OutaStory's goal is to become the largest platform for people who enjoy reading and listening to stories. And who enjoy writing stories. This includes clear rules for the people who publish stories on our platform. So that you are on the safe side, we have developed this contract.
These terms apply to the contract between OutaStory and you as the author ("Writer") for the creation and publication of stories via the OutaStory platform. OutaStory acts as the platform operator and is not responsible for the content of the stories published via the platform. You are responsible for that content.
§1 Subject matter of the contract
1.1 OutaStory makes the platform (web app and app) available to you for the creation and publication of your literary stories, primarily in the Science-Fiction, Fantasy, and Romantasy genres as well as in other genres. This includes, among other things:
- Free provision of server capacity for the creation and storage of your stories
- Free publication of your stories by you on the platform
- Participation in the community
- Distribution of advertising revenue
- Printing of an individual story by arrangement
OutaStory provides Writers with a range of AI-assisted tools, including: text-to-speech narration, AI-generated story descriptions, and AI-generated cover images.
1.2 OutaStory also offers you the option of publishing your stories as an audiobook ("AudioStorys"). That is your decision.
§2 Storage / editing
2.1 After you register on the platform, you receive an access code by email with which you authenticate yourself for the use of OutaStory.
2.2 You receive storage capacity on a server rented by OutaStory. You upload stories into this storage space. You create and edit your stories online. You can upload a story in whole or in part and edit, supplement, or delete it at any time.
2.3 Until you have arranged for publication (see clause 4.1 below), only you have access to the respective story. After that, readers are given the opportunity to read and, where applicable, listen to the story, and, as registered readers ("Members"), to comment on and rate it.
2.4 Editing of a stored story by third parties is excluded without your express consent. Exempt from this is the option for Members to decorate pages in stories they read with graphics, ornaments, etc. The graphics/ornaments are visible only to the respective Member.
2.5 In addition, there will be the option to edit each individual story offline.
2.6 OutaStory has the right to edit your stories technically for publication, to the extent necessary.
2.7 Access to the platform is not limited to Germany.
§3 No breach of laws
3.1 By agreeing to these terms, you expressly declare that you will not release for publication any stories whose content
- breaches laws
- is in particular inflammatory, glorifies violence, is pornographic, defamatory, harmful to minors, antisemitic, or similar.
3.2 You expressly confirm that no stories will be published that infringe the rights of third parties, in particular copyright and/or ancillary copyright (Leistungsschutzrechte), or that infringe exclusive rights of third parties.
3.3 You furthermore expressly confirm that the information you have provided about yourself is correct and complete.
3.4 You indemnify OutaStory against all claims by third parties asserted against OutaStory in connection with the publication of one of your stories. This includes the reasonable costs of a legal defence.
3.5 If OutaStory is notified of a breach of the rules in this clause 3, the story is reviewed by an AI-assisted system (e.g. upon a report of alleged incitement to hatred or a breach of youth-protection rules). If the review establishes a breach, the story is blocked immediately and can no longer be read or heard by users/Members. The Writer is informed of this.
3.6 In the event of a breach of the rules in this clause 3, the contract with you is terminated extraordinarily and without notice (see clause 12).
§4 Publication
4.1 You must expressly arrange for the publication of a stored story. This is done by ticking the "Publication" field and then confirming in a confirmation dialog.
4.2 The stories you publish are made available automatically on the platform for the term of this contract. Unregistered readers and Members of OutaStory have access to the respective story.
4.3 OutaStory will, as far as possible, protect your published stories with a technology against being mined by AI-assisted chat systems.
4.4 Publication may take place under a pseudonym. However, OutaStory needs your personal data in order to be able to contact you, for example in the event of a complaint.
§5 AudioStory
5.1 You can additionally publish your stories as an AudioStory, if you wish. By ticking the "AudioStory" field and then confirming in a confirmation dialog, you agree that a story is automatically made audible and published by a text-to-speech system.
5.2 With your consent to AudioStory, you expressly grant OutaStory the right to edit your stories accordingly.
5.3 You can select the voice that is to make your story audible from an overview.
5.4 OutaStory handles the entire process. You bear no costs for the AudioStory.
5.5 OutaStory also arranges professional speakers who narrate the respective story for a fee. You conclude the contract with the speakers directly (see the Speaker Terms for this).
5.6 OutaStory accepts no liability for the AudioStorys, in particular for the correctness of the spoken content and for the quality.
§5a Voice clone (author narration)
5a.1 You may voluntarily upload a short voice recording, from which OutaStory, working with ElevenLabs, creates a personal voice clone. The recording and the clone derived from it are used exclusively to narrate your own stories on OutaStory. Your explicit consent to this process is required.
5a.2 Your cloned voice may only be used for your own stories. Other authors or speakers are never granted access to your cloned voice. It is not offered in the speaker marketplace and is not available there for selection.
5a.3 The voice recording is stored for as long as you actively use the voice clone. You can delete your voice clone at any time. Upon deletion, both the ElevenLabs clone and the stored voice recording are completely and permanently removed.
5a.4 The data-protection details on the processing of your voice recording are set out in the Writer Privacy Notice and in the comprehensive privacy policy.
§6 Social media
OutaStory will present published stories on social-media platforms, among other places, and will promote the stories and OutaStory.
§7 Recommendation lists
OutaStory will create various lists (e.g. new releases, ranking by click rates, etc.) and renew them daily/weekly. In addition, individual stories will be featured or recommended.
§8 Promotion
8.1 OutaStory will promote the platform in order to attract a growing number of Writers and readers as well as Members.
8.2 For this purpose you hereby grant OutaStory the right to promote, or have promoted, your stories using your name, your image, your biography, quotations from you and from the respective story, as well as characters and settings from your stories.
8.3 All stories you publish via OutaStory receive a cover that you determine. You can upload a photo or select an appropriate photo from a database.
§9 AI
If you have used a generative AI tool to draft, edit, or substantially co-write a story, please set the corresponding marking on the story so that users who have hidden AI-generated content are not shown your story. The detailed rules are set out in the AI Policy. Incorrect labelling is a breach of these terms.
§10 Information about the stories
You must provide information for each story to help orient Members:
- a notice that the story contains explicit depictions of violence and/or sex
- a classification of the individual story as suitable from a certain age (you can find the criteria for the classification in our youth protection rules)
- a short description of the content
- information about the main characters of the story
- categorisation of the story into a genre
- a notice that the story is self-contained and finished (this information is provided by ticking the field designated for it), or the notice that it is a serialised/continuing story
OutaStory may use these texts to promote your stories and OutaStory.
§11 Right of first negotiation
OutaStory wants the broadest possible exploitation of your stories, for example in the form of a podcast, audiobook, or film. For this, OutaStory offers a special partnership through the OutaStory Writers Guild, which includes, among other things, the additional exploitation.
If you do not become a member of the OutaStory Writers Guild but nevertheless wish to open up the possibility of further exploitation of your stories, you hereby grant OutaStory an exclusive right of first negotiation to conclude a separate contract with you on the exploitation of your stories / a story.
§12 Contract term / termination
12.1 The contract between you and OutaStory begins with your consent to these terms and to the data-protection terms. Your consent is stored digitally with date and time. If you do not give consent to these terms and/or to the data-protection terms, no contract is concluded and you cannot use the platform.
12.2 The contract has an unlimited term.
12.3 It can be terminated by you and by OutaStory by ordinary notice with a period of 6 months to the end of a quarter. The right to extraordinary termination exists.
12.4 OutaStory has, in particular, the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect if you breach one or more obligations in clauses 3 and/or 4.5 and/or 10, and/or if one or more stories have been blocked repeatedly for a breach of clause 3 and/or clause 10.
§13 Reversion of rights
13.1 At the time a termination takes effect, all rights that may have been granted revert to you.
13.2 Exempt are those exploitation rights for which, before a termination was received, a contract (including with third parties) for the exploitation of the granted rights was validly concluded.
13.3 The above also applies in the event that the contract ends by death.
§14 Deletion
14.1 Stories stored on the server are deleted at the time the termination takes effect. This does not apply to stories that fall under clause 13.2.
14.2 On request, you receive digital copies of your stored stories.
§15 Liability
You alone are liable for the content of the published stories.
§16 Blocking of stories
16.1 Should OutaStory be informed that a published story, in whole or in part, breaches a law and/or the rights of a third party, or that the rules in clauses 3 and/or 4.5 and/or 10 above have been breached, OutaStory will immediately block access to the story at least temporarily.
16.2 OutaStory will examine the allegation raised to a reasonable extent. In addition, after being informed, OutaStory will contact you.
16.3 Should the allegation not be justified, OutaStory will unblock access to the story. OutaStory is not liable for lost profit from the period of the block. Should it turn out that the allegation raised is justified, access to the story will be blocked permanently.
16.4 In general, OutaStory is entitled, in the aforementioned cases, to block access to the story without further justification.
§17 Community / rating
17.1 You have the option to exchange ideas with other Writers and/or Members, generally or about particular stories, via the platform. OutaStory encourages you to use this opportunity for community building and thus to enter into direct discussions.
17.2 Registered Members can comment on and rate published stories. This can also be done directly within the story (including paragraph by paragraph). OutaStory is not liable for the content of the comments and ratings.
§18 Own web presence
18.1 OutaStory offers to create a partly customisable, individual Writer website for an additional fee. You then receive access to a management system in which you can determine the layout and content of your page. This is provided under a subdomain of OutaStory.site. We also offer the option of using your own domain. The fee for the web presence is agreed separately with OutaStory.
18.2 OutaStory furthermore offers to set up an individual online shop for you through which merchandising articles or the like can be sold. A separate contract is concluded between you and OutaStory for this.
§19 Advertising
19.1 OutaStory will place advertising on the pages of the OutaStory web presence and in the app. The revenue belongs solely to OutaStory.
19.2 If advertising is placed in the direct vicinity of a (including an opened) story (e.g. split screen, banner advertising, pre-roll/post-roll, interstitial advertising, etc.), the revenue from this is shared between you and OutaStory. 55% of all net advertising revenue will be distributed to you. Net revenue means gross revenue minus value-added tax, agency or similar costs.
19.3 Billing is issued automatically per month via Stripe Content, namely within 14 calendar days of the following month. Unless a statement is objected to within 14 calendar days of receipt, it is deemed approved. The statement contains at least the listing of the net revenue achieved. A payout is made within a further 14 calendar days.
19.4 Cumulative conditions for sharing the revenue from advertising are:
- You must have published stories with a total of at least 100 pages (minimum content commitment)
- there must have been at least 1000 page views per story (proof that the story attracts readers)
- your billing account must have existed for at least 30 calendar days (exclusion of spam accounts)
- there are no breaches of the terms of this contract and/or of the Community Rules
19.5 Amounts under EUR 25.00 are not distributed. Only once a cumulative amount of more than EUR 25.00 exists is a distribution made.
19.6 Since the amount of the revenue depends on circumstances that OutaStory cannot influence, OutaStory gives no guarantee that any revenue will be distributed at all or in a certain amount.
19.7 Should you agree to the placement of advertising on your sub-page, OutaStory takes over the soliciting and placement of advertising on this web sub-page in return for a reasonable share of the revenue. A separate contract is concluded between you and OutaStory for this.
§20 Statistics
OutaStory produces statistics in order to record the use of the platform and of the individual stories, and will make statistics on the use of your stories available to you.
§21 Bonus system
OutaStory will develop a bonus system in which, on the basis of the statistics (e.g. with heavy use by Members), you receive bonus points that you can redeem against separate offers.
§22 No inappropriate self-promotion
We want to give all readers and Members the opportunity to read/listen to your stories to the end. It is therefore prohibited to publish stories only up to a certain page in order to make the possibility of reading/listening further dependent on, for example, buying the story outside OutaStory. In such a case we block the respective story immediately.
Of course, serialised stories can be published. However, the above prohibition applies accordingly if reading/listening to a continuation is made dependent on, for example, buying the continuation outside OutaStory.
We expressly reserve the right to block any story immediately and/or to terminate the contract with you, should we determine that the reading of a story is prevented by conditions or made dependent on conditions.
§23 Fees for Members
23.1 OutaStory offers the use of the platform by readers as well as Members without charging a fee.
23.2 In addition, there will later also be a paid offering for reading/listening to the stories without advertising.
§24 Law / jurisdiction / severability clause
24.1 German law applies.
24.2 The place of jurisdiction is – to the extent legally permissible – Hannover.
24.3 Should one or more provisions of this contract be or become invalid, void, or unenforceable, or should a gap in the provisions arise as a result, the validity of the remaining provisions is not affected. In place of the invalid/void or unenforceable provision, that valid and enforceable provision shall apply whose effects come closest to the economic objective that the contracting parties pursued with the invalid or unenforceable provision. The foregoing provisions apply accordingly in the event that the contract proves to be incomplete.
24.4 No further/other contractual provisions apply.