Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and Wattiya ("Wattiya," "we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Platform or Services, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree, do not use the Platform. If you are using the Services on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Definitions

• Platform means the Wattiya website, apps, and related domains, pages, features, and tools.
• Services means the Platform and all services offered through it, including story hosting, reading, commenting, profiles, messaging, moderation tools, analytics, and monetization features.
• User Content means any content a user submits, uploads, imports, posts, transmits, or makes available through the Services, including stories, chapters, drafts, titles, cover images, images within chapters, comments, stickers/GIFs, messages, profile information, and metadata.
• Creator means a user who uploads or publishes User Content.
• Reader means a user who reads, views, or interacts with User Content.
• Mature Content (or Explicit Content) means User Content intended for adults and/or containing explicit sexual content, graphic violence, or other adult themes as determined by Wattiya in its reasonable judgment.
• Earnings means amounts that may become payable to a user under a Wattiya monetization program, if any, after deductions, adjustments, and eligibility checks.
• Wallet/Payout means any balance display, payout method, threshold, schedule, or process used to pay Earnings.
• Third-Party Services means services provided by third parties integrated with Wattiya, such as payment processors, hosting, analytics, identity verification, content delivery networks, and customer support tools.
• Notice means communications we send to you, including via email, in-app messages, or posting updates on the Platform.

3. Eligibility & Age Requirements

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account or use the Services. You must provide truthful age information and keep it up to date. We may use age-gating, restrict features, or require additional verification.

If Mature/Explicit Content is available on the Platform, you must be at least 18 years old to access it. We may restrict or remove access to Mature/Explicit Content based on your age, location, account settings, or other risk signals.

If we reasonably believe you are underage, have misrepresented your age, or are using the Platform to access age-restricted content, we may suspend or terminate your account and remove related content.

4. Accounts & Security

You are responsible for your account, credentials, and all activity on your account. Keep your password secure and notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.

• Do not share, sell, transfer, or allow others to use your account.
• Do not impersonate any person or entity, including other users or Wattiya staff.
• Do not create accounts in an automated way, or use bots to register or operate accounts.
• Do not engage in fraud, deceptive behavior, or payment abuse.
• We may suspend accounts for suspicious activity, security concerns, or violations while we investigate.

5. Services, Features, and Availability

Wattiya provides tools to publish and read stories and chapters, interact through comments (including stickers/GIFs where available), maintain profiles, message other users (where available), and discover content. We may add, remove, or modify features at any time.

We do not guarantee that the Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. Maintenance, updates, outages, and changes may occur.

We are not responsible for failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, network outages, government actions, or third-party service failures.

6. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information are described in our Privacy Policy. By using the Services, you agree that we can collect and use information as described there.

7. User Content Ownership & License

You retain ownership of your User Content. Wattiya does not claim ownership of your stories, text, images, or other creative work.

By posting, uploading, importing, publishing, or otherwise making User Content available through the Services, you grant Wattiya a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to:

• host, store, reproduce, and distribute your User Content
• display and perform your User Content to users and the public as you choose through your settings
• adapt, reformat, and create technical modifications so it works on different devices, browsers, and formats
• translate interface elements related to your User Content for accessibility and user experience
• create excerpts, thumbnails, previews, cover treatments, or short promotional snippets to promote the Platform and the specific content

Sublicensing is limited to what we need to operate the Services (for example, to hosting, CDN, analytics, moderation, and customer-support providers). Transferability is limited to transfers in connection with operating, maintaining, improving, or transferring the Services (for example, in a merger, acquisition, or asset transfer).

This license continues only while your User Content is hosted on the Services, plus a reasonable period for backups, caching, and technical or legal retention. If you delete User Content, the license ends after deletion is processed, except for (a) copies kept for backup and recovery for a reasonable time, (b) content you shared with others who have not deleted it (for example, quotes in comments), and (c) retention required by law, safety, dispute resolution, or enforcement.

8. Your Representations and Warranties

You represent and warrant that:

• You own your User Content or you have all rights, licenses, consents, and permissions needed to post it (including text, images, cover art, and embedded media).
• Your User Content and your use of the Services do not violate any law or the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or contractual obligations.
• You will not post plagiarized works, repost stories without permission, or upload stolen, scraped, or improperly sourced content (including "AI-copied" or substantially derivative content that infringes others' rights).
• Any statements you make about ownership, permissions, or age are truthful and not misleading.

If you use AI tools to assist in creating content, you are responsible for ensuring the output does not infringe third-party rights and complies with these Terms.

9. Story Importing / External Sources

Wattiya may provide tools to import stories or chapters from external sources (such as Wattpad or other platforms). Importing is allowed only if you are the original rights holder of the content or you have written permission from the rights holder that specifically allows import and publication on Wattiya.

• During import, you may be required to attest that you own the content or have written permission.
• We may request proof of ownership or permissions at any time.
• If we receive a credible complaint, we may remove the imported content immediately and take action against the account, including suspension or termination.

To report an unauthorized import, contact us at copyright@wattiya.com with details and links.

10. Copyright & Notice-and-Takedown (DMCA-Style Policy)

We respect intellectual property rights and expect users to do the same. We may remove User Content without notice if we believe it violates law or these Terms, or to comply with legal requests.

If you believe content on Wattiya infringes your copyright, send a notice to copyright@wattiya.com with the following information:

• Identification of the copyrighted work you claim is infringed (or a representative list).
• Identification of the allegedly infringing material, including the URL(s) on Wattiya.
• Your contact information (name, email, address, and phone number).
• A statement that you have a good faith belief the use is not authorized by the rights holder, its agent, or the law.
• A statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the rights holder or authorized to act on their behalf.
• A physical or electronic signature of the rights holder or authorized representative.

If we remove content due to a copyright complaint, we may notify the user who posted it. If that user believes removal was a mistake, they may submit a counter-notification to the same email with:

• Identification of the removed material and where it appeared before removal.
• Your name, address, email, and phone number.
• A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the content was removed due to mistake or misidentification.
• A statement consenting to the jurisdiction of the courts specified in Section 19 and accepting service of process.
• A physical or electronic signature.

We may terminate accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. We may also limit visibility, remove content, or restrict features to reduce abuse.

11. Mature Content & Safety

Mature/Explicit Content must be properly labeled and tagged using the tools we provide. If your content includes explicit sexual content, graphic violence, or adult themes, you must mark it as Mature/Explicit.

You must not use the Services to post, request, promote, or distribute:

• sexual content involving minors or any exploitation of minors
• non-consensual sexual content, coercion, or sexual violence presented for arousal
• bestiality, or incest where illegal
• revenge porn, intimate image abuse, or unauthorized sexual imagery
• doxxing, stalking, or sharing private personal data
• hate speech, extremist content, or incitement to violence
• credible threats of violence, self-harm encouragement, or instructions for wrongdoing
• content that facilitates wrongdoing (including weapons instructions intended for harm, fraud, or illegal drug sales)

We may moderate and enforce safety policies using a combination of tools and human review. We may remove content, restrict visibility ("shadow-limit"), limit distribution, or take other actions to protect users and the Platform. We may provide reporting tools for users.

12. Community Conduct & Prohibited Uses

You agree not to do any of the following:

• harass, bully, defame, or abuse others
• spam, scam, phish, or run deceptive promotions
• scrape, crawl, or collect data using automated means without our permission
• abuse any APIs, rate limits, or access controls, or bypass restrictions
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract source code except as allowed by law
• upload malware or link to malicious downloads
• sell accounts, trade access, or manipulate engagement (likes, reads, rankings) via fake activity
• use the Services to violate law or others’ rights

Links policy: You may share normal links if they are relevant and non-deceptive. You must not post links that contain malware, phishing, deceptive redirects, or harmful content. We may remove links or content at any time for safety, quality, or legal reasons.

13. Earnings / Monetization

Wattiya may offer monetization features for creators and/or readers (for example, creator programs, tipping, subscriptions, ads revenue share, or reading rewards). Any such program is optional and may have separate rules or terms.

• Earnings are not guaranteed. Eligibility may depend on location, age, content compliance, and performance.
• We may require identity verification, tax forms, or KYC checks where legally required.
• Payouts may be subject to minimum thresholds, payout schedules, and processing fees.
• We may withhold, delay, adjust, or reverse Earnings for suspected fraud, chargebacks, refunds, policy violations, or to comply with law.
• You are responsible for any taxes, reporting, and compliance obligations related to your Earnings.
• We may change, suspend, or end monetization programs with Notice. Changes may affect how Earnings are calculated and paid.

If we terminate your account for fraud or serious violations, we may forfeit unpaid Earnings or apply offsets as permitted by law.

14. Third-Party Services

The Services may rely on Third-Party Services (for example, payments, hosting, analytics, identity verification). Third-Party Services may have their own terms and privacy practices.

Wattiya is not responsible for outages, errors, or interruptions caused by Third-Party Services. To the extent required, you agree to comply with applicable third-party terms when using those features.

15. Enforcement, Suspension, and Termination

We may investigate and take action if we believe you violated these Terms, created risk, or harmed other users or the Platform. Actions may include warnings, content removal, reduced distribution, feature restrictions, temporary suspension, or termination.

If your account is suspended or terminated, you may lose access to User Content, messages, and features. We may retain certain information and content as required for safety, legal compliance, dispute resolution, audits, or enforcement.

We may provide an appeal process in some cases, but we are not required to do so. If we do, appeal instructions may be provided through Notice.

16. Disclaimers

The Platform and Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Wattiya disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not guarantee uptime, availability, security, data integrity, or that User Content will be accurate, safe, or lawful. You use User Content at your own risk.

User Content is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute professional, legal, medical, or financial advice.

17. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Wattiya will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenues, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses arising from or related to your use of the Services.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Wattiya’s total liability for all claims related to the Services will not exceed the amount you paid to Wattiya (if any) in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or USD $50, whichever is greater.

18. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Wattiya and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to: (a) your User Content, (b) your use of the Services, or (c) your violation of these Terms or any law or rights of a third party.

19. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of Sri Lanka, without regard to conflict of laws principles.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be brought in the courts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and you consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts. Where permitted, the parties will attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith negotiation before filing legal action.

20. Changes to Terms & Notice

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will provide Notice of material changes by posting the updated Terms on the Platform and/or by contacting you. The "Last updated" date indicates when changes were made.

Unless we say otherwise, updated Terms become effective when posted. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

21. Contact Information

For support: support@wattiya.com

For copyright notices: copyright@wattiya.com