// TERMS
TERMS
Last updated: July 8, 2026
1. Who we are
Glitchcraft Arena ("Glitchcraft", "we", "us", "our") is an online writing-competition platform operated by Lost Poets. Our sites include glitchcraft.xyz, www.glitchcraft.xyz, and glitchcraft.lovable.app. Contact: legal@glitchcraft.xyz.
2. Acceptance of these terms
By creating an account, entering an arena, reading submissions, subscribing, or otherwise using the platform, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and any posted Rules for each arena. If you do not agree, do not use the platform. These Terms form a binding contract between you and Glitchcraft.
3. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old, legally able to enter contracts, and not located in a jurisdiction where skill-based writing competitions, prize pools, or the services described here are prohibited. One account per person. You must provide accurate registration information and keep it current. We may verify identity, age, and eligibility at any time.
4. Accounts and security
You are responsible for your account credentials and all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at security@glitchcraft.xyz if you suspect unauthorized access. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, are inactive for extended periods, or pose fraud or safety risk.
5. The service
Glitchcraft hosts time-boxed arenas in which writers submit stories and readers score them across rounds. AI models assist grading. Winners receive payouts from an entry-fee prize pool. Reader assignments, cuts, and finalists are determined by our published scoring logic. We may add, change, or remove arenas, rounds, features, or scoring rules at any time.
6. Your content and license to us
You retain ownership of stories, manuscripts, feedback, comments, profiles, and other content you submit ("Your Content"). You grant Glitchcraft a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, transmit, display, adapt (for formatting and excerpting), and route Your Content to assigned readers, moderators, subscribers, and AI graders as needed to operate the service. For arena finalists and winners, this license also covers featuring excerpts on the public site, in marketing, at Demo Day, and in email newsletters. You may delete Your Content or your account at any time; the license ends on deletion except for (a) copies retained in backups for a limited period, (b) already-published winning entries and aggregate scoring data, and (c) uses reasonably necessary to comply with law or resolve disputes.
7. Your representations about Your Content
You represent and warrant that Your Content is your original work (or you have all necessary rights and permissions), that it does not infringe copyright, trademark, publicity, privacy, or other rights, and that it does not violate law. You are solely responsible for Your Content.
8. AI-generated and AI-assisted content
Submissions must be substantially written by you. Light AI-assisted editing (grammar, spellcheck) is permitted. Submissions that are primarily generated by AI, or that misrepresent authorship, are prohibited and may be disqualified without refund. We reserve the right to use automated detection and human review to enforce this rule.
9. Acceptable use
You will not: (a) plagiarize or submit work that is not yours; (b) harass, threaten, dox, or target hate at any user; (c) attempt to influence readers, moderators, or scoring outside the platform; (d) create multiple accounts, purchase reads, coordinate scoring rings, or otherwise manipulate results; (e) scrape, crawl, or reverse-engineer the service beyond what our robots.txt allows; (f) upload malware, spam, or unlawful material; (g) use the service to solicit users off-platform for competing services; (h) infringe others' rights or violate applicable law.
10. Entry fees, prize pool, and refunds
Entry fees are shown per arena before you pay and are processed by Stripe. Unless the specific arena states otherwise, 75% of collected entry fees fund the prize pool for that arena and 25% covers platform operation, moderation, and AI grading. Before your submission is assigned to readers, you may withdraw and request a full refund. Once reader assignment begins, entry fees are non-refundable except where required by law or at our discretion (e.g., arena cancellation, verified technical failure that prevented submission). Any refunds are issued to the original payment method.
11. Payouts, taxes, and Stripe Connect
Winner and reader payouts are issued through Stripe Connect once an arena closes, results are finalized, and any dispute window has passed. To receive payouts you must complete Stripe Connect onboarding, including identity verification and applicable tax forms (e.g., IRS Form W-9 for US persons or W-8 series for non-US persons). You are solely responsible for reporting and paying all taxes on payouts you receive. Where required by law, we (or Stripe) will issue tax forms such as IRS Form 1099. We may withhold, delay, offset, or reverse payouts to address fraud, chargebacks, prohibited conduct, tax-form gaps, unresolved disputes, or violations of these Terms.
12. Subscriptions and paid features
Some features may be offered on a subscription or one-time paid basis. Prices, billing cadence, and cancellation terms are shown at checkout. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Except where required by law, paid amounts are non-refundable. You can cancel a subscription in your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
13. Moderation and enforcement
We may, at our discretion, approve, reject, hide, edit for formatting, disqualify, or remove any content, submission, feedback, or account. We may issue warnings, temporary suspensions, permanent bans, forfeiture of pending payouts, and no refund of entry fees for violations. Repeat or serious violations, fraud, or illegal conduct result in permanent removal.
14. Copyright and DMCA
We respect intellectual-property rights. If you believe content on Glitchcraft infringes your copyright, send a notice to dmca@glitchcraft.xyz including: (a) identification of the copyrighted work; (b) identification of the allegedly infringing material and its URL; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; (e) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the rights holder; (f) your physical or electronic signature. We may remove or disable access to the material and terminate repeat infringers.
15. Third-party services
The platform relies on third parties including Stripe (payments and payouts), our cloud backend provider (database, authentication, storage), our email provider, and AI model providers via our AI gateway. Their terms and privacy policies also apply to how they process related data. We are not responsible for third-party services, links, or content.
16. Feedback
If you send us suggestions or feedback about the platform, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it without restriction or obligation to you.
17. Disclaimers
THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION. We do not guarantee any particular reader count, industry outcome, publication deal, career result, or that AI scores reflect professional editorial judgment. AI scores are advisory inputs, not endorsements.
18. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GLITCHCRAFT, LOST POETS, AND THEIR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OPPORTUNITY. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE PLATFORM IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) USD $100. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the smallest amount permitted by law.
19. Indemnification
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Glitchcraft, Lost Poets, and their affiliates from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from (a) Your Content, (b) your use of the platform, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any law or third-party right.
20. Termination
You may stop using the platform and delete your account at any time from your account settings. We may suspend or terminate your access at any time for any reason, including violation of these Terms. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (ownership, licenses to us for already-shared content, disclaimers, limitations, indemnity, dispute resolution) will survive.
21. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.
22. Dispute resolution; arbitration; class-action waiver
Except for small-claims matters and requests for injunctive relief to protect intellectual property, you and Glitchcraft agree to resolve any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or the platform by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules, seated in Los Angeles County, California. Arbitration will be conducted in English. YOU AND GLITCHCRAFT EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. If this waiver is found unenforceable, the dispute will proceed in the state or federal courts of Los Angeles County, California, and you consent to their personal jurisdiction. You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing legal@glitchcraft.xyz with your account email and the words "arbitration opt-out".
23. Changes
We may update these Terms. Material changes will be announced in-app and by email at least 14 days before they take effect. Your continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
24. Miscellaneous
These Terms are the entire agreement between you and Glitchcraft regarding the platform. If any provision is unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Notices to you may be sent to your account email; notices to us should be sent to legal@glitchcraft.xyz.
25. Contact
General/legal: legal@glitchcraft.xyz · Privacy: privacy@glitchcraft.xyz · Copyright: dmca@glitchcraft.xyz · Security: security@glitchcraft.xyz.