Vella Terms of Use

Effective date: January 15th, 2026
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Vella mobile application, website (if any), and related services (collectively, the “Service”). The Service includes features such as story recording and transcription, story summarization/compilation, basic artwork generation, and purchase options.

By creating an account, downloading, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1) Who We Are

“Vella,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Vella Stories LLC (“Company”).
Contact: admin@vellastories.app | 1243 Circle Cv, Lehi, UT, 84043 | www.vellastories.app

2) Eligibility and Account

• Age. You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use the Service only with a parent/guardian’s consent and supervision.
  
  

• Account responsibility. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for activity under your account.
  
  

• Accurate information. You agree to provide accurate information and keep it up to date.
  
  

3) The Service and Important Disclosures

Vella helps you record and preserve stories and may generate transcriptions, summaries, prompts, and images using automated tools (including AI).

AI limitations:

• Transcriptions and generated outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or inappropriate.
  
  

• You are responsible for reviewing and verifying content before relying on it, sharing it, or purchasing printed products.
  
  

• The Service is not professional advice (legal, medical, financial, or otherwise).
  
  

Availability:
We may modify, suspend, or discontinue parts of the Service at any time. We do not guarantee that any feature will always be available.

4) Your Content (Recordings, Text, Photos, and Other Inputs)

“User Content” means anything you submit or provide through the Service, such as audio recordings, transcriptions, story text, names/likenesses, and other materials.

4.1 You Own Your User Content

As between you and Vella, you retain ownership of your User Content, subject to the licenses you grant in these Terms.

4.2 License You Grant to Vella

To operate the Service, you grant Vella a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, process, adapt (including to format, transcribe, summarize, and generate images), and display your User Content only as needed to:

• provide and improve the Service,
  
  

• generate requested outputs (transcriptions, summaries, images, books),
  
  

• prevent abuse and enforce these Terms, and
  
  

• comply with legal obligations.
  
  

This license continues until you delete your User Content or your account, except that:

• content may persist in backups for a limited time, and
  
  

• we may retain certain data as required by law or for legitimate business purposes (e.g., fraud prevention, dispute resolution).
  
  

4.3 Your Responsibilities for User Content

You represent and warrant that:

• you have all rights necessary to submit your User Content and grant the license above,
  
  

• your User Content does not violate any laws or the rights of any person (including privacy, publicity, copyright, or trademark), and
  
  

• you will not submit sensitive personal data you do not have permission to share (e.g., other people’s private information).
  
  

5) Generated Content (Transcriptions, Summaries, Images, Book Layouts)

“Generated Content” means outputs produced by the Service (for example, transcriptions, summaries, story suggestions, or artwork).

• Generated Content may be based on your User Content and may not be unique. Other users may receive similar outputs.
  
  

• To the extent permitted by law, Vella assigns to you any rights Vella may have in Generated Content as delivered to you, but Vella retains all rights in the Service itself, including models, prompts, templates, and system design.
  
  

• You are responsible for ensuring the Generated Content is appropriate and non-infringing before you use it commercially or publicly.
  
  

6) Acceptable Use (What You May Not Do)

You agree not to:

• use the Service for illegal activities;
  
  

• submit content that is abusive, harassing, hateful, sexually exploitative, or promotes violence;
  
  

• submit content that infringes intellectual property rights or violates privacy/publicity rights;
  
  

• attempt to reverse engineer, scrape, or extract the Service’s code, models, or prompts (except where allowed by law);
  
  

• interfere with or disrupt the Service (e.g., spam, malware, denial of service);
  
  

• bypass paywalls, usage limits, or security measures;
  
  

• use the Service to create or distribute harmful or deceptive content (e.g., fraud, impersonation).
  
  

We may remove content or restrict access if we believe you violated these Terms.

7) Intellectual Property (Our Stuff)

The Service, including its software, design, branding, text, templates, workflows, and all underlying technology, is owned by Vella or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.

Vella grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your personal, non-commercial use (or internal business use if your plan permits), subject to these Terms.

8) Purchases, Subscriptions, and Printing

Vella may offer free and paid features, subscriptions, and purchases (including digital upgrades and physical printing).

8.1 Subscriptions (Auto-Renewing)

If you purchase a subscription:

• Billing. Payment will be charged to your App Store / Google Play account (or other payment method, if offered).
  
  

• Auto-renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.
  
  

• Manage/cancel. You can manage or cancel in your Apple/Google account settings.
  
  

• No partial refunds. Except where required by law, partial refunds are not provided for unused time.
  
  

8.2 One-Time Purchases / Credits

If we sell one-time purchases or usage credits:

• credits may expire or be subject to reasonable limits as described at purchase,
  
  

• purchases are generally non-refundable except where required by law or platform policy.
  
  

8.3 Physical Book Purchases and Fulfillment

If you order printed materials:

• Third-party fulfillment. Printing, shipping, taxes, and delivery are typically fulfilled by third-party providers.
  
  

• Proofing responsibility. You are responsible for reviewing previews and final content. We are not responsible for mistakes in User Content or Generated Content you approve for print.
  
  

• Shipping times. Delivery estimates are not guarantees and may vary.
  
  

• Returns/refunds. Print orders may be non-refundable once submitted to production, except for defects, damage, or as required by law/fulfillment partner policy.
  
  

8.4 Price Changes

We may change pricing, plans, or features. We will provide notice as required by applicable law or platform rules. Subscription changes generally apply at renewal unless otherwise stated.

9) Third-Party Services

The Service may rely on third-party services (for example: cloud hosting, analytics, payment processors, AI providers, and print fulfillment). Your use of those services may be subject to their terms and policies. Vella is not responsible for third-party services outside our control.

10) Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share information. By using the Service, you agree to our Privacy Policy: www.vellastories.app/privacy.

11) Feedback

If you provide feedback, suggestions, or ideas, you grant Vella a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free right to use them without compensation or credit.

12) Termination

• By you. You may stop using the Service at any time and may request account deletion through the app or by contacting support.
  
  

• By us. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Service or users.
  
  

• Effect of termination. Your right to use the Service ends. Certain sections (e.g., IP, disclaimers, limitation of liability, dispute terms) survive termination.
  
  

13) Disclaimers

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” VELLA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED.

We do not warrant that any transcription, summary, or generated image will be accurate, suitable, or non-infringing.

14) Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VELLA AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND PARTNERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR:

• INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; OR
  
  

• LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL,
  ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.
  
  

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VELLA’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO VELLA IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) $100.

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

15) Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Vella and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to:

• your User Content,
  
  

• your use of the Service,
  
  

• your violation of these Terms, or
  
  

• your violation of any rights of another person or entity.
  
  

16) Copyright / DMCA (If You Believe Content Infringes)

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, please send a notice to: admin@vellastories.app
Include: identification of the copyrighted work, the allegedly infringing material, your contact info, a statement of good-faith belief, and a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act.

We may remove content and terminate repeat infringers where appropriate.

17) Dispute Resolution, Governing Law, and Venue

Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of Utah, USA, excluding conflict-of-law rules.

Venue: Any disputes that are not subject to arbitration (if applicable) will be brought in the courts located in Utah County, Utah, USA, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

Optional arbitration clause (include only if you want it):
If you want a consumer arbitration clause and class action waiver, tell me and I’ll add a clean version that matches typical app Terms language.

18) App Store / Google Play Additional Terms

If you downloaded the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play:

• You also agree to comply with their applicable terms and policies.
  
  

• Apple and Google are not responsible for the Service except as required by law.
  
  

• If these Terms conflict with mandatory platform requirements, the platform requirements control for those issues.
  
  

19) Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If changes are material, we will provide notice as required by law (for example, by posting an update in the app or on our website). Continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms.

20) How to Contact Us

Questions about these Terms? Contact: admin@vellastories.app.