Terms of Service

Welcome to The Third Shore (thethirdshore.com, hereafter “the journal”). By using this site, registering an account, or purchasing a membership, you agree to the following terms.

1. About

The journal is an independently edited, irregularly published bilingual (Chinese / English) literary publication, operated by a single editor as a sole proprietorship.

2. Content and membership

Each issue’s current edition is free to read for everyone, no account required. The journal’s archive of past issues is available to paid members.

Membership is a one-time payment for permanent access, covering:

• All previously published issues currently in the archive;
• All future issues, once they move from current into the archive.

Memberships are non-transferable; account sharing is not permitted. The journal reserves the right to restrict accounts showing abusive usage patterns.

3. Refunds

All membership purchases are non-refundable. See the Refund Policy for full terms.

4. Cessation of publication

The journal reserves the right to cease publication at any time, at the sole discretion of the editor. Upon cessation, member archive access ends, and no prorated refunds are issued. This is disclosed before purchase and accepted as part of the transaction.

5. Copyright

Copyright in each work published by the journal remains with its original author. The journal holds non-exclusive rights to publish and display the work.

Members may read the journal’s content for personal, non-commercial use only. Without written permission from the original author, you may not:

• Reproduce, republish, adapt, or translate the journal’s articles;
• Use the content to train machine-learning / AI models or for any other automated data collection;
• Use the content for commercial purposes or public distribution.

6. Account

You are responsible for all activity under your account, including keeping your login credentials secure. You bear any loss arising from unauthorized account use. If you notice suspicious activity, contact support@thethirdshore.com immediately.

7. Termination

We reserve the right to terminate accounts and revoke memberships, without refund, where users: violate these terms; abuse the service (e.g. bulk scraping, account sharing, paywall circumvention); or attempt fraudulent payments.

8. Disclaimer

The journal is provided on an “as is” basis. We do our best to keep the service available, but make no guarantee of uninterrupted or error-free operation. We are not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service. Our total liability is capped at the membership fee you paid.

9. Privacy

Our handling of your personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

10. Changes

These terms may be updated. We will notify members of material changes on the site. Continued use of the service after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

11. Contact

For questions about these terms: support@thethirdshore.com.