Terms & Conditions

IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. These Terms & Conditions (the “Terms”) form a binding legal agreement between you and PENNA, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company that operates PennaStory (“PENNA,” “PennaStory,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), governing your access to and use of our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the “Service”), through which adults can create custom AI-generated children's books. By creating an account, uploading content, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms contain a binding arbitration agreement and class action waiver (Section 18). They also contain important provisions about how we handle photographs and personal information of children (Sections 4–7), including our commitment to delete uploaded photographs after creating your child's digital character. Please review carefully.

1. Eligibility and Account Requirements

1.1 Adults Only

The Service is intended solely for use by adults aged 19 years or older (the age of majority in Nebraska) or, if you reside outside Nebraska, 18 years or older or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this requirement and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

1.2 Authority to Upload Content About Children

You may only upload photographs of, or personal information about, a child if one of the following is true:

• You are the child's parent or legal guardian; or
• You have received express, verifiable permission from the child's parent or legal guardian to upload such content for the specific purpose of creating a book through the Service, and you can produce documentation of that permission upon our request.

You agree to indemnify PennaStory for any claim arising from your failure to have proper authority under this Section 1.2.

1.3 Account Registration

To use most features of the Service, you must register an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to keep your account information up to date. You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for all activity occurring under your account.

1.4 No Use by Children

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly allow children under 13 to create accounts or directly use the Service. Children may appear in books created by adult users, but accounts and uploads must be controlled by an adult. If we learn that a child under 13 has created an account, we will terminate the account and delete associated personal information in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”).

2. Description of the Service

The Service allows you to upload photographs of a child (the “Source Photos”), provide identifying information about the child (such as name, age, hometown city or neighborhood, interests, and similar personal details) (“Child Information”), and use our artificial-intelligence-powered tools to generate a customized children's book featuring AI-generated illustrations and an AI-generated story (the “Book”).

From the Source Photos, the Service generates a stylized digital character (the “Character Avatar”) inspired by, but not a photorealistic reproduction of, the child. After the Character Avatar is created, the original Source Photos are deleted from our active systems in accordance with Section 5. Going forward, your Book(s) and any re-orders, edits, or new stories are produced from the Character Avatar — not from the original Source Photos.

The Service is provided in digital and/or physical print formats, as offered at the time of purchase. The Service uses third-party artificial intelligence models and infrastructure providers. While we choose providers carefully, AI output is inherently probabilistic and may contain inaccuracies, artifacts, or unexpected content. You acknowledge the experimental nature of AI-generated content and agree to review every Book before sharing it with the intended child.

3. Your Content and License Grant

3.1 Definition

“User Content” means all content you submit to the Service, including Source Photos, Child Information, story prompts, edits, customizations, and any other materials you upload, input, or generate using the Service.

3.2 Ownership

You retain all ownership rights in your User Content. We do not claim ownership of Source Photos or Child Information. As between you and PennaStory, you own the personalized story text and AI-generated illustrations included in your finalized Book, subject to our underlying rights in the Service, the AI models, the Character Avatar generation system, the templates, and any pre-existing assets.

3.3 License to PennaStory

You grant PennaStory a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, copy, process, transmit, display, modify, and create derivative works from your User Content solely for the following purposes:

• Providing, operating, and maintaining the Service for you;
• Generating the Character Avatar from your Source Photos;
• Generating, editing, printing, fulfilling, and delivering your Book;
• Storing the Character Avatar and Child Information to enable re-orders, edits, and new Books featuring the same child, subject to Section 5;
• Complying with legal obligations and enforcing these Terms; and
• Generating de-identified, aggregated analytics that cannot reasonably be used to identify you or any child.

This license terminates when you (or we) delete the relevant User Content, except to the extent retention is required by law.

3.4 No Use for AI Training

We do not, and will not, use Source Photos, Character Avatars, Child Information, or any other User Content depicting or identifying a child to train, fine-tune, or improve our or any third party's artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models. This is an absolute prohibition that is not subject to opt-in or opt-out. Our third-party AI providers are contractually prohibited from using your User Content to train their models.

3.5 Name, Image, and Likeness Grant

By uploading Source Photos and Child Information, you grant PennaStory a limited license to use the name, image, and likeness of the child(ren) depicted, solely for the purpose of generating the Character Avatar, producing, fulfilling, and delivering the Book(s) you request, and providing related customer support. We will not use a child's name, image, likeness, or Character Avatar for marketing, advertising, promotional, or public display purposes without your separate, prior, written consent, which you may grant or withhold in your sole discretion.

You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant this license, including from any other parent or legal guardian whose consent is required by law.

4. Children's Photos and Data — Special Provisions

This Section 4 contains important commitments regarding photos and information about children. It supplements (and, where inconsistent, controls over) the general User Content provisions.

4.1 Limited Purpose

Source Photos, Character Avatars, and Child Information are processed only for the purposes of: (a) generating the Character Avatar; (b) generating, editing, and producing your Book; (c) allowing you to preview, re-order, or reprint your Book or to create additional Books using the same Character Avatar; (d) providing customer support; (e) detecting fraud, abuse, or violations of these Terms; and (f) complying with law.

4.2 Source Photo Deletion

We delete original Source Photos from our active production systems promptly after the Character Avatar is successfully generated and you have had a reasonable opportunity to confirm the Character Avatar (typically within seven (7) days of Book finalization, and in no event later than thirty (30) days after Character Avatar creation). After deletion, we retain only the Character Avatar (a stylized, AI-generated illustration) and Child Information necessary for your Book(s) and re-orders. We do not retain the original Source Photos for ongoing book production.

Source Photos may persist temporarily in encrypted system backups created in the ordinary course; such backups are overwritten on a rolling basis and are not used for any production purpose.

4.3 No Sale, No Third-Party Marketing

We do not, and will not, sell or rent Source Photos, Character Avatars, or Child Information. We do not share Source Photos, Character Avatars, or Child Information with advertisers or for any advertising, marketing, or commercial purpose other than providing the Service to you.

4.4 Service Providers

We share Source Photos, Character Avatars, and Child Information with vetted service providers only as necessary to provide the Service, such as cloud hosting, AI image generation, print fulfillment, and shipping providers. These providers are contractually required to (i) use the data only for the purposes we direct, (ii) implement reasonable security measures, (iii) refrain from using the data to train AI models, and (iv) delete or return the data when no longer needed.

4.5 Biometric Information

The Service uses facial-feature analysis of Source Photos during the limited period in which the Character Avatar is being generated. To the extent any data we process constitutes “biometric information,” “biometric identifiers,” or similar regulated data under applicable law (including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, the Washington biometric privacy statute, and similar laws that may apply where you reside):

• We collect such data only with your informed consent, which you provide by uploading Source Photos and accepting these Terms and the separate Photo & Data Acknowledgment;
• We use such data only for the purpose of generating the Character Avatar;
• We do not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from such data;
• We protect such data using reasonable technical and organizational safeguards consistent with industry standards; and
• We delete such biometric data promptly after Character Avatar generation as described in Section 4.2, and in any event no later than three (3) years from your last interaction with the Service, or any shorter period required by applicable law.

The Character Avatar itself is a stylized, AI-generated illustration and is not intended to function as a biometric identifier. We do not use the Character Avatar to identify any individual.

4.6 Location and Identifying Information

If you choose to enter identifying information about a child such as a city, neighborhood, school, friends' or family members' names, or similar details, we use such information only to personalize the Book. We strongly recommend you avoid uploading exact home addresses, full school names, or other precise location identifiers, as the Book may be shared with others outside your control once delivered.

5. Data Retention and Deletion

5.1 Source Photos

Source Photos are deleted from active production systems as described in Section 4.2 — promptly after Character Avatar generation and confirmation, and no later than thirty (30) days after Character Avatar creation.

5.2 Character Avatars and Child Information

Character Avatars and Child Information are retained for as long as your account is active, so that you can re-order, reprint, or create new Books featuring the same child. If your account becomes inactive for twelve (12) consecutive months, we will notify you and may delete Character Avatars and Child Information after an additional thirty (30)-day grace period.

5.3 Your Right to Delete

You may delete any Character Avatar, any piece of Child Information, or your entire account at any time through the Service's account settings or by contacting [email protected]. We will honor verified deletion requests within thirty (30) days, subject to limited exceptions for legal compliance, fraud prevention, and backups that are overwritten in the ordinary course.

5.4 Finalized Book Files

Finalized Book files (containing AI-generated illustrations, not the original Source Photos) may be retained for a longer period to allow you to re-order or download your purchased Book, unless you specifically request their deletion.

5.5 Nebraska Data Privacy Act

If you are a Nebraska resident, you have certain rights under the Nebraska Data Privacy Act, including the right to access, correct, delete, obtain a copy of, and opt out of certain processing of your personal data. To exercise these rights, contact [email protected]. We will respond within forty-five (45) days, subject to any extension permitted by law. You may appeal a decision regarding your rights request by contacting [email protected].

6. Security

We use commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect User Content, including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. You acknowledge that you provide User Content at your own risk and that no system can be guaranteed against all unauthorized access.

If we become aware of a security incident affecting your User Content, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

7. Privacy Policy

Our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information is further described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. In the event of any conflict between these Terms and the Privacy Policy regarding the handling of Source Photos, Character Avatars, or Child Information, the more protective provision will control.

8. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Upload photographs of any individual without proper authority under Section 1.2;
• Upload sexually explicit, violent, harassing, defamatory, hateful, or otherwise objectionable content;
• Create content that sexualizes, endangers, or could foreseeably be used to harm any child;
• Upload photographs of public figures, celebrities, or any third party for the purpose of creating content depicting them;
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity, age, or relationship to any child depicted;
• Violate any applicable law or regulation, including child-protection, privacy, intellectual-property, and biometric-privacy laws;
• Reverse engineer, decompile, scrape, or attempt to extract the underlying models, prompts, Character Avatar generation system, or training data of the Service;
• Use any automated means (bots, crawlers, scrapers) to access the Service;
• Interfere with the operation of the Service, introduce malware, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the Service or related systems.

We may, in our sole discretion, refuse, remove, or refuse to print any User Content or Book that we believe violates these Terms or applicable law, and may suspend or terminate accounts engaged in prohibited uses.

9. AI-Generated Content

You acknowledge and agree that:

• The Character Avatar, illustrations, and story text in your Book are generated by artificial intelligence based on inputs you provide;
• AI-generated content may contain inaccuracies, anomalies, biases, unintended likenesses, or content that does not match your expectations;
• Multiple users providing similar inputs may receive similar outputs, and we do not warrant that any Character Avatar, illustration, or story will be unique;
• AI-generated content is not photographic reproduction of any real person and is not intended to be an accurate likeness;
• You are solely responsible for reviewing each Book before sharing it with a child or any other third party.

10. Purchases, Pricing, and Shipping

Prices for Books and other paid features are displayed at checkout and are subject to change. All purchases are processed by third-party payment processors; by purchasing, you authorize the charge to your selected payment method. Sales tax and shipping fees will be added where applicable.

Physical Books are shipped to the address you provide. Shipping times are estimates only. Title and risk of loss for physical Books pass to you upon delivery to the carrier.

10.1 Refunds and Returns

Because Books are custom-made for you, all sales are final and non-refundable except where required by law or in the case of manufacturing defects or shipping errors. If your Book arrives damaged or contains a printing defect, contact us within thirty (30) days of delivery and we will, at our option, reprint or refund the affected Book.

11. Intellectual Property

11.1 PennaStory IP

The Service, including all software, AI models, Character Avatar generation system, designs, text, graphics, logos, templates, story frameworks, and trademarks, is owned by PennaStory or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. Except for the rights expressly granted in these Terms, no rights in the Service are granted to you.

11.2 Your Book

Subject to your payment of all applicable fees and your continued compliance with these Terms, PennaStory grants you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, print, and display your finalized Book for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may share copies of the finalized Book with family and friends. You may not sell, license, distribute commercially, or create derivative works of the Book for commercial purposes without our prior written consent.

11.3 Feedback

If you provide suggestions, ideas, or feedback about the Service, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use them without obligation to you.

12. Copyright Complaints

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to our designated agent at [email protected]. Your notice must include the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3). We may terminate accounts of repeat infringers.

13. Disclaimers

The Service and all content are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied. PennaStory disclaims all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that AI-generated content will meet your expectations, be free of artifacts or inaccuracies, or be suitable for any particular child or audience.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will PennaStory or its affiliates, managers, members, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or related to the Service or these Terms, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total cumulative liability arising out of or related to the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the amounts you have paid to PennaStory in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100). Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of certain damages; in such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PennaStory and its affiliates, managers, members, officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your User Content; (b) your breach of these Terms; (c) your violation of any law or third-party right, including the rights of any child depicted in your User Content; (d) any claim that you lacked authority to upload Source Photos or Child Information; and (e) your use of the Service or the Book.

16. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms or if necessary to protect the Service or other users. You may terminate your account at any time through account settings or by contacting us. Upon termination, the licenses you grant to us survive only to the extent necessary to fulfill outstanding orders, to comply with law, and as set forth in Section 5. Sections 3, 5, 11–15, 17, 18, and 20 survive termination.

17. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Nebraska, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to Section 18 (Arbitration), the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any judicial proceeding (including for injunctive relief) will be the state and federal courts located in Lancaster County, Nebraska, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

18. Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES WITH PENNASTORY AND LIMITS THE MANNER IN WHICH YOU CAN SEEK RELIEF.

18.1 Agreement to Arbitrate

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service (a “Dispute”) will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small-claims court if your claims qualify. The arbitration will be conducted in Lancaster County, Nebraska (or by telephone or video, at your election), and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.

18.2 Class Action Waiver

Disputes will be brought only in your individual capacity, not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

18.3 30-Day Opt-Out

You may opt out of this Section 18 by sending written notice of your decision to [email protected] within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name, account email, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out will not affect any other portion of these Terms.

18.4 Exceptions

Either party may bring suit in court to seek injunctive relief to stop unauthorized use or abuse of the Service or intellectual-property infringement. Disputes related to the validity or enforceability of the class action waiver are decided by a court, not the arbitrator.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through the Service at least fourteen (14) days before they take effect. Material changes affecting how we handle Source Photos, Character Avatars, or Child Information will not apply retroactively to previously uploaded content without your consent. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

20. Miscellaneous

20.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any Photo & Data Acknowledgment or other policies referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and PennaStory regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.

20.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

20.3 No Waiver

Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that or any other provision.

20.4 Assignment

You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Any assignee will be bound by the same commitments regarding Source Photos, Character Avatars, and Child Information set out in these Terms.

20.5 Notices

We may provide notices to you by email or through the Service. You may provide notices to us at [email protected] or PENNA, LLC, 9421 Keystone Dr, Lincoln, NE 68516.

20.6 Contact

Questions about these Terms can be directed to [email protected].

© 2026 PENNA, LLC. All rights reserved.