Terms of use
These terms are a contract between you and Kaoru, the individual developer in Japan who operates duo·reader (“we”). By using duo-reader.com or the app at /app/, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the service.
Our Privacy notice is part of how the service works and should be read with these terms. Nothing here overrides a privacy right that the law gives you.
1. The service
duo·reader is a free, browser-based PDF reader with split view. There is no account, no paid plan in the current offering, and no promise of uptime, support, or a reply to Feedback.
We may change, limit, or discontinue the service at any time, including for maintenance or because a free project cannot be kept running. We will not be your document archive or system of record.
2. Your documents
You keep all rights in files you open. Opening a file does not assign those rights to us and does not send the file to our servers. You are responsible for:
- having the right to view the file on that device;
- the confidentiality and legal classification of what you open;
- export-control, professional-secrecy, and workplace rules that apply to you;
- keeping your own copies if the file matters. Clearing the browser deletes the local library. We cannot restore it.
3. Not advice, not a certified copy
The reader displays a rendering of a PDF. Layout, fonts, colours, and pagination can differ from another viewer or from print. duo·reader is not a law firm, not an e-discovery platform, and not an execution copy. Do not treat a view on screen as legal, tax, engineering, or compliance advice, or as proof of what a counterpart signed.
4. Acceptable use
You may not:
- use the service to break the law, or to view material you are not allowed to possess;
- attack, scrape in a way that degrades, or overload the site;
- probe other users’ browsers or attempt to reach our infrastructure beyond ordinary use;
- submit Feedback that includes others’ personal data, secrets, or document text;
- imply that we endorse, notarise, or host your file.
We may block access where we reasonably believe these terms are being abused.
5. Feedback
If you send Feedback, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free licence to use the text and technical metadata to operate and improve duo·reader. You still own your words. We do not agree to keep Feedback confidential and we generally do not reply. See Privacy for what is sent.
6. Our intellectual property
The duo·reader name, mark, site, and software (excluding your PDFs and excluding third-party components such as pdf.js) are ours or our licensors’. These terms give you a personal, revocable, non-exclusive right to use the hosted service. They do not sell the software or allow you to copy the service as your own product.
7. “As is” and liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, it is provided as is and as available, without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, quiet enjoyment, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that rendering is complete or that local storage will persist.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable for lost profits, lost documents, business interruption, or indirect or consequential loss, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, even if we were told that loss was possible. For a free service, our total liability for all claims in the aggregate is limited to USD 0, or the minimum amount a mandatory law requires if it will not allow zero.
Consumer protections we cannot waive. If you are a consumer in the EEA, the United Kingdom, Australia, or another place whose law does not allow us to exclude or limit certain rights, those rights stay. That includes non-excludable guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, and liability that the law says cannot be limited (for example death or personal injury caused by negligence in some countries, or fraud). Japan’s Consumer Contract Act, where it applies, likewise prevents a total exclusion of liability for wilful misconduct or gross negligence.
8. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Japan, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Courts in Japan have jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence where that is your mandatory right, and you keep the mandatory protections of that country’s consumer law.
9. Changes
We may update these terms by posting a new version here. The effective date will change. If you continue to use the service after that date, the new terms apply to that later use.
10. General
If a court finds a clause unenforceable, the rest remains. We may transfer our role as operator; you may not assign these terms. These terms are the entire agreement for use of the current free service. English controls over any translation.
Contact: kaoru@duo-reader.com.