Pincite Terms and Conditions

Effective: [date of publication]

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Pincite, an online AGLC4 citation generator. They form a binding agreement between you and Pincite Pty Ltd (ACN [insert] | ABN [insert]) ("Pincite", "we", "us" or "our").

By creating an Account, starting a Free Trial, or otherwise accessing or using Pincite, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms and that you are able to form a legally binding contract. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use Pincite.

Capitalised terms have the meanings given to them in clause 22 (Definitions).

1. About Pincite

1.1 The service. Pincite is a subscription website service that generates citations in the style of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th edition ("AGLC4"). Citations produced by Pincite are referred to in these Terms as "Output".

1.2 No affiliation with the AGLC4. Pincite is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the publishers of the AGLC4 or the University of Melbourne. Output is generated to be "AGLC4-style" using our own implementation and interpretation of the publicly available citation rules. "AGLC" and "Australian Guide to Legal Citation" are the property of their respective owners, and our use of those terms is descriptive only.

1.3 No artificial intelligence. Pincite does not use artificial intelligence or machine learning to generate Output. Output is produced by rules-based logic that we author and maintain.

2. Study aid only; no advice

Pincite is an aid only. It is not a substitute for your own knowledge of the AGLC4, and it is not legal, academic or professional advice.

2.1 Verification is your responsibility. You must independently verify every citation Pincite generates against the current AGLC4, and against any rules set by your institution, before you submit, publish, file or otherwise rely on it. Output is a starting point for your own work, not a finished product.

2.2 No guarantee of accuracy. Subject to clause 2.4, we do not represent, warrant or guarantee that Output is accurate, complete, current or correct, whether under the AGLC4 or any other citation standard, or that it will meet the requirements of your institution, faculty, course or marker. Citation rules and institutional requirements change, are interpreted differently by different markers, and contain edge cases that our implementation may not handle.

2.3 Not advice. Nothing Pincite produces is legal advice, academic advice, or professional advice of any kind. We are not a law firm, and we do not have a solicitor–client relationship with you.

2.4 Australian Consumer Law rights preserved. Nothing in this clause 2, or elsewhere in these Terms, excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified, including the guarantee that services will be supplied with due care and skill. We do not attempt to exclude that guarantee, and these Terms must not be read as stating that you have no rights against us. Clause 2.2 describes the limits of what a citation tool can promise; it is not a waiver of your statutory rights.

3. Academic integrity

Some institutions impose rules about which tools students may use in coursework, including citation generators. It is your responsibility to check and comply with your institution's academic integrity policy, and any rules it imposes about permitted tools, before using Pincite for an assessment. We make no representation about whether using Pincite complies with any particular institution's policies, and we are not responsible for the consequences if it does not. If you are unsure, you should consult your unit convenor or academic integrity office.

4. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age and able to form a legally binding contract in order to use Pincite. By creating an Account, you confirm that this is the case. If we become aware that an Account holder is under 18, we may close the Account, and where we do so we will refund any unused portion of Fees paid on that Account.

5. Your Account

5.1 Account required. You need an Account to save Projects or to subscribe to a Paid Plan.

5.2 Accurate information and security. You must provide accurate information when you register and must keep your login credentials secure.

5.3 Single user. Accounts are for one person. You must not share your login credentials, or permit anyone else to use your Account, including within a household, class or study group.

5.4 Responsibility for use. You are responsible for activity on your Account. You must notify us promptly if you believe your Account has been accessed by anyone else.

5.5 Contact. We will contact you about your Account, your Subscription, or the service using the email address on your Account. You must keep that address current and monitor it.

5.6 Marketing communications. We will only send you marketing or promotional emails if you have consented, and every such email will contain an unsubscribe link. Service and billing communications (for example, a failed payment or a change to these Terms) are not marketing and will be sent while you hold an Account.

6. Free Trial

6.1 New Accounts receive a two-week free trial of Pincite's paid features (the "Free Trial"). No payment card is required to start a Free Trial.

6.2 A Free Trial will not automatically convert into a paid Subscription. To continue using paid features after the Free Trial ends, you must actively select and pay for a Paid Plan.

6.3 If you do not subscribe, your access to paid features will pause, but we will retain your existing Projects in case you subscribe later (see clause 8.5).

6.4 One Free Trial is available per person. We may change the length or availability of the Free Trial for new users at any time, and doing so will not affect a Free Trial you have already started.

7. Subscriptions and billing

7.1 Plans and pricing. Current Paid Plans, pricing and Billing Cycles are set out on our pricing page at https://pincite.com.au/pricing, which is the source of truth for those matters. All prices are in Australian dollars.

7.2 Payment processing. Fees are processed by Stripe. We do not collect or store your full payment card details.

7.3 Recurring payments. By subscribing, you authorise us, through Stripe, to charge your nominated payment method for the applicable Billing Cycle until you cancel. You must keep your payment details current and valid.

7.4 Automatic renewal and reminders. Paid Plans renew automatically at the end of each Billing Cycle unless you cancel before the renewal date.

(a) You may turn off automatic renewal at any time in your Account settings, without contacting us.
(b) For any Paid Plan with a length exceding 2 months, we will endevour to email you a reminder at least 14 days before each renewal, stating the renewal date and the amount you will be charged.
(c) For monthly Paid Plans, your renewal date and amount are available at all times in your Account settings.

7.5 Failed payments. If a renewal payment fails, we or Stripe may retry the charge, and we will email you to update your details. If payment has not succeeded we may cancel your subscription. We will not charge a late fee or penalty.

7.6 Price changes. We may change our prices. If a change affects your Paid Plan, we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before it applies. If you do not accept the new price, you may cancel before it takes effect and you will not be charged the new amount. A price change never applies retrospectively to a period you have already paid for.

7.7 GST. Pincite is not currently registered for GST, as our turnover is below the registration threshold. No GST is charged on our prices, and no GST component is included in them. If we become registered for GST, we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before GST is added to your price, and you may cancel before it applies. You are responsible for any other taxes that apply to your purchase.

8. Cancellation, refunds and account deletion

8.1 Cancelling a Subscription. You may cancel your Subscription at any time through your Account settings, without giving a reason and without contacting us. On cancellation, you retain access to paid features until the end of the Billing Cycle you have already paid for, and you will not be charged again. Except for the guarantee in clause 8.2, we do not refund the remainder of a Billing Cycle merely because you have changed your mind or stopped using Pincite, because you retain the service you paid for until that period ends.

8.2 14-day money-back guarantee. If you take out a a Paid Plan longer than 2 months and it is not for you, you may notify us within 14 days and we will refund you in full, with no questions asked and no reason required.

(a) This guarantee applies to any new Paid Plan longer than 2 months, and to any upgrade from a monthly Paid Plan to Paid Plan longer than 2 months.
(b) The 14 days run from the date the payment is taken.
(c) You may request a refund by emailing us at support@pincite.com.au. We will process the refund through Stripe within five business days.
(d) Once refunded, your access to paid features ends and your Subscription is cancelled.
(e) This guarantee is available once per person per plan type. It is a genuine opportunity to try a longer plan, not a means of using Pincite without charge.
(f) Monthly Paid Plans are not covered.

8.3 Other refunds.

(a) Clauses 8.1 and 8.2 do not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
(b) If we suspend or terminate your Account because you breached these Terms (see clause 11.5), you are not entitled to a refund of the remaining Subscription period, except where the Australian Consumer Law requires one.
(c) If we terminate your Account for any reason other than your breach, or we permanently discontinue Pincite, we will refund the unused portion of any Fees you have prepaid, on a pro-rata basis.

8.4 Deleting your Account. Cancelling a Subscription is not the same as deleting your Account. Cancelling retains your Account and your Projects and stops only future billing. If you want your Account and all associated data deleted, you may do so in your Account settings, or by emailing us at support@pincite.com.au (we will action an emailed request within 30 days). Before we delete anything, we will prompt you to export your Projects. When you delete your Account, we remove your Account and Projects from our live systems immediately. Copies may remain in encrypted backups for a short period as those backups cycle, and are fully overwritten within 30 days, after which your data cannot be recovered.

8.5 Inactive Accounts. If your Account has no login activity for 24 months, we will delete it and its data, but we will not do so without warning you first. We will email you 30 days before deletion, and again seven days before deletion. Logging in at any point resets the 24-month period.

9. Referral program

If we offer a referral program, separate terms for it — including how rewards are earned and any conditions — will be made available at the relevant time. Those terms form part of your agreement with us if you take part.

10. Your Content

10.1 Ownership. You own the citation information and Project content you enter into Pincite ("Content"). Entering Content into Pincite does not transfer any ownership to us.

10.2 Licence to us. You grant us a non-exclusive licence to store, process and display your Content solely so that we can provide Pincite to you, and for the limited improvement purpose described in clause 10.3.

10.3 Product improvement; data commitments. We analyse aggregated and de-identified information about how citations are generated — for example, which citation types most often produce errors, or which fields users most often leave blank — so that we can identify and remedy the parts of Pincite that do not work well. We commit that:

(a) we will only use aggregated and de-identified data for this purpose, being data that does not identify you and from which you cannot reasonably be re-identified;
(b) we will never use your Content to train, fine-tune, evaluate or develop any artificial intelligence or machine learning model, whether our own or anyone else's;
(c) we will never sell your Content, or share it with data brokers or advertisers; and
(d) we will not publish your Project content.

10.4 Your warranties about Content. You must not enter into Pincite any material that is unlawful or that you do not have the right to use. You must not enter confidential, privileged, or personally sensitive material into Pincite, which is not designed for it and does not require it to build a citation.

11. Licence, intellectual property and restrictions

11.1 Licence grant. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable and revocable licence to access and use Pincite for your own personal and educational use only. This licence does not extend to commercial, professional, firm-wide or organisational use. If you wish to use Pincite in a legal practice, a business, or across an institution, you must contact us at support@pincite.com.au, as commercial and institutional licences are available on separate written terms. Any use outside this licence is unauthorised.

11.2 Restrictions. You must not, and must not help, permit or authorise anyone else to:

(a) copy, modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works based on Pincite, its underlying software, or its Output, beyond your own personal citation use as intended;
(b) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive or access the source code, citation logic, or algorithms underlying Pincite;
(c) use Pincite, its Output, or any content from our Website to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or otherwise develop any artificial intelligence or machine learning model;
(d) use Pincite, its Output, or any content from our Website to build, develop, or assist a competing product or service;
(e) scrape, crawl, harvest, or use bots, scripts or other automated means to extract data or generate citations in bulk, beyond normal individual, manual use;
(f) resell, sublicense, rent, lease, lend, distribute, share, or otherwise make Pincite available to any third party;
(g) remove, obscure, or alter any copyright, trade mark, or other proprietary notice on Pincite or its Output; or
(h) use Pincite for any unlawful purpose, or to breach these Terms.

11.3 Our intellectual property. Pincite's Website, software, citation logic, design, branding and all other content (excluding your Content) belong to us or our licensors, and are protected by copyright, trade mark and other laws. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you, and nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual property rights to you. "AGLC" and "Australian Guide to Legal Citation" are the property of their respective owners; our use of those terms is descriptive only, to explain what our tool does, and does not imply any affiliation, endorsement or partnership.

11.4 Fair use. We may suspend, limit or restrict your Account if we reasonably believe your usage is excessive, abusive, malicious, or outside normal use of Pincite by an individual, even if it is not specifically listed in clause 11.2. Before doing so, we will give you notice and a reasonable opportunity to remedy the problem, unless the usage is causing immediate harm to the service, to us, or to other users, or is plainly unlawful. If we act without notice, we will tell you why as soon as reasonably practicable, and you may dispute our action under clause 16.

11.5 Consequences of breach. If you breach clause 11.1, 11.2 or 11.4, we may:

(a) suspend or terminate your Account and your access to Pincite;
(b) take other steps reasonably necessary to stop the breach or prevent further harm; and
(c) pursue any legal remedy available to us, including damages and injunctive relief, particularly for misuse of our intellectual property.

We will give you notice and a reasonable opportunity to remedy the breach first, unless the breach is serious, deliberate, causing ongoing harm, unlawful, or incapable of being remedied, in which case we may act immediately. If we terminate your Account under this clause, you are not entitled to a refund of the remaining Subscription period, except where the Australian Consumer Law requires one.

11.6 Feedback. If you send us suggestions, feature requests, bug reports or other feedback, you agree that in doing so you transfer to us ownership of any comminicated content and that we may use it to maintain, operate and improve Pincite, with no obligation or payment to you. You are not obliged to provide feedback.

12. Indemnity

12.1 Scope. You indemnify us against all loss, damage, cost, expense or liability that we actually suffer arising from:

(a) your breach of clause 11.2 (Restrictions);
(b) your breach of clause 10.4 (entering Content you have no right to use, or that is unlawful); or
(c) your deliberate unlawful or fraudulent use of Pincite.
(e) Any other breach of this Aggrement by You.

12.2 Exclusions. This indemnity does not apply to any loss, damage, cost, expense or liability:

(a) arising from your ordinary, good-faith use of Pincite;
(b) to the extent it was caused or contributed to by our breach of these Terms, our negligence, or our unlawful conduct;
(c) that we could reasonably have avoided or reduced;

12.3 Conduct of claims. We will notify you promptly of any claim to which this indemnity might apply, give you a reasonable opportunity to remedy the underlying conduct, and will not settle any such claim without your consent, which you must not unreasonably withhold.

13. Availability, changes and discontinuation

13.1 Availability. We aim to keep Pincite available and functioning well, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. Planned or unplanned downtime, maintenance, or outages at third-party providers we rely on (such as Stripe, Supabase or Vercel) may affect availability. We do not offer a service level agreement or uptime guarantee.

13.2 Changes to features. We may add, change or remove features as Pincite develops. If we remove or materially reduce a feature that is a significant part of what you are paying for, we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email, and you may cancel before your next payment cycle.

13.3 Discontinuation. If we permanently discontinue Pincite, we will, where reasonably possible, give you at least 30 days' notice by email, give you the opportunity to export your Projects, and refund the unused portion of any Fees you have prepaid if appropriate.

14. Suspension and termination

14.1 Your rights. You may cancel your Subscription or close your Account at any time (see clauses 8.1 and 8.4), without giving a reason.

14.2 Our rights. We may suspend or terminate your Account if you breach these Terms (see clause 11.5), or if we reasonably believe it is necessary to protect Pincite, us, or other users, subject to the notice requirements in clause 11.5.

14.3 Termination for convenience by us. We may terminate your Account for convenience, for any other reason, by giving you at least 30 days' notice by email and refunding the unused portion of any prepaid Fees.

14.4 Effect of termination. On termination, your right to use Pincite ends. Our Privacy Policy explains how long we retain your data afterwards. You will have a reasonable opportunity to export your Projects before your data is deleted.

14.5 Survival. The following clauses survive expiry or termination of these Terms: clause 2 (Study aid only; no advice), clause 10.1 (Ownership), clause 10.3 (Product improvement; data commitments), clauses 11.2 and 11.3 (Restrictions and Our intellectual property), clause 12 (Indemnity), clause 15 (Liability), clause 16 (Complaints and disputes), clause 19 (General) and clause 20 (Governing law), together with any amounts you owe us. Our commitment never to train an artificial intelligence model on your Content survives indefinitely.

15. Liability

15.1 Australian Consumer Law rights come first. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified. Everything else in this clause 15 is subject to this clause 15.1.

15.2 "As is". Subject to clause 15.1, Pincite and its Output are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, and we exclude all warranties, conditions and guarantees other than those that cannot be excluded by law.

15.3 Liability cap. To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject always to clause 15.1, our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with these Terms or your use of Pincite is limited to the total amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose.

15.4 Excluded loss. Subject to clause 15.1, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, loss of opportunity, loss of data, lost marks, lost time, or academic or professional outcomes, arising from your use of, inability to use, or reliance on Pincite or its Output.

15.5 Liability we never exclude. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

15.6 Your contribution. Our liability is reduced to the extent that your own act or omission (including a failure to verify a citation as required by clause 2.1) caused or contributed to the loss.

16. Complaints and disputes

If you have a problem, we ask that you tell us first, as most matters can be resolved quickly.

(a) You may contact us at support@pincite.com.au with the details. We will acknowledge your complaint within five business days and will try to resolve it within 5 days.
(b) If we cannot resolve it, either of us may refer the dispute to mediation, or take it to a court or tribunal.
(c) This clause does not prevent you from making a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or your State or Territory consumer protection agency, or from bringing a claim in a tribunal such as the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, at any time. You are not required to complete this process first.
(d) This clause does not prevent either of us from seeking urgent injunctive relief.

17. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information, and forms part of these Terms. It also explains where your data is stored and processed, including where that is outside Australia.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

(a) For minor changes (for example, correcting a typographical error, clarifying wording, or updating our contact details), we will update the "Effective" date and post the new version on our Website.
(b) For material changes — being anything that meaningfully affects your rights or obligations, including price, refunds, liability or how we use your data — we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before they take effect.
(c) If you do not accept a material change, you may cancel before it takes effect and we will refund the unused portion of any Fees you have prepaid. Continuing to use Pincite after a material change takes effect means you accept it.
(d) We will not make changes that apply retrospectively to a period you have already paid for.

19. General

19.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, our Privacy Policy, and any other terms we specifically reference (such as referral program terms) are the entire agreement between you and us about your use of Pincite, and replace any earlier agreements or understandings.

19.2 No waiver. If we do not enforce a provision on one occasion, we do not give up the right to enforce it later.

19.3 Severability. If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remainder continues to apply.

19.4 Assignment. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. We may transfer ours — for example, if Pincite is sold, merged or restructured. We will email you before any transfer takes effect, so that you may export your Projects and delete your Account first if you prefer.

19.5 Force majeure. Neither of us is responsible for delays or failures caused by events reasonably outside our control, including outages at third-party providers we rely on (such as Stripe, Supabase or Vercel), internet or power failures, or other events beyond reasonable control. If such an event prevents us from providing Pincite for more than 30 days, you may cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of prepaid, unused Fees.

19.6 Notices. We will send notices to the email address on your Account. You may send notices to us at support@pincite.com.au. A notice is taken to be received on the business day after it is sent, unless it bounces.

19.7 Third-party links. Our Website may link to external resources. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, accuracy or availability.

20. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. You and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State.

21. Contact

Pincite Pty Ltd Email: support@pincite.com.au ACN: [insert] | ABN: [insert]

22. Definitions

In these Terms:

"Account" means the account you create to access Pincite.

"AGLC4" means the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th edition.

"Australian Consumer Law" means Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), and any equivalent State or Territory legislation.

"Billing Cycle" means the recurring period (for example, monthly) for which a Paid Plan is charged.

"Content" means the citation information and Project content you enter into Pincite, as described in clause 10.1.

"Fees" means the amounts payable for a Paid Plan, as set out on our pricing page.

"Free Trial" means the two-week free trial of Pincite's paid features described in clause 6.

"Output" means citations produced by Pincite.

"Paid Plan" means a paid Subscription to Pincite.

"Privacy Policy" means our privacy policy, available at https://pincite.com.au/privacy, as updated from time to time.

"Projects" means the citation work you save in your Account.

"Stripe" means Stripe, our third-party payment processor.

"Subscription" means your subscription to Pincite, whether under a Free Trial or a Paid Plan.

"Terms" means these Terms and Conditions, including the Summary and clause 22 (Definitions).

"Website" means the Pincite website at https://pincite.com.au and its subdomains and pages.

"you" and "your" mean the individual who accepts these Terms and uses Pincite.

Previous versions of these Terms are available on request.