential, and you grant Poetic Studios LLC a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid, transferable, and sub-licensable right and licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and incorporate the Submission into Poetic and our other products and materials, with no obligation to compensate or credit you. You represent that you own or otherwise have the right to send each Submission, that it does not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, and that, for any literary work, it is to your knowledge in the public domain in the United States. We are under no obligation to use, keep confidential, or return any Submission.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Copy, resell, redistribute, or commercially exploit the Poetic app, its design, or its curated collection as a whole.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the app’s source code or database, except as permitted by law.
• Use Poetic to break the law or infringe the rights of others.
• Interfere with or disrupt the app’s operation or security.

Note that the underlying public-domain texts are free for anyone to use; this restriction concerns the Poetic app, its curation, editing, design, and software.

Our intellectual property

While the literary texts are in the public domain, the Poetic name and logo, the app and website design, the software, the curation and organisation of the collection, the artwork and themes, and the editorial presentation are the property of Poetic Studios LLC and are protected by law. These Terms do not grant you any right to them beyond using the app as intended.

The Apple App Store

You obtain Poetic through the Apple App Store, and you acknowledge that:

• These Terms are between you and Poetic Studios LLC only, and not with Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Apple is not responsible for Poetic or its content.
• Your licence to use Poetic is a limited, non-transferable licence to use it on any Apple-branded device you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the App Store Terms of Service, except that Poetic may also be accessed by other accounts through Family Sharing or volume purchasing where that is enabled.
• Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for Poetic. Any help you need comes from us, not Apple, and you can reach us any time at poeticstudios.ops@gmail.com.
• To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to Poetic. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price, if any; beyond that, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever.
• Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or a third party relating to Poetic or your use of it, including product-liability claims, any claim that Poetic fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, claims under consumer-protection or similar laws, and intellectual-property claims. Such claims are governed solely by these Terms and applicable law.
• If a third party claims that Poetic or your use of it infringes their intellectual property, Poetic Studios LLC, and not Apple, is solely responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement, and discharge of that claim to the extent required by these Terms.
• You confirm that you are not located in, or a national of, any country subject to U.S. Government sanctions, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of restricted or prohibited parties. (This is a standard requirement of U.S. export law.)
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and upon your acceptance Apple has the right to enforce these Terms against you.

Disclaimers

We want Poetic to feel effortless, and we work hard at that, though we cannot promise perfection. Poetic is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app will always be uninterrupted or error-free, or that every attribution or public-domain determination is free of error, which is exactly why we welcome the good-faith removal process described above.

A note on the writing

The words in Poetic are works of literature, gathered to move and comfort you. As meaningful as they are, they are not advice, whether medical, psychological, legal, financial, or professional, and they are not a substitute for the help of a qualified person. Please enjoy them as literature, and treat any decision you make as your own.

Limitation of liability

We pour real care into Poetic, and we also have to be realistic. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Poetic Studios LLC and its owners, members, employees, and contributors will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, for lost data, or for any harm, decision, or action taken in reliance on any writing, quote, attribution, theme, or other content in Poetic, arising from or relating to your use of, or inability to use, the app.

Where some liability cannot be excluded, our total responsibility to you for everything combined is limited to the greater of what you paid us, if any, in the twelve months before the claim, or fifty U.S. dollars. Some places do not allow certain limitations, and there these limits apply only as far as the law allows.

Indemnity

This one is simple: if someone brings a claim against us because of how you used Poetic, or because you broke these Terms or the law, you agree to cover it. More formally, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Poetic Studios LLC and its owners, members, employees, and contributors from any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to your use or misuse of Poetic, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of anyone else.

If a concern ever comes up

We would love the chance to help before anything else. If something ever does not feel right, please reach out and email us first at poeticstudios.ops@gmail.com, and give us thirty days to listen and make it right. Almost anything can be settled gently this way, one person to another, in good faith.

In the rare case that talking it through does not resolve things, here is how a dispute is handled, so it stays simple and predictable for both of us. You and Poetic Studios LLC agree that any dispute relating to Poetic or these Terms will be settled by neutral, individual arbitration rather than in court, and that each of us brings any claim only on our own behalf, and not as part of a class or group action. Either of us may still choose small-claims court instead for an individual claim, and by choosing arbitration we each set aside a trial by jury.

If you would rather not agree to that, it is completely fine: simply email us within thirty days of first accepting these Terms at poeticstudios.ops@gmail.com, and the courts described under “Governing law” below will apply to you instead. If any part of this paragraph cannot be enforced, the rest still stands, except that the agreement to bring claims only individually works as a whole: if it cannot apply, then this arbitration arrangement simply will not either.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland and of the United States, without regard to Maryland’s conflict-of-laws principles. For anything not resolved by the steps above, you and Poetic Studios LLC agree to the state and federal courts located in Maryland, to whose jurisdiction you consent. None of this takes away any consumer rights you may have that cannot be waived under the law where you live.

Changes to the app

Poetic is offered on an ongoing basis, and we may add, change, suspend, or remove features, content, or the app itself at any time, with or without notice. We are not liable to you for any change to, or discontinuation of, Poetic.

Termination

These Terms apply for as long as you use Poetic. We may suspend or end your access to Poetic at any time if you breach these Terms or misuse the app, and you may stop using Poetic at any time by deleting it. Provisions that by their nature should survive, including those on public-domain works, submissions, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, how disputes are handled, governing law, and these general provisions, survive any termination.

General

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and the standard Apple EULA, are the entire agreement between you and Poetic Studios LLC regarding Poetic, and replace any prior agreement on that subject.
• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will stay in full force.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our consent. We may assign them, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets.
• No agency. These Terms do not create any partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship between you and us.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date above. Continued use of Poetic after changes take effect means you accept the revised Terms.

Contact

Questions about these Terms, or a content-removal request? Email poeticstudios.ops@gmail.com. We read every message and respond in good faith.