top of page

Terms of Service​

 

Effective Date: July 17, 2026 Last Updated: July 17, 2026

​

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Bothered Stories website, subscription service, podcast (Smut Talks), and related features (collectively, the "Services"), operated by Bothered Stories ("Bothered Stories," "we," "us," or "our").

​

BY CREATING AN ACCOUNT, SUBSCRIBING TO, OR OTHERWISE USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT USE THE SERVICES.

​

PLEASE NOTE: THESE TERMS CONTAIN A MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN SECTION 11, WHICH AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY.

 

1. Eligibility

The Services contain adult-oriented content, including erotic fiction, and are intended solely for adults. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that:

  • You are at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction if higher;

  • You have provided a truthful date of birth at signup, and any false statement regarding your age constitutes a material breach of these Terms;

  • Accessing adult content is lawful in the place where you access the Services; and

  • You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement.

 

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account where we have reason to believe these representations are false.

 

2. Accounts

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

 

Account sharing is prohibited. Your subscription is for your personal use only. You may not share your login credentials, allow others to access the Services through your account, or otherwise permit use of your subscription by any person other than you. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts found to be shared or used by multiple individuals.

 

You agree to notify us promptly at info@botheredstories.com if you become aware of any unauthorized use of your account.

 

3. Subscriptions, Billing, and Cancellation

a. Plans and Pricing

We currently offer the following subscription plans:

  • Monthly membership: $8/month

  • Annual membership: $60/year

  • Free trial: new subscribers receive a 14-day free trial before billing begins

 

Prices are subject to change; we will provide advance notice of any price change before it applies to your subscription.

b. Automatic Renewal

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AUTOMATICALLY RENEWS at the end of each billing period (monthly or annual, depending on your plan) unless you cancel before the renewal date. If you sign up for the free trial and do not cancel before it ends, you will automatically be charged for the plan you selected at signup.

c. Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings (self-service) or by emailing us at info@botheredstories.com. Cancellation will take effect at the end of your current billing period, and you will retain access to the Services through that date. We do not require you to contact customer support by phone or complete additional steps beyond what is described here to cancel.

d. Refunds

We offer a full refund within 30 days of your initial charge, no questions asked. Refund requests can be submitted to info@botheredstories.com. Refunds are not guaranteed for requests made after the 30-day window, except as required by applicable law.

e. Payment Processing

Payments are processed by our third-party payment processor. By subscribing, you authorize us (or our payment processor) to charge your chosen payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel.

 

4. License to Use the Services

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Services for your personal, non-commercial entertainment use only.

 

You may not:

  • Copy, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, or create derivative works from any content available through the Services;

  • Download, scrape, screenshot, or otherwise extract content for the purpose of sharing, reposting, or redistributing it outside the Services;

  • Use any content available through the Services to train, fine-tune, or evaluate any artificial intelligence or machine learning model;

  • Circumvent any access controls or technical protection measures; or

  • Use any automated means (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to access the Services.

 

5. Intellectual Property

All stories, audio content, podcast episodes, and other material made available through the Services (the "Content") are owned by Bothered Stories or licensed to us by the respective authors and creators, and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Except for the limited license granted in Section 4, nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership or intellectual property rights to you.

 

"Bothered Stories," our logo, and related marks are trademarks of Bothered Stories. You may not use them without our prior written permission.

 

6. Fictional Content Disclaimer

All stories, characters, names, and events depicted in the Content are entirely fictional and are products of the authors' imaginations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is purely coincidental. The Content is intended for entertainment purposes only and does not depict real individuals or real events.

 

7. User Conduct

When using the Services, including when posting comments, reviews, or other content, you agree that you will not:

  • Post or transmit any content that is unlawful, defamatory, or infringes the rights of any third party;

  • Harass, threaten, or abuse other users;

  • Post hate speech, slurs, or discriminatory language targeting a person or group based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age. We have zero tolerance for hateful conduct on our platform, and any comment, review, or other user content containing racial slurs, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, or otherwise bigoted language will be removed, and the responsible account may be suspended or permanently banned;

  • Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;

  • Post spam, unauthorized advertising, or solicitation; or

  • Upload any content that contains viruses or other harmful code, or that violates any applicable law.

 

We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to monitor, review, and remove any user-submitted content at our sole discretion, and to suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section, without prior notice.

 

8. User-Submitted Content

If you post comments, reviews, or other content through the Services ("User Content"), you grant Bothered Stories a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, and modify that User Content in connection with operating and promoting the Services, including in marketing materials. When using your User Content in marketing materials, we will not attribute it to your real name or other personally identifying information without your permission; we may display it under your username, anonymously, or in another non-identifying form. You represent that you own or have the necessary rights to post your User Content and that it does not violate any third party's rights or these Terms.

We may remove any User Content at our discretion, including content that violates Section 7 above.

 

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICES AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE.

 

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BOTHERED STORIES AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR DATA, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

 

11. Dispute Resolution: Mandatory Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.

a. Agreement to Arbitrate

You and Bothered Stories agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual action in small claims court.

b. Class Action Waiver

YOU AND BOTHERED STORIES AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

c. Arbitration Procedure

Arbitration will be conducted by a mutually agreed-upon arbitration provider in accordance with its rules then in effect. The arbitration will take place in Delaware, or another mutually agreed location, or may be conducted remotely, at the arbitrator's discretion.

d. Opt-Out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to info@botheredstories.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in Section 12.

 

12. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to Section 11 above, any dispute not subject to arbitration (or where a party has validly opted out of arbitration) will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

 

13. Copyright Complaints (DMCA)

If you believe that content available through the Services infringes your copyright, please send a notice to info@botheredstories.com including:

  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed;

  • Identification of the material claimed to be infringing and its location on the Services;

  • Your contact information;

  • A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is unauthorized; and

  • A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

We will review and respond to copyright complaints submitted to this address.

 

14. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without notice, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms or is otherwise harmful to us, other users, or third parties. You may terminate your account at any time as described in Section 3(c). Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12) will survive.

 

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Bothered Stories and its officers, employees, and contractors from any claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Services, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any third party's rights.

 

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the revised Terms with an updated "Last Updated" date, and material changes may be communicated via email or a prominent notice on the Services. Your continued use of the Services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

 

17. General

  • Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Bothered Stories regarding the Services.

  • Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect.

  • No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

  • Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

 

18. Contact Us

Questions about these Terms can be sent to:

Bothered Stories Email: info@botheredstories.com

bottom of page