Legal

Terms of Use

TL;DR — The short version
  • Free tier: High-speed access to public domain JSON. If you use the widget, our attribution link must stay visible.
  • Paid tier: Access to AI-generated tools like lexicons and cross-references. No mass-scraping to build competing services. Keep API keys private — public leaks will result in immediate termination with a pro-rated refund.
  • Enterprise tier: Direct D1 database and vector search integration, subject to contract rate limits.
  • Data & AI: Historical texts have natural OCR errors. AI-generated lexicons are for educational reference only. Everything is provided as-is.
  • Legal: No uptime SLA for free or paid tiers. Fraudulent chargebacks result in permanent ban. All disputes resolved via private binding arbitration in Toronto.

1. Welcome to OriginsAPI

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of OriginsAPI, which includes our API endpoints, embeddable widgets, documentation, datasets, and advanced AI features available at originsapi.com.

OriginsAPI is owned and operated by Sociable Studio (11 Bogert Ave, Toronto, Ontario M2N 0H4, Canada). By using our services in any capacity you agree to be legally bound by these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and the binding arbitration rules in Section 8. If you do not agree, you are not authorised to use the platform.

2. Service tiers

A. Free API tier (public domain JSON and widgets)

Open access to all underlying raw text translations, beginning with our structured Bible translation JSON files. No account, login, or API key required.

  • No artificial rate limits for standard usage
  • We reserve the right to block any IP or domain showing broken script loops, denial-of-service patterns, or infrastructure abuse
  • Widget use permitted subject to the attribution requirement in Section 3 below

B. Paid API tier (AI-generated scholarly enhancements)

Access to premium scholarly tools including custom cross-references, deep lexicons, and structural annotations generated by our proprietary AI workflows. Requires a paid account and active subscription processed through Stripe.

  • API key security: Your keys are strictly confidential. You may not share, sell, or lease them to third parties. Any activity under your keys is your responsibility.
  • Public leak violation: Publicly exposing your API key (e.g., committing to a public repository or embedding in client-side code) is a violation of these Terms. Any key found publicly online will be immediately revoked and the account terminated. See Section 6 for refund rules.
  • Anti-scraping: While base texts are public domain, the structured cross-references and lexicons are custom-built by OriginsAPI. You are granted a licence to integrate this data into your applications and commercial products, but you are strictly prohibited from mass-scraping or downloading our entire AI-generated dataset to train a competing AI model or build a cloned data-delivery service.

C. Enterprise tier (live database and vector search)

Direct integration with our live Cloudflare D1 databases, advanced vector search queries over all indexed historical texts, and custom AI workflows. Subject to strict query quotas and rate-limiting rules outlined in your enterprise contract.

3. Widget agreement and attribution

When you use the OriginsAPI widget builder and click "I agree" before receiving your embed code, you are entering into a binding clickwrap agreement to these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. This agreement is recorded through your use of the embed code.

As a condition of using the widget:

  • The originsapi.com attribution mark and link must remain fully visible and unmodified at all times
  • Hiding or stripping the attribution via CSS, JavaScript, iframes, or any other method is a direct violation of these Terms
  • The widget may only be embedded on sites that comply with the prohibited content restrictions in Section 4
  • We reserve the right to block widget access to any domain without notice

4. Prohibited content and platform misuse

The API and widget may not be used on any platform that displays, distributes, or promotes:

  • Adult, sexually explicit, or pornographic content
  • Hate speech or discrimination targeting protected groups based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age, or disability
  • Content glorifying, promoting, or instructing violence or self-harm
  • Illegal activities including fraud, malware, scams, or phishing
  • Disinformation networks designed to mislead the public

You also agree not to reverse-engineer our API pipeline, bypass payment mechanisms, or intentionally overload our edge delivery network.

5. Data accuracy, OCR errors, and AI lexicon disclaimer

Public domain status. All historical source texts served by OriginsAPI are in the public domain globally. We claim no copyright over the raw historical texts themselves.

OCR limitations. Our source materials are digitised from historical scans using Optical Character Recognition. Because of the age and condition of original printings, raw scans naturally contain text errors, misspellings, and formatting glitches.

Our verification workflow. We use a hybrid verification process: AI agents scan our databases to flag potential digitisation errors, which are then routed for manual human review and approval before corrections are applied.

AI Lexicon disclaimer: Lexicons, language translations, and cross-references generated by our AI systems are provided strictly for informational, educational, and research reference. We do not warrant or guarantee the absolute linguistic accuracy, theological infallibility, or contextual perfection of any AI-generated definition, lexicon entry, or annotation. Linguistic analysis and root-word tracking are inherently interpretive.

As-is disclaimer. All text data is provided "as-is" and "with all faults." By using our API or widget you accept the data with these inherent limitations. If you discover a textual error, please report it via our contact page — reports go directly into our backend verification queue for human review.

6. Billing, cancellations, and chargeback policy

Cancellations. You may cancel your paid plan at any time from your account dashboard. You retain access to your premium API keys until the end of your current prepaid billing cycle.

Standard refunds. Because we incur immediate edge orchestration and pipeline costs, we do not offer prorated refunds for partial months if you choose to cancel early, or if an account is banned for malicious behaviour.

Leaked key exception. If your account is terminated because your API key was publicly exposed, we will issue a pro-rated refund for the remaining unused days of your current billing month.

Anti-fraud and chargeback policy:

If you have an issue with your subscription, contact us via our support form to resolve it. Filing a fraudulent, bad-faith, or unauthorised payment dispute or chargeback via Stripe or your credit card issuer will result in the immediate and permanent blacklisting of your account, API keys, associated organisation, IP address, and domain from our network. We reserve the right to report payment fraud to relevant collection registries.

7. Uptime, warranties, and liability

A. No uptime guarantee (no SLA)

While our static JSON infrastructure is highly distributed via Cloudflare's global edge network, we do not offer a Service Level Agreement or guarantee uninterrupted uptime for our free or standard paid tiers. Network disruptions, edge provider maintenance, server migrations, or security mitigations may cause temporary interruptions. Downtime does not entitle free or paid tier users to credits, compensation, or refunds. Guaranteed SLAs are reserved for custom enterprise contracts only.

B. Disclaimer of warranties

OriginsAPI is provided "as is" and "as available." To the furthest extent permitted by applicable law, Sociable Studio disclaims all express or implied warranties, including merchantability, non-infringement, or fitness for a particular purpose.

C. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Sociable Studio shall not be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages. For paid tiers, our cumulative liability for any claim is strictly capped at the subscription fees you paid to us in the twelve months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the dispute. For free tier users, our legal liability is zero.

D. Indemnification

You agree to defend and hold harmless Sociable Studio from any third-party claims, lawsuits, or financial losses (including legal costs) resulting from your violation of these Terms, your misuse of our data, or content on the website where you have deployed our API or widget.

8. Governing law, arbitration, and class-action waiver

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Binding arbitration. Except where prohibited by applicable law, you agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or our services will be resolved exclusively through binding, confidential arbitration rather than in a public court. Arbitration will be conducted in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in English, under the simplified rules of the Arbitration Act (Ontario). The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding on both parties.

Class-action waiver: All claims must be brought in an individual capacity. You agree that an arbitrator cannot consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of class or representative proceeding.

Non-arbitrable claims. If for any reason a dispute proceeds in court, both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the provincial and federal courts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

9. Changes to these terms

We update these terms as we roll out new features. When changes are made, the date at the top of this page will be updated. Your continued use of our endpoints or widgets after changes go live constitutes your legal acceptance of the updated terms.

10. Contact and abuse reporting

To report a website violating our content policy, or to submit a technical or legal enquiry, contact us at hello@originsapi.com or via our contact page.

Sociable Studio
11 Bogert Ave
Toronto, Ontario M2N 0H4
Canada