Terms of Service — SteelShort

Effective October 13, 2026 · Terms version 2026-10-12

If you accepted an earlier version of these Terms before October 13, 2026: this version applies to you when you accept it, or thirty (30) days after we email you about it, whichever comes first. Until then, the version you accepted still applies. Write to support@steelshort.com for a copy of it.

These Terms of Service (these "Terms") constitute a binding agreement between you and Steelshort LLC, a California limited liability company ("SteelShort," the "Company," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your access to and use of SteelShort, which consists of our website located at steelshort.com (the "Website"), our mobile applications for iOS and, when available, Android (each an "App," and together the "Apps"), and the video streaming services, content, and features we make available through them (collectively, the "Service"). The Service is the current edition of SteelShort, which we intend to replace with the Successor Service described in Section 4. The Apps are distributed through Apple's App Store and, when available, Google Play, and your use of them is also subject to the terms of the store you obtained them from. Steelshort LLC owns the Apps and the series, licenses the series to you under these Terms, and is responsible for the Service. Until Steelshort LLC's own Apple developer account is in place, the iPhone App is published on the App Store through the Apple developer account of our founder, Brooks Taylor, under a license from Steelshort LLC, so the App Store names him as the App's seller and developer. Your agreement for the Service is with Steelshort LLC under these Terms, whichever store you used. Your purchase in the store, and your license to the App itself, are also governed by the store's terms, under which the developer named in the store is the seller and licensor.

By accepting these Terms in one of the ways described in Section 2 (under "Record of acceptance"), or by making a purchase or otherwise accessing the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.

Notice regarding the Successor Service: the Service currently offers two series, is sold only through one-time purchases with no subscription, and we plan to replace it with a new version of SteelShort with more series and features (the Successor Service, Section 4(b)). Section 4 (and, for the Everything Unlock and Series Unlocks, Section 5A(d) and (f)) describes what that means for your account, your Coins, and the episodes you unlock. What you have bought of Hollow Creek and County Line is guaranteed: if we offer those series in the new version, your Everything Unlock or Series Unlock (including new episodes) and the episodes you unlocked with Coins come with you, at no extra charge. For your account and your unspent Coins, we will make a good-faith effort to carry them forward, but we do not guarantee it.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING DISPUTE RESOLUTION: SECTION 17 PROVIDES THAT MOST DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND THE COMPANY WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND IT INCLUDES A WAIVER OF CLASS ACTIONS AND JURY TRIALS. YOU MAY OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS, AT NO COST AND WITH NO EFFECT ON YOUR ACCOUNT, AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 17.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account or use the Service. The Service is offered only in the United States. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that: (a) you are at least 18 years of age; (b) you are not barred from using the Service under the laws of the United States or any other applicable jurisdiction; (c) any payment method you provide is yours to use; and (d) you reside in the United States.

2. Your Account; Acceptance of These Terms

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity occurring under your account. You agree to notify us promptly at support@steelshort.com of any unauthorized access to or use of your account.

Your account is personal to you. You may not share your credentials, sell or transfer access to your account, or use a single account to provide the Service to persons outside your household.

You may authenticate with an email address and password or through Google or Apple single sign-on. You may also create an account with only your email address; such an account has no password until you set one through "Forgot password," and until then it is available on the device where you created it and through that process. Where you authenticate through Google or Apple, we identify you by the stable account identifier that provider assigns. If the provider confirms to us an email address that already belongs to a SteelShort account, that sign-in is linked to that account; otherwise, a separate SteelShort account is created (for example, if you choose Apple's option to hide your email address). If you buy the Everything Unlock on the Website without being signed in and then choose to continue with Google on the screen that follows your purchase, that Google sign-in is linked to the account that holds your purchase, even if Google has a different email address for you.

Accounts created by an in-app purchase. In the Apps, you may buy the Everything Unlock or a Series Unlock without first creating an account. If you do, we create an account for you automatically and save the purchase to it. You do not have to give us a name, email address, or password for that account. It is tied to the device you bought on and to the purchase in your Apple Account (formerly called Apple ID) or Google account. You pay Apple or Google, under the store's terms, as described in Section 7.

Restoring. On a new device, or after you delete an App and download it again, make sure the device is signed in to the same Apple Account or Google account you paid with. Then tap Account, then Restore purchases. Restoring is free. It signs that device in to the same account and unlocks your purchase again, until Restore stops signing you in, as described below.
Adding an email is optional. You may add an email address in the App at any time. We will email you a link to choose a password, so that you can sign in on the Website and on other devices. Without an email address, we cannot send you receipts or notices by email; Apple or Google sends your receipt.
When Restore stops signing you in. After you choose a password, or sign in with Google or Apple using that same email, or a purchase made on the Website is added to the account, Restore purchases no longer signs you in to it. From then on, you sign in with your email and password, or with Google or Apple. If you chose the password through the emailed link, or signed in with Google or Apple, any device that was already signed in is signed out once and will ask you to sign in. If you instead create an account in the App with your email and a password, the App's account becomes that account, and devices already signed in to it stay signed in.
Joining accounts. Suppose the App is using an account created by an in-app purchase that has no password, no Google or Apple sign-in, and no Website purchase. If you then sign in from the App (with an email and password, with Google, or with Apple), everything on that account (its unlocks, any Coins, and your watch progress) moves to the account you sign in to, and the App's account is closed. If Google or Apple sign-in creates a new account at that moment, everything moves to the new account. The same happens if you are signed in and Restore purchases brings back a purchase saved to another such account. Joining accounts cannot be undone. A purchase saved to any other kind of account is never moved this way; to get it back, sign in to that account.
Your device and store account. Anyone who uses your device, or your Apple Account or Google account, may be able to use an account created by an in-app purchase, including by restoring the purchase on another device. You are responsible for keeping your device and your Apple Account or Google account secure, and for activity on the account that results from their use.

Record of acceptance. When you create an account, when buying the Everything Unlock on the Website without being signed in creates one for you (Section 5A(c)), when a purchase in an App creates one for you, or when we ask you to accept these Terms (for example, after we update them), you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy in one of two ways: by ticking a box and selecting "I agree" where both documents are shown to you in full (a dialog on the Website, a screen in the Apps), or by tapping a sign-up or purchase button presented directly above a statement that tapping that button means you agree to them. We keep a record of the version of the Terms you accepted, how you accepted them, and the date and time of acceptance. You may request a copy of that record by writing to privacy@steelshort.com from the email address on your account (if your account has no email address, you can add one in the App first) while we keep it; Section 6 of our Privacy Policy states how long that is.

3. The Service

The Company produces and streams short-form serialized video content ("Content"). The Service currently offers a limited number of series. Access to Content is provided on the following bases:

Free access. An introductory number of episodes of each series is available without charge, as indicated within the Service. We may also make additional episodes available without charge to registered account holders.
Everything Unlock. Where offered, a single one-time purchase unlocks every episode of Hollow Creek and County Line, including new episodes as they're added (new series are not included), as described in Section 5A. The Everything Unlock may not be offered to everyone.
Series Unlock. In the Apps, where offered, a single one-time purchase (the button reads "Finish" and the name of the series) unlocks every episode of one series, including new episodes of that series as they're added (other series are not included), as described in Section 5A.
Coins. A prepaid virtual currency ("Coins") may be used to unlock individual episodes, which you may then stream for as long as the Company offers them, as described in Section 5.

There are no subscriptions in the Service, nothing renews automatically, and you will never be charged without taking an affirmative step to make a purchase.

We reserve the right to modify the number of episodes available without charge, to add, remove, reorder, or retire Content, and to change the series offered. Section 5 governs the treatment of episodes unlocked with Coins that are subsequently removed.

Nature of the Content. Content on the Service is produced using AI-assisted production tools. All characters and events depicted are fictional; any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

4. Changes to the Service; Successor Service

We offer the Service now, with two series, and we intend to replace it with a new version of SteelShort with more series and features. You acknowledge and agree that:

(a) The Service will change. Features, pricing structures, the catalog, and the design of the Service may change materially, and features present today may be altered or withdrawn; these Terms change only as described in Section 10. Content may be unavailable from time to time. The Company uses usage measurement and analytics tools, and may introduce others, to understand how the Service is used, as permitted by applicable law and as described in the Privacy Policy; the Company will not sell the resulting data for money (see Privacy Policy, Section 7.2).
(b) A successor version is expected. We intend to replace the Service with a new version of SteelShort (the "Successor Service"), which may be offered on different terms, may include additional payment options such as subscriptions, and may be operated on different infrastructure. Your account may be migrated to the Successor Service, and the Successor Service will be governed by the terms presented to you at that time, except that those terms will not take away what paragraph (c) and Section 5A(d) and (f) guarantee.
(c) What carries over. The Company will make a good-faith effort to preserve, and to carry into the Successor Service, your account, your unspent Coin balance, and your access to episodes of any other series you have unlocked with Coins. This is a genuine commitment about how we intend to act; it is not a guarantee, and technical, commercial, or legal circumstances may prevent us from honoring it in whole or in part. What you have bought of Hollow Creek and County Line is guaranteed, not just a good-faith effort: if the Company offers either series in the Successor Service, every episode of it you unlocked with Coins stays unlocked for you there, at no extra charge, whatever other ways to pay the Successor Service offers (such as subscriptions). Section 5A(d) and (f) make the same guarantee for the Everything Unlock and Series Unlocks.
(d) Remedy if preservation is not possible. If, despite that effort, the Company is unable to carry forward Coins you purchased and had not yet spent, or episodes you unlocked with Coins that paragraph (c) does not guarantee, your sole and exclusive remedy is a credit of equivalent value in the Successor Service, as further described in the Refund Policy, except as provided in the next sentence. If the Service is discontinued and no Successor Service is made available to you within ninety (90) days after discontinuation, the Company will refund Coins you purchased and had not spent, at the price paid, to your original payment method or, where that is no longer possible, by another reasonable means. Bonus Coins issued without charge carry no such remedy. The Company will attempt to notify you before any change that affects your Coins or unlocked episodes, by email or, if your account has no email address, as described in Section 19.

5. Coins

Coins are a prepaid, limited license to access Content, subject to the following terms:

(a) Coins are not money, legal tender, a gift card, a stored-value instrument, or property of any kind, and exist solely within the Service.
(b) Coins have no cash value and, except as provided in the Refund Policy or as required by applicable law, are not redeemable for cash and may not be transferred, sold, or assigned.
(c) Unlocking an episode currently requires 25 Coins. The Company may modify the Coin price of future unlocks; no previously completed unlock will be retroactively repriced.
(d) Coins do not expire, and no dormancy, maintenance, or service fees are charged in respect of them.
(e) An episode unlocked with Coins remains accessible for so long as the Company continues to offer it. If the Company permanently removes an episode you have unlocked with Coins, the Company will credit the Coins you spent on it to your account; you may also ask for the credit at support@steelshort.com.
(f) Where promotional offers grant bonus Coins, the total number of Coins displayed in the Service at the time of purchase is the total number credited, as described in Section 7.
(g) Coins issued without charge — as a welcome gift, through promotions, or as a goodwill accommodation — may be revoked upon a finding of abuse, are not redeemable for cash, and are not refundable.
(h) The treatment of Coins upon transition to the Successor Service is governed by Section 4.

Upon termination of your account for breach of these Terms, unused Coins are forfeited. Upon any other termination, contact us and unused Coins will be addressed equitably, consistent with the Refund Policy.

5A. Everything Unlock and Series Unlock

The Everything Unlock is a one-time purchase, subject to the following terms:

(a) What it includes. It licenses you to stream every episode of Hollow Creek and County Line, including new episodes of those two series as they're added after your purchase, for as long as the Company offers those series, in the Service or in the Successor Service. This applies to every Everything Unlock, whenever it was bought. It does not include any other series, including new series the Company may offer in the future.
(b) One-time charge. It is a single charge in the amount displayed at checkout. It is not a subscription; nothing renews, and no payment method is charged again without a further purchase by you.
(c) Your account. The Everything Unlock is personal to the account it is purchased for and may not be transferred, sold, or shared, except when accounts are joined as described in Section 2. If you purchase it on the Website without being signed in, it is added to the account registered to the email address you provide at checkout; if no such account exists, one is created for you with that email address, and you may set a password at any time through "Forgot password." If you purchase it in an App without being signed in, it is saved to an account created for you as described in Section 2. Purchases made in the Apps are not shared through Apple Family Sharing or Google Play Family Library.
(d) The Successor Service. Your Everything Unlock is guaranteed to carry over: if the Company offers Hollow Creek or County Line in the Successor Service, your Everything Unlock includes every episode of that series there, including new episodes as they're added, at no extra charge, whatever other ways to pay the Successor Service offers (such as subscriptions). If the Service is discontinued within twelve (12) months after your purchase and no Successor Service honoring your Everything Unlock is made available to you within ninety (90) days after discontinuation, the Company will refund the price you paid, to your original payment method or, where that is no longer possible, by another reasonable means.
(e) Refunds are governed by the Refund Policy. If a payment for the Everything Unlock is refunded or reversed, the Everything Unlock ends.
(f) Series Unlock. A Series Unlock licenses you to stream every episode of one series, including new episodes of that series as they're added after your purchase, for as long as the Company offers that series, in the Service or in the Successor Service. It does not include any other series. Like the Everything Unlock, a Series Unlock is a single charge that never renews (paragraph (b)). It belongs to your account and can't be transferred (paragraph (c)). It gets the same guarantee about the Successor Service: if the Company offers its series there, your Series Unlock includes every episode of that series there, including new episodes, at no extra charge. It also gets the same refund of the price you paid if the Service is discontinued within twelve (12) months after your purchase and no Successor Service honoring it is made available to you within ninety (90) days after discontinuation (paragraph (d)). It ends if the payment is refunded or reversed (paragraph (e)).

Price changes never shrink what you bought. We may change prices and the ways we sell access for future purchases (Section 7). Those changes never take away anything an Everything Unlock or Series Unlock you have already bought includes under paragraph (a) or (f). For example, we will never ask you to pay again for new episodes of a series your unlock includes, in the Service or in the Successor Service. Section 4 and paragraphs (d) and (f) say what you keep if the Service is replaced by the Successor Service, and what is refunded if it is discontinued.

6. License and Acceptable Use

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, the Company grants you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to stream the Content for private, non-commercial viewing, for the duration of your applicable access. No sale of Content or of any copy thereof occurs under these Terms, and no rights are granted other than those expressly stated. In plain terms: Coins, the Everything Unlock, Series Unlocks, and the episodes you unlock give you a license to stream Content, not ownership of it.

You shall not:

(a) download, record, capture, rip, or otherwise copy Content, except for transient caching performed automatically by your browser or an App;
(b) circumvent, disable, or interfere with the paywall, free-episode limitations, the Coin system, or any other access-control or technical protection measure;
(c) rebroadcast, publicly perform, resell, or make Content available to persons outside your household;
(d) scrape the Service, access it by automated means, impose unreasonable load on our infrastructure, or attempt to retrieve video files directly;
(e) create multiple accounts to obtain welcome or promotional Coins more than once;
(f) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the Service, or probe our systems for vulnerabilities without our prior written authorization; or
(g) use the Service in violation of applicable law or in a manner that infringes the rights of any person.

The Service and all Content, artwork, software, and trademarks — including the SteelShort name and logo — are owned by the Company or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

Feedback and ideas. If you send us suggestions or feedback about the Service, you grant the Company a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use them for any purpose, without credit or payment to you. We do not accept unsolicited story ideas, scripts, characters, or other creative material. If you send us any, we have no obligation to review it, keep it confidential, credit you, or pay you, and sending it does not create any agreement, express or implied, between you and the Company unless we both sign a written agreement about it. We may already have, or may later develop, stories and other material similar to what you send. This does not change how we handle the personal information in your message, such as your name and email address, which our Privacy Policy governs, and we will not use your name with your feedback without your permission.

Copyright complaints. If you believe any material on the Service infringes your copyright, notify us at legal@steelshort.com, including a description of the copyrighted work, the location of the allegedly infringing material, your contact information, and a statement of your good-faith belief that the use is not authorized.

7. Payments; Refunds; Promotions

Coins are sold, and can be spent, only on the Website. Each Coin purchase is a single, one-time charge in the amount displayed at checkout; no payment method is charged again without a further purchase by you. Episodes you unlock with Coins can also be watched in the Apps when you are signed in to the same account.

Purchases on the Website are processed by Stripe. The Company does not receive or store full payment card numbers. Prices are stated in U.S. dollars and exclude any applicable sales, use, or similar taxes; where the Company is required to collect such a tax, it will be shown at checkout and added to the amount charged.

Purchases in the Apps are made as in-app purchases through Apple's App Store (on iOS) or Google Play (on Android). For those purchases, the store takes your payment under its own terms and payment methods, collects any sales tax, and issues the receipt. In the United States it does this for the seller: Apple as the seller's agent, and Google as the seller's agent or service provider. The seller is the developer the store names: on the App Store, until our Apple account moves to Steelshort LLC, our founder, Brooks Taylor; otherwise Steelshort LLC. Steelshort LLC provides what you buy and is responsible to you for it under these Terms. Prices shown in the Apps are the prices the store shows for your store region. The Company receives from the store a confirmation of the purchase — the product bought, a transaction or order identifier, the date, and whether the purchase was made in the store's live or test environment — and adds what you bought to your account after verifying that confirmation with the store. The Company never receives your payment card details from Apple or Google.

Refunds of in-app purchases. Apple decides refunds of App Store purchases; ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. The Company cannot refund an App Store charge itself. Google Play purchases can be refunded by Google under its refund policy or by the Company through Google Play; write to support@steelshort.com. A refund the Company owes under Section 4(d), 5A(d) or (f), or 9, or that the Refund Policy says the Company pays, is paid by the Company directly: through Google Play for a Google Play purchase and, for an App Store purchase, by another reasonable means. The Refund Policy describes both stores' refunds.

Where a promotion grants bonus Coins, the total number of Coins displayed at the time of purchase is the total number credited.

Our Refund Policy is incorporated into and forms part of these Terms.

The Company may from time to time offer promotions, such as additional Coins on a first purchase. The terms of a promotion, including any limit to one use per account, are as stated at the time of the offer. Promotions may be modified or withdrawn at any time, without affecting purchases already completed.

Prices and new ways to buy. We may change prices, offers and the ways we sell access (for example new bundles, discounts, single-series unlocks or other options) for future purchases at any time. These changes never take away anything you have already bought, including when we move to the Successor Service: Section 4(c) and Section 5A(d) and (f) say what you keep there. A price change never reduces the number of Coins you hold, but the number of Coins an episode costs may change (Section 5(c)). If the Service is discontinued, Section 4(d) and Section 5A(d) and (f) say what is refunded.

Half-price Everything Unlock offer. The price of the Everything Unlock is the price displayed in the Service wherever it is offered, and may change from time to time; a change never affects a purchase already made. A visitor who declines that price may be offered the Everything Unlock at half of that price (rounded down to the cent) for a limited time. The time remaining is shown by a countdown that starts when the offer is first shown to that browser or, if you are signed in, to your account, runs continuously whether or not the offer is on screen, and is not restarted or extended. A checkout opened before the countdown ends is honored at the half price. After it ends, the regular price applies. The offer is limited to one per browser and one per account, and may not be combined with any other offer.

8. Communications

The Company will send you communications concerning your account and transactions — including receipts, notices about your Coins or unlocked episodes, notices about the transition to the Successor Service, and password resets — which are integral to the Service and may not be opted out of while your account remains open. Any optional communications concerning new Content may be disabled at any time through the unsubscribe mechanism in any such email.

9. Suspension and Termination

You may close your account at any time through the Account page on the Website, through the Account tab in an App, or by writing to support@steelshort.com. Closing your account deletes it. Our Support page (at steelshort.com/support) explains the steps, and Section 6 of our Privacy Policy explains what information is kept afterwards. Closing your account does not cancel or refund a purchase made through Apple or Google, which stays with your Apple Account or Google account; if you restore that purchase later, it is saved again, to the account you are then signed in to or, if you are not signed in, to a new account created for you, unless it was refunded.

The Company may suspend or terminate your account: (a) for breach of these Terms; (b) where required by law; or (c) where the Company reasonably believes your conduct is fraudulent or endangers other users. Where reasonable, the Company will state its grounds and afford you an opportunity to respond. If the Company terminates your account other than for cause, the purchase price of any Coins you purchased and had not spent will be refunded.

The Company may discontinue the Service upon notice, in connection with the launch of the Successor Service or otherwise. Section 4 governs the treatment of your Coins and unlocked episodes in that event, and Section 5A(d) and (f) governs the Everything Unlock and Series Unlocks.

10. Modifications to These Terms

The Company may amend these Terms from time to time. Material amendments will be notified to you by email at least thirty (30) days before taking effect, except where a shorter period is required by law or necessary to address a security or legal issue, during which period you may close your account if you do not agree. If your account has no email address, or the email address on it cannot receive email, we will instead ask you to accept the amended Terms in the App, and the amendment applies to you only once you accept it; until then, the version you last accepted continues to apply. Continued use of the Service after the effective date of an amendment of which you were notified constitutes acceptance. We may also ask you to click to accept a new version. An amendment never applies to a dispute of which either party gave notice under Section 16 before the amendment took effect, and changes to Section 17 are also subject to "Changes to this Section" in Section 17. The effective date and version of the current Terms appear at the top of these Terms.

11. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, THAT ANY PARTICULAR CONTENT WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE, OR THAT ANY COINS, UNLOCKED EPISODES, OR OTHER ACCOUNT STATE WILL BE CARRIED INTO ANY SUCCESSOR SERVICE, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN SECTIONS 4 AND 5A(d) AND (f).

Some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of certain warranties, and portions of this section may accordingly not apply to you.

12. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: (a) NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ITS SUPPLIERS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR ANY TRANSITION TO A SUCCESSOR SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES; AND (b) THE COMPANY'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO THE COMPANY IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (ii) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50). THIS SECTION 12 DOES NOT LIMIT THE REFUNDS AND CREDITS PROMISED IN SECTIONS 4(d), 5(e), 5A(d) AND (f), AND 9 OR IN THE REFUND POLICY, AND IT DOES NOT LIMIT ANY STATUTORY DAMAGES, CIVIL PENALTIES, OR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS THAT A STATUTE AWARDS TO YOU.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for fraud, willful injury, or violation of law under California Civil Code Section 1668, and liability for gross negligence, willful misconduct, or personal injury where the law does not permit it to be limited. Some jurisdictions do not permit these limitations, and portions of this section may accordingly not apply to you.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Company from and against reasonable losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of a claim brought by a third party based on your misuse of the Service, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of the rights of any third party. The Company will provide you prompt notice of any such claim and will permit you to control the defense, provided the defense is conducted diligently. This Section 13 applies only to claims brought by third parties. It does not require you to pay the Company's attorneys' fees or costs in any dispute between you and the Company, which are governed by Sections 16 and 17 and applicable law.

14. Third-Party Services

Parts of the Service involve third parties that handle certain information under their own terms or under their agreements with us: sign-in through Google or Apple; payment processing through Stripe for purchases on the Website; in-app purchases through Apple's App Store and Google Play; email delivery and the hosting of our email accounts through our email providers; hosting and backup storage through our hosting providers; any analytics providers we engage; and Meta Platforms, Inc., with which we share limited information from the Website for our advertising on Facebook and Instagram (you can opt out through the Your Privacy Choices link on the Website or your browser's Global Privacy Control signal). The Company does not control such parties. They, and the information each receives, are identified in our Privacy Policy.

15. Force Majeure

The Company shall not be liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting from causes beyond its reasonable control, including failures of hosting or payment infrastructure, natural disasters, acts of war, labor disputes, or governmental action. A cause described in this Section 15 may delay, but does not excuse, any refund or credit owed under Sections 4(d), 5(e), 5A(d) and (f), and 9 or under the Refund Policy. We will pay it as soon as that cause allows, by another reasonable means if the usual one is not available.

16. Informal Dispute Resolution

Prior to commencing arbitration or litigation, the party asserting a dispute shall provide written notice to the other — in your case to legal@steelshort.com or by mail to Steelshort LLC, 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816, and in our case to the email address on your account or, if your account has none or the email address on it cannot receive email, through the App as described in Section 19 — identifying the claimant, the account concerned (for an account with no email address, the order number of a purchase saved to it), the nature of the dispute, and the relief sought, and shall allow thirty (30) days for informal resolution. This obligation applies equally to the Company. The Company will never give a notice of a dispute by posting it publicly, and it will not begin arbitration or litigation against you until it has given you notice under this Section 16. Any applicable statute of limitations, and any deadline for starting arbitration or a court case, is tolled from the date the notice is received until the end of this thirty-day period.

17. Arbitration Agreement; Class Action Waiver

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

Agreement to arbitrate. Except as provided below, you and Steelshort LLC agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and not in court before a judge or jury. If the AAA is unable or declines to administer the arbitration, the parties will agree on another arbitration provider that follows consumer due process standards; if they cannot agree within thirty (30) days, a court will appoint an arbitrator under 9 U.S.C. § 5. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.

Opt-out right. You may decline this arbitration agreement by emailing legal@steelshort.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out," or by letter to Steelshort LLC, 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816, within thirty (30) days after you first accept any version of these Terms that contains this Section 17 (for a letter, the postmark date counts). Include your name and something that identifies your account: the email address associated with your account; if you sign in with Apple or Google and do not know that address, the email address of that Apple or Google account; or, if your account was created by an in-app purchase and has no email address, the order number from the store's receipt for that purchase (on the App Store, the Order ID; on Google Play, the order number that starts with "GPA") and the date you bought. Opting out is free of charge, requires no further step, does not affect your account or your use of the Service, and leaves the remainder of these Terms in effect. If you opt out, neither the arbitration agreement nor the class action waiver in this Section 17 applies to you, and disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in Section 18.

Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual action in small claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to prevent infringement or misuse of intellectual property. Claims for public injunctive relief are addressed in the class action waiver paragraph below.

Class action waiver. YOU AND THE COMPANY EACH AGREE THAT CLAIMS MAY BE BROUGHT ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not preside over any form of representative proceeding and may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph's limitations as to a particular claim or request for relief (such as a request for public injunctive relief), then that claim or request (and only that claim or request) is severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court, and proceedings on it are stayed until the arbitration of all other claims and requests is complete.

Coordinated filings. If twenty-five (25) or more demands for arbitration raising substantially similar claims are filed by or against the Company with the assistance of the same or coordinated counsel, the AAA's Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules apply to them. The AAA may administer those demands in groups, and groups may proceed at the same time. Each demand remains an individual arbitration: it is decided on its own facts and merits, with its own award, and no award binds anyone who was not a party to it. As those rules allow, one arbitrator may be appointed to more than one demand, and a process arbitrator may decide administrative questions for all of them. Nothing in this paragraph permits a class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. Applicable statutes of limitation are tolled for each demand from the date its notice under Section 16 is received until it is administered. If a court decides that any part of this paragraph is unenforceable, that part is severed and the demands proceed individually under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules.

Who decides. A court, not an arbitrator, decides: (a) whether the class action waiver paragraph, or any limitation in it, can be enforced as to a particular claim or request for relief, including a request for public injunctive relief; (b) whether any part of the "Coordinated filings" paragraph can be enforced; (c) whether notice was given under Section 16, except where the AAA's Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules give that question to the process arbitrator; and (d) which version of this Section 17 applies to a dispute. A court decides these questions even if the AAA's rules would give them to an arbitrator, but administrative questions under the AAA's Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules stay with the process arbitrator.

Costs. The Company will pay the arbitration filing fees it is required to pay under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. Arbitration may be conducted on the basis of documents alone or by telephone where the rules permit.

Hearing location. Any in-person hearing will be conducted in the county in which you reside, or at another location mutually agreed.

Changes to this Section. A change to this Section 17 does not apply to any dispute of which either party gave notice under Section 16 before the change took effect. If we make a material change to this Section 17, you may reject it by emailing legal@steelshort.com or by letter to Steelshort LLC, 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816, within thirty (30) days after it takes effect (for a letter, the postmark date counts), and the version you last accepted will continue to apply to you.

18. Governing Law; Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. For any dispute not subject to arbitration, the parties consent to the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Sacramento County, California, or, at your option, the courts for the county in which you reside, and you may bring a qualifying claim in the small claims court of your place of residence. Nothing in these Terms deprives you of non-waivable protections afforded by the consumer protection laws of your state of residence.

19. General Provisions

Entire agreement; order of precedence. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the Refund Policy, are the entire agreement between you and the Company concerning the Service and supersede all prior understandings. The terms of the App Store or Google Play, including any end-user license agreement for an App, also apply to your use of an App and your purchases in it; if they conflict with these Terms, the store's terms control only as to the license to the App itself and the store's handling of your payment and refunds, and these Terms control everything else between you and the Company. Apple and Google are not parties to these Terms and are not responsible for the Service.
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect, except as Section 17 provides for its own provisions.
No waiver. The Company's failure to enforce any provision shall not constitute a waiver of its right to enforce that provision subsequently.
Assignment. You may not assign your account or these Terms without the Company's prior written consent. The Company may assign these Terms to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, upon notice to you; your personal information then transfers only as described in our Privacy Policy.
Notices. Notices from the Company will be sent to the email address associated with your account; notices to the Company shall be sent to legal@steelshort.com or by mail to Steelshort LLC, 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816. You are responsible for keeping your email address current. If your account has no email address, or the email address on it cannot receive email: (a) changes to these Terms will be presented to you in the App for your acceptance (Section 10); (b) notices that apply to all users, or to everyone holding a kind of purchase, such as a notice about a change to Coins or unlocks or about the discontinuation of the Service, will be posted on the Website; and (c) a notice that concerns only you, such as a notice of a dispute under Section 16, will be given to you in the App and is not given until the App has shown it to you. You can add an email address in the App at any time to receive notices by email. The Company will never give a notice that concerns only you by posting it publicly.
Survival. Sections 6 (as to the ownership of the Service, the restrictions on its use, and feedback and ideas), 11, 12, 13, and 15 through 19, and any refund or credit that became due before your account was closed or deleted, continue to apply after your account is closed or deleted.

20. Contact

Steelshort LLC · 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816

Support and billing: support@steelshort.com
Phone: (707) 679-0415
Privacy: privacy@steelshort.com
Legal notices: legal@steelshort.com

Notice to California residents. Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer rights notice: the Service is provided by Steelshort LLC, 2108 N St #17999, Sacramento, CA 95816, telephone (707) 679-0415. Complaints regarding the Service or requests to receive further information regarding use of the Service may be sent to support@steelshort.com or to the address above, or made by telephone at (707) 679-0415. The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210. The current prices of Coin packs are stated on the Coins page, and the current prices of the Everything Unlock and of Series Unlocks are shown in the Service wherever they are offered.