Terms and Conditions

Effective Date: June 28, 2025

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of Synsto Publishing ("Synsto", "we", "our", "us") services, including our website, Android application, iOS application, and all related services (collectively, the "Services").

By accessing or using our Services — including creating an account, submitting a manuscript, making a purchase, or uploading any content — you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms and all policies referenced herein, including our Privacy Policy, Cancellation and Refund Policy, Author Permissions Guidelines, and Author Rights Guidelines.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use our Services.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use our Services. If you are under 18, you must use the Services under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf.

By using our Services, you represent and warrant that all information you provide is accurate, truthful, and complete.

3. Services Overview

Synsto provides a platform for the discovery, purchase, and reading of ebooks, audiobooks, and physical books, as well as publishing and editorial services for authors and publishers.

All content is provided for personal, non-commercial use unless explicitly agreed otherwise in writing. Synsto acts solely as a publishing platform and marketplace. We do not create the content published by authors.

4. Account Responsibilities

• You must provide accurate, complete, and current information when creating an account.
• You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.
• You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account.
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account at info@synsto.com.
• Synsto is not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to maintain account security.

5. Author Submissions and Legal Responsibility

5.1 Declaration of Originality

By submitting any manuscript, book, or content to Synsto, you irrevocably declare and warrant that:

• The submitted work is entirely your own original creation.
• You are the sole legal copyright owner of the work, or you hold all necessary licences and permissions to publish it.
• The work has not been copied, plagiarised, or substantially derived from any third-party work without proper authorisation and attribution.
• The work does not infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or any other intellectual property right of any third party.
• The work does not contain defamatory, obscene, unlawful, or harmful content.
• All necessary permissions have been obtained for any third-party content included in the work (quotes, images, data, lyrics, etc.).
• The work has not been previously published in any form unless explicitly disclosed and permitted in writing by Synsto.

5.2 Author Bears Full Legal Liability

Synsto acts as a publishing platform only. We do not independently verify the originality or ownership of every submitted work beyond our standard screening process.

The author alone is fully, exclusively, and personally liable for:

• Any copyright infringement arising from the submitted content.
• Any claim, demand, legal action, or compensation sought by any third party whose rights have been violated.
• Any defamation, privacy violation, or other legal claim arising from the content of the submitted work.
• All legal costs, damages, penalties, and compensation payable to any claimant or authority.

Synsto shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from an author's submission of infringing or unlawful content. In the event of any third-party claim, the author agrees to fully indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Synsto, its directors, employees, and agents from all claims, losses, damages, and legal costs.

5.3 Synsto's Rights Upon a Copyright Claim

If Synsto receives a credible copyright infringement complaint or legal notice regarding any published work, Synsto reserves the right — without prior notice to the author and without any liability to the author — to:

• Immediately unpublish or remove the work from all platforms.
• Withhold any unpaid royalties or earnings pending resolution of the claim.
• Permanently suspend or terminate the author's account.
• Disclose the author's identity, contact details, and submitted documents to the claimant or to legal authorities as required by law.
• Cooperate fully with any law enforcement or legal investigation.

The author acknowledges that removal of content due to a copyright claim does not entitle the author to any refund, compensation, or damages from Synsto.

5.4 Plagiarism Screening

All manuscripts are screened using industry-standard plagiarism detection tools prior to publication. Detection of substantial similarity to existing works will result in immediate rejection. However, the use of plagiarism detection tools does not transfer legal responsibility to Synsto. The author remains solely liable regardless of whether plagiarism is detected before or after publication.

5.5 Identity Verification

Synsto reserves the right to require valid government-issued identity verification (such as Aadhaar, PAN, Passport, or National ID) from any author before publishing their work. Failure to provide verification when requested will result in the submission being rejected.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

All content available on the Services that is owned by Synsto — including but not limited to the platform design, software, logos, graphics, and editorial content — is the exclusive property of Synsto Publishing and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

Content submitted by authors remains the intellectual property of the respective authors, subject to any publishing licence granted to Synsto under the publishing agreement.

• You may not copy, distribute, modify, or reproduce Synsto's proprietary content without written permission.
• Purchased content is licensed for your personal use only and may not be shared, redistributed, or reproduced.
• Unauthorised sharing, piracy, or distribution of any content on this platform is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

For permissions: editorial@synsto.com

7. Digital Content Usage (Ebooks and Audiobooks)

• Purchased ebooks and audiobooks are licensed to you, not sold. You receive a personal, non-transferable licence to access the content within our platform.
• You may not download, record, screenshot, screen-record, or redistribute digital content.
• Access to content may be revoked without refund if these Terms are violated.
• Synsto may update, modify, or remove digital content at any time due to licensing, legal, or operational reasons.

8. Payments and Transactions

All payments must be made through the approved payment methods available on the platform. You agree to provide accurate and complete billing information.

• Payments are processed by third-party payment providers (including Razorpay). Synsto does not store your full payment card details.
• Synsto is not responsible for additional charges imposed by banks, payment providers, or mobile carriers.
• All pricing is in Indian Rupees (INR) unless otherwise stated. International users are responsible for any currency conversion charges.
• Refunds are governed by our Cancellation and Refund Policy.

9. User-Generated Content

By submitting any content (manuscripts, reviews, feedback, or other materials) to Synsto, you grant Synsto a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, and display that content in connection with our Services.

• You must own or hold all necessary rights to content you submit.
• Content must not violate any applicable laws or third-party rights.
• Content must not be harmful, abusive, defamatory, obscene, or misleading.
• We reserve the right to remove any content at our sole discretion, without notice or liability.

10. Prohibited Activities

You agree not to:

• Violate any applicable laws or regulations.
• Submit plagiarised, stolen, or infringing content.
• Infringe the intellectual property rights of any party.
• Provide false, misleading, or fraudulent information.
• Attempt to hack, disrupt, or damage the Services or any connected system.
• Use automated systems to scrape, crawl, or extract data from the platform.
• Distribute malware, viruses, or harmful code.
• Engage in piracy or unauthorised distribution of any content.
• Impersonate any person or entity.
• File false copyright or infringement claims.

Violation of any prohibited activity may result in immediate account termination and legal action.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Synsto Publishing, its directors, officers, employees, agents, licensors, and partners from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to:

• Your use of the Services.
• Any content you submit, post, or publish through the Services.
• Your violation of these Terms.
• Your violation of any rights of a third party, including intellectual property rights.
• Any claim that your submitted content caused damage to a third party.

This indemnification obligation survives termination of these Terms and your use of the Services.

12. Termination

Synsto may suspend or permanently terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without notice, if you:

• Violate these Terms or any referenced policy.
• Submit infringing, plagiarised, or unlawful content.
• Engage in fraudulent, abusive, or harmful conduct.
• Fail to provide identity verification when requested.

Upon termination, your right to use the Services ceases immediately. Termination does not relieve you of any obligations or liabilities incurred prior to termination.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Synsto does not warrant that:

• The Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure at all times.
• Any content on the platform is accurate, complete, or free from errors.
• The platform will be free from viruses or other harmful components.
• Any defects will be corrected.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Synsto Publishing, its directors, officers, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any:

• Indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages.
• Loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity.
• Damages arising from content submitted by authors or third parties.
• Damages arising from your reliance on any content available through the Services.

In all cases, Synsto's maximum aggregate liability to you shall not exceed the total amount you paid to Synsto in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, or INR 1,000 (whichever is lower).

Synsto is a publishing platform. We are not liable for the content, accuracy, originality, or legality of any work submitted or published by authors. Authors bear sole and full responsibility for their submissions.

15. Privacy

Your use of the Services is governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Please review it carefully to understand how we collect, use, and protect your personal data.

16. Third-Party Services

Our Services may integrate with or contain links to third-party services including payment processors (Razorpay), authentication providers (Google), and notification services (Firebase). Synsto is not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of any third-party service. Your use of third-party services is at your own risk and subject to their respective terms.

17. International Use

Synsto operates from India and our Services are accessible globally. If you access our Services from outside India, you are responsible for compliance with your local laws. Synsto makes no representation that the Services are appropriate or available in all locations.

18. Dispute Resolution

In the event of any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services, the parties agree to first attempt resolution through good-faith negotiation by contacting info@synsto.com.

If the dispute cannot be resolved within 30 days, it shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in New Delhi, India, under the laws of India.

For international users: by using our Services, you consent to the jurisdiction of Indian courts for any disputes related to these Terms.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, including the Indian Copyright Act 1957, the Information Technology Act 2000, and the Consumer Protection Act 2019, without regard to conflict of law principles.

20. Changes to Terms

Synsto may update or modify these Terms at any time. The updated Terms will be posted on this page with a revised effective date. Continued use of the Services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically.

21. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

22. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Cancellation and Refund Policy, Author Rights Guidelines, and Author Permissions Guidelines, constitute the entire agreement between you and Synsto regarding your use of the Services and supersede all prior agreements or understandings.

23. Contact Us

For general enquiries: info@synsto.com
For editorial and submission enquiries: editorial@synsto.com
Website: www.synsto.com