Welcome to CandleBlog. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of CandleBlog and all related features, including article publishing, commenting, referrals, subscriptions, and revenue sharing (collectively, the “Service”).

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old (16 in the European Economic Area) to use CandleBlog. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this requirement and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. You are responsible for ensuring that your use complies with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction.

2. Account Registration

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to provide accurate and complete information during registration and to update it as needed. You may not impersonate another person or create multiple accounts to evade suspension or abuse the referral system.

3. Your Content

Ownership: You retain ownership of all content you publish on CandleBlog (“User Content”).

License to Us: By publishing User Content, you grant CandleBlog a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, display, reproduce, distribute, modify (for formatting), and promote your User Content on the Service and across our marketing channels. This license terminates when you delete your content or account, except for content already shared with other users or cached copies.

Responsibility: You are solely responsible for your User Content. You represent and warrant that:

You own or have the rights to publish the content;
Your content does not infringe any third-party rights (copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity);
Your content is not defamatory, obscene, illegal, or harmful;
Your content does not violate any applicable law.

CandleBlog does not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy of User Content and is not liable for any User Content.

4. Prohibited Conduct

You agree NOT to:

Publish illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or hateful content;
Infringe intellectual property rights of others;
Publish spam, misleading information, or deceptive content;
Impersonate any person or entity;
Upload malware, viruses, or any malicious code;
Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or hack the Service;
Use automated means (bots, scrapers) without our written permission;
Create fake accounts to manipulate referrals, views, or earnings;
Engage in click fraud or artificially inflate view counts or ad revenue;
Violate any applicable law or regulation;
Circumvent content moderation or paywalls;
Use the Service to publish content that promotes violence, terrorism, or discrimination.

We reserve the right to remove content, suspend accounts, and withhold earnings from users who violate these Terms, at our sole discretion.

5. Revenue Sharing & Payouts

CandleBlog offers revenue sharing from advertising and subscription pools. Revenue calculation uses the following model:

Public posts: platform retains 25% (base), reducing via RRR to as low as 2%;
Members-only posts: platform retains 45% (base), reducing via RRR to as low as 3%;
The Re-occurring Referral Rate (RRR) discount is based on your total referral tree size;
Withdrawals require a minimum balance of $50 and an unlocked account (via Candle+ subscription or 10 verified referrals);
Withdrawals are processed within 3-5 business days via bank transfer or PayPal.

CandleBlog reserves the right to modify revenue share percentages, pricing, and calculation methods at any time with reasonable notice. Earnings are estimates and subject to verification. We may withhold or reverse earnings obtained through fraud, fake traffic, or violation of these Terms.

You are solely responsible for any taxes owed on earnings received through CandleBlog. We may provide tax documentation as required by law, but we are not your tax advisor.

6. Subscriptions & Billing

Candle+ and Pro subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis and automatically renew until canceled. You can cancel anytime from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. All payments are processed via third-party providers (Stripe, PayPal) subject to their terms. See our Refund Policy for refund terms.

7. Referrals

Referral codes are personal and non-transferable. Creating fake accounts, buying signups, or otherwise manipulating the referral system is strictly prohibited and will result in account termination and forfeiture of any related benefits or earnings. The referral code custom name activation fee is non-refundable once the code is active. Code activation periods are final.

8. DMCA & Copyright

CandleBlog respects intellectual property rights. If you believe your copyrighted work has been infringed, send a notice containing: (a) identification of the copyrighted work; (b) the allegedly infringing content; (c) your contact information; (d) a statement of good faith belief; (e) a statement under penalty of perjury that you are authorized; (f) your physical or electronic signature. Send DMCA notices to dmca@chapteral.com. We will respond in accordance with applicable law.

9. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, for violation of these Terms, illegal activity, or any other reason we deem appropriate. Upon termination:

Your right to use the Service ends immediately;
Content you've published may remain visible or be removed at our discretion;
Unpaid earnings may be forfeited if termination was due to Terms violation;
Active subscriptions will not be refunded except as required by law.

You may terminate your account at any time via Settings → Danger Zone → Delete my account.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of viruses. We do not guarantee any specific earnings, view counts, or outcomes from using the Service. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CANDLEBLOG SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM:

Your use or inability to use the Service;
Any content obtained from the Service;
Unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or content;
Any other matter relating to the Service.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) USD $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitations on liability, so some of the above may not apply to you. In such cases, our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless CandleBlog, its operators, employees, contractors, and affiliates from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including attorneys' fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any law or third-party rights.

13. Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved through binding individual arbitration, not in court. You and CandleBlog agree to waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in class actions. The arbitration shall be conducted by a neutral arbitrator under the rules of a recognized international arbitration body.

This section does not prevent either party from seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property or confidential information.

You have 30 days from the first use of the Service to opt out of arbitration by emailing legal@chapteral.com.

14. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which CandleBlog operates, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any legal action not subject to arbitration shall be brought exclusively in the courts of that jurisdiction.

15. Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be notified via email or in-Service notice at least 7 days before they take effect. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Service.

16. Miscellaneous

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and CandleBlog regarding the Service. Our failure to enforce any right shall not constitute a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them freely.

17. Research Polls & Audience Access Fees

When you create a research poll on CandleBlog, your total cost is composed of a per-response price (determined by the number of questions, the targeting multiplier, and the target number of responses) plus flat Audience Access Fees applied once per poll when targeting filters are used. These fees cover the operational cost of reaching narrow or hard-to-access respondent pools and are non-negotiable. The current fee schedule is:

Any targeting filter applied: + $5.00 base access fee per poll.
Each standard country listed: + $2.00.
Each East Asian country listed (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau): + $3.00.
Each South American country listed (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, etc.): + $3.00.
Each listing that includes China (mainland, North China, or South China) or North Korea: + $50.00, reflecting the prohibitive cost of reaching those closed or hard-to-access respondent pools.

Audience Access Fees are charged from your author wallet when the poll is created and are non-refundable on cancellation, unlike the per-response escrow (which is refunded for any unspent balance). CandleBlog may adjust the fee schedule from time to time with notice; the live schedule shown on the poll-creation page is authoritative at the time of poll creation.

You will only be charged the per-response price for responses that pass our AI consistency gate. Rejected responses are not billed against your per-response escrow. Audience Access Fees are independent of response quality and are charged regardless of how many responses are collected.

18. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact us at legal@chapteral.com.

See also: Privacy Policy · Refund Policy