Terms of Service

Last updated: August 23, 2026

Hotlist ("Hotlist", "we", "us", or "our") provides these Terms of Service (this "Agreement") governing access to the website at hotlist.world and related offerings (collectively, the "Platform").

By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to be bound by this Agreement. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

1. The Hotlist Platform

1.1 Registration

Reading a list someone has shared with you does not require an account. Creating lists of your own does. You must register with accurate information, and you are responsible for everything that happens under your account and for keeping your credentials secure. Notify us at hi@hotlist.world if you believe your account has been accessed by someone else.

One person, one account. The username you claim is permanent, because it is the address of your profile and the byline on anything you make public.

1.2 Age

The Platform is not intended for minors under 18. Anyone under 13 may not use the Platform under any circumstances. If you are between 13 and 18, you may use the Platform only with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by this Agreement on your behalf.

1.3 Your content

You retain ownership of the lists, items, notes, tags and images you create on the Platform ("Your Content"), excluding any third-party content they incorporate. We claim no ownership of Your Content.

You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, back up, transmit and display Your Content solely for the purpose of operating and maintaining the Platform and delivering it to you and to anyone you have chosen to share it with. This licence exists only so that the Platform can function. It terminates when you delete Your Content or your account, subject to Section 3.2 and to residual copies in routine backups.

We do not use Your Content to train machine learning models, and we do not use Your Content for marketing without asking you first.

2. Usage Requirements

2.1 Usage data

You grant us the right to collect and analyse data about how the Platform is used, in order to operate, secure and improve it. How that data is handled is described in our Privacy Policy.

2.2 Prohibited activities

You may not:

• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of any part of the Platform not published by us
• scrape, crawl, or use automated means to extract data from the Platform, or place unreasonable load on it
• circumvent, disable or test the security, rate limits, access controls or sharing permissions of the Platform
• access another user's account, or private lists you have not been given access to
• resell, sublicense or commercially redistribute the Platform or its contents
• use the Platform to send spam or unsolicited commercial messages
• impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with one
• harass, threaten, defame or invade the privacy of any person
• upload or link to malware, or to anything designed to interfere with the Platform or its users

2.3 Content warranties

You represent and warrant that Your Content, and your use of the Platform, will not:

• violate any applicable law or regulation
• infringe any copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy, publicity or other right of any third party
• contain sexual content involving minors, or content that sexualizes or exploits minors in any way
• promote or incite violence against any person or group
• contain personal information about another person that you do not have the right to publish

We may remove content that violates this Agreement, and may suspend or terminate accounts that repeat such violations, in either case without prior notice.

3. Your Content and Public Lists

3.1 Private by default

A list you create is private to your account until you choose otherwise. You decide what becomes public and what is shared by link.

3.2 What making a list public means

Making a list public means anyone can read it, including search engines, and anyone can copy it into their own account and keep that copy. Making the list private again, or deleting it, does not reach copies that were already made. Treat a public list the way you would treat a public web page, and do not put anything in one that you would not publish under your own name.

3.3 Share links

A share link grants read-only access to whoever holds it, with or without an account, and may be protected with a password you set. You may revoke a share link at any time, which breaks it for everyone holding it. You are responsible for who you give a share link to.

4. Term and Termination

This Agreement applies for as long as you use the Platform.

You may stop using the Platform at any time, and may request deletion of your account and its contents by writing to hi@hotlist.world from the address on the account.

We may terminate or suspend your access on 30 days' notice. We may do so immediately and without notice where you have materially breached this Agreement, where continued access would expose us or other users to legal liability or security risk, or where we are required to act by law.

We may also discontinue the Platform, in whole or in part, at any time. Where we do so voluntarily, we will give reasonable advance notice so that you can retrieve Your Content. Sections 1.3, 3.2, 5, 6 and 7 survive termination.

5. Proprietary Rights

5.1 Our rights

Other than Your Content, everything on the Platform, including its software, design, text, graphics, the Hotlist name and the Hotlist logo, is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property law. Nothing in this Agreement grants you any right to use our trademarks without our prior written permission.

5.2 Third-party material

Some catalog information shown alongside items, such as cover art, titles, creators and release details, is supplied by third-party sources under their own licences and terms. It is provided as it reaches us, is not guaranteed to be accurate, and remains the property of its respective owners.

5.3 Copyright complaints

If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, email hi@hotlist.world with: a description of the work you claim has been infringed; the location of the material on the Platform; your contact details; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on their behalf; and your physical or electronic signature.

We will investigate and remove infringing material where appropriate. Accounts that repeatedly infringe will be terminated.

6. Indemnification; Disclaimer; Limitations on Liability

6.1 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Hotlist and anyone operating it from any claim, demand, loss, liability or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of Your Content, your use of the Platform, or your breach of this Agreement or of any law or third-party right.

6.2 Disclaimer

THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, secure, error free, or that Your Content will never be lost or corrupted. Keep your own copy of anything you cannot afford to lose.

6.3 Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, GOODWILL OR BUSINESS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE PLATFORM, WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE PLATFORM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE SIX MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages. In those jurisdictions, the exclusions and limitations above apply only to the extent permitted.

7. Miscellaneous

7.1 Governing law and jurisdiction

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York, United States, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. You and we agree that the state and federal courts located in New York have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Platform, and each party consents to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

7.2 Changes to this Agreement

We may modify this Agreement from time to time. Where a change is material, we will give at least 14 days' notice through the Platform or by email before it takes effect, and will update the date at the top of this page. Continuing to use the Platform after a change takes effect means you accept it. If you do not accept a change, stop using the Platform and request deletion of your account.

7.3 General

If any provision of this Agreement is held unenforceable, that provision will be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder will stay in force. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign this Agreement without our written consent; we may assign it in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets. This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy, is the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Platform.

7.4 Contact

Questions about this Agreement go to hi@hotlist.world.