Last updated: October 4, 2026
These Terms describe our commitments to you and your rights and responsibilities when using Lecture Hat. They are an agreement between you and Lecture Hat, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Lecture Hat," "we," or "us"). If you do not agree, do not use the Services. By accepting these Terms when signing up or otherwise using the Services after they are presented to you, you agree to them.
SECTION 16 REQUIRES BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND INCLUDES A CLASS-ACTION AND JURY-TRIAL WAIVER. YOU MAY OPT OUT WITHIN 30 DAYS AS DESCRIBED THERE.
Course Pilot participants accept separate course-specific Pilot Terms, which exclusively govern activity within that course. Section 23 explains this distinction. Our Privacy Policy remains the notice of our actual processing, and an executed institutional data processing addendum controls the personal data it covers.
These Terms govern your access to the software, applications, extensions, and related products we provide through or for lecturehat.com, legacy askcactus.com addresses, our iOS application, our macOS desktop application, and our browser extensions (the "Services"). Lecture Hat provides an AI-assisted workspace for notes, documents, research, and learning. Features can include audio transcription, document processing, document compilation, and running code in a sandbox.
The features and usage limits available to you depend on your plan and the settings of any class or team you join. Additional terms apply to particular features as specified in Section 19. If you accept these Terms on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind it.
2.1 You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter a binding contract to access or use the Services. The Services are not offered to anyone under 18, including with parental consent. We may terminate an underage account and handle deletion under our Privacy Policy.
2.2 Give us complete and accurate account information and keep it current so we can communicate about your account, changes to these Terms, or complaints concerning your use. We may restrict access until we can verify your account information, including your email address.
2.3 You are responsible for your use and activity under your account. Protect your credentials and the devices you use, do not share or misuse credentials, and promptly notify [email protected] of unauthorized access. We may suspend an account we reasonably believe is compromised.
3.1 Some Services are offered for a fee (a "Subscription"). The selected plan, price, billing frequency, and included features are displayed before purchase. Our Refund & Subscription Policy supplies the complete billing terms and controls billing conflicts with these Terms.
3.2 Provide accurate and current payment information. Payments are processed by Stripe; we do not store your full payment-card number. Prices are in U.S. dollars and exclude applicable indirect taxes unless stated otherwise. Any tax collected is displayed at checkout.
3.3 By enrolling in a Subscription, you authorize us, through Stripe, to charge the disclosed initial price and then the applicable subscription fees and taxes for each renewal period until you cancel. Monthly plans renew monthly; annual plans renew annually. A discount or promotion lasts only for the period disclosed when you enroll.
3.4 Cancel before your next renewal using the online billing controls described in the Refund & Subscription Policy. A free trial with no payment method does not itself create a paid Subscription. If you separately subscribe during a trial, the price and first charge date shown at checkout apply.
3.5 We may change prices for future billing periods with advance notice and an opportunity to cancel, as described in the Refund & Subscription Policy and as required by applicable law. A failed payment may lead to suspension of paid features. These Terms do not waive any mandatory automatic-renewal or consumer right.
4.1 You may cancel at any time through your in-product billing settings, or contact [email protected] if you cannot use them. Cancellation stops future renewals; access continues through the current paid term unless you request account deletion or we terminate access under Section 11.
4.2 Except for the refunds expressly provided by these Terms, the Refund & Subscription Policy, an accepted checkout or billing-portal adjustment, or applicable law, payments are final and we do not refund partial periods. We may also provide a discretionary refund or credit.
4.3 Please report suspected billing errors promptly, preferably within 30 days. This reporting request does not shorten a legal right to dispute a charge. App Store purchases, if offered, are subject to the store billing and refund process and your mandatory rights.
4.4 You may contact us to resolve a charge dispute, and you retain your rights with your payment provider. We may suspend paid access associated with an unpaid disputed charge while it is unresolved. We do not treat a good-faith billing inquiry as a waiver of consumer rights.
5.1 "Your Content" means the notes, documents, recordings, transcripts, prompts, messages, and other material you submit or create through the Services. As between you and Lecture Hat, you retain your rights in Your Content, subject to the AI-output provisions in Section 8.
5.2 You grant Lecture Hat a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to host, reproduce, adapt, transmit, and display Your Content for the purpose of providing and securing the Services for you and the people you authorize to access it. This includes making transcripts, summaries, embeddings, indexes, and document renders. We may sublicense these rights only to service providers acting for us. This license does not authorize selling Your Content, advertising uses, or model training. Any non-training review of Your Content must stay within those service-delivery and security purposes or be authorized by separate, specific permission, subject to applicable law and an executed DPA.
5.3 Lecture Hat does not use Your Content to train, fine-tune, or otherwise adjust the parameters of an AI model. Any future training use by Lecture Hat would require your separate affirmative opt-in consent. Third-party processing has feature-specific limitations described in the Privacy Policy, AI Use Disclosure, and Subprocessor List; this statement does not promise that every provider retains no data or has identical training terms. We have not verified the contractual coverage and provider settings required to approve ElevenLabs for institution-controlled data, including provider-level logging and model-improvement opt-outs for live captions and text-to-speech such as Read Aloud and narrated lessons on web and native apps.
5.4 You are responsible for Your Content and must have the rights and permissions needed to submit, record, use, and share it. Your Content must comply with applicable law and the Acceptable Use Policy, including intellectual-property, privacy, and confidentiality requirements.
5.5 Sharing controls determine who can access Your Content. A published read-only link may be opened by anyone with the URL without signing in. Only publish material you have permission to make accessible in that way. Disable a link to stop future access; copies already obtained by others may remain.
5.6 If you delete Your Content, we use reasonable efforts to remove it from active use and public view, but caches and backup copies may not disappear immediately. The license continues only as needed for retained copies, legal obligations, security, or existing authorized access during deletion, as described in the Privacy Policy. We may remove content that reasonably appears to violate these Terms or applicable law.
6.1 These Terms do not transfer any Lecture Hat or third-party intellectual property to you. As between us, all rights in our Services, software, designs, and marks remain with Lecture Hat or our licensors. Subject to these Terms, you may use the Services for your personal or internal organizational purposes. Downloadable applications are also subject to the EULA.
6.2 You may not copy, sell, lease, sublicense, or reverse engineer the Services except as expressly permitted, required by an applicable open-source license, or protected by law. Using the Services does not grant permission to use our trademarks or any third party's trademarks.
6.3 When you give us suggestions, comments, or ideas about the Services ("Feedback"), you grant us a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use that Feedback without compensation. Feedback does not include your private notes, documents, or recordings merely because you use the Services.
6.4 We respect others' intellectual property. If you believe content infringes your copyright, follow the Copyright (DMCA) Policy. We maintain a policy providing for termination in appropriate circumstances of repeat infringers.
Your content and conduct must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy, which is part of these Terms. Among other requirements, do not use the Services unlawfully, infringe others' rights, disclose personal information without authorization, send spam, distribute malware, interfere with networks, or impose an unreasonable load on our infrastructure.
8.1 AI features are automated systems and are not a substitute for human oversight. As between you and Lecture Hat, you retain your rights in the material you supply as Input, and we assign to you any rights Lecture Hat may have in Output generated for you, to the extent permitted by law.
8.2 Output may be inaccurate, irrelevant, incomplete, fabricated, harmful, or similar to material generated for another user. An assignment from us does not guarantee that Output is unique, copyrightable, or free of third-party rights. You must review and verify Output before using, publishing, or relying on it, and are responsible for its use.
8.3 Comply with your institution's rules on AI assistance and academic integrity. The Services do not replace medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice. The AI Use Disclosure contains additional applicable AI conditions and describes providers and processing limitations. It does not reduce our privacy obligations or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
9.1 You may choose to connect or use products, websites, integrations, or accounts operated by third parties. Unless we say otherwise, those services are not controlled or endorsed by Lecture Hat, and their terms and privacy practices govern your relationship with them. A link alone does not imply endorsement.
9.2 Review permissions before granting an integration access. You must have authority to connect an institutional or learning-management-system account. The Study Companion Terms and Study Companion Privacy Policy apply to that extension. Our use of vendors to provide Lecture Hat is described separately in the Privacy Policy and Subprocessor List.
Recording requirements differ by jurisdiction and situation. Before recording another person, satisfy every applicable consent, notice, and other requirement and any course or venue policy. See Recording Consent. Lecture Hat does not generate voiceprints or use voice as a biometric identifier; the Privacy Policy describes audio processing.
11.1 You may stop using the Services at any time, cancel a Subscription under Section 4, or request account deletion in the account settings. Uninstalling an application or scheduling account deletion does not by itself immediately stop Subscription renewals. Cancel through the billing controls before requesting deletion, or contact support if deletion has already blocked access, as explained in the Refund & Subscription Policy.
11.2 We may restrict features, remove content, or suspend or terminate access if we reasonably believe you violate these Terms or applicable law, create a security or legal risk, or impose an unreasonable burden on the Services. We may also discontinue service where continued operation is no longer commercially reasonable. Where practicable and lawful, we will notify you and give you an opportunity to address a breach. If we terminate or suspend a paid Subscription for reasons other than your breach, we will refund prepaid fees for the unused remainder of the paid term.
11.3 After termination, your right to access the Services ends. Export any material you need before requesting deletion. Deletion and any permitted retention follow the Privacy Policy. We cannot guarantee recovery of deleted content. Any statutory right to retrieve qualifying content after termination remains available; ending account access does not by itself extinguish that right.
11.4 Accrued payment obligations and provisions concerning content rights, intellectual property, AI-output responsibility, disclaimers, liability, indemnification, disputes, and general terms survive to the extent needed to give them effect. A content license does not survive more broadly than Section 5 permits.
The Services are provided "as is" and "as available." To the maximum extent allowed by law, Lecture Hat and its licensors disclaim express and implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that access will be continuous or uninterrupted, that the Services or AI Output will be error-free, or that content will never be lost. You download or otherwise obtain content through the Services at your discretion. These disclaimers do not exclude mandatory warranties, data-protection duties, or consumer remedies.
13.1 To the extent permitted by law, Lecture Hat and its directors, officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages; loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, or data; interruption of use; or the cost of substitute services arising from these Terms or the Services.
13.2 Our total cumulative liability will not exceed the greater of US$100 or the fees you paid Lecture Hat during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim. These limits apply under contract, negligence, strict liability, or other legal theory, even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.
13.3 Nothing excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited, including applicable liability for death or personal injury, fraud, willful misconduct, or mandatory consumer and privacy rights. These exclusions and caps do not reduce a refund we promise under these Terms or the Refund & Subscription Policy. If your jurisdiction does not permit a particular exclusion, that exclusion does not apply to you.
14.1 To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Lecture Hat and its officers, directors, employees, and agents against third-party claims and reasonable resulting costs, including attorneys' fees, arising from Your Content infringing another person's rights, your unlawful use of the Services, or your breach of these Terms. This does not cover a claim to the extent caused by Lecture Hat's gross negligence or willful misconduct.
14.2 We will promptly notify you of a claim for which we seek indemnification, permit you to control its defense, and reasonably cooperate. We may participate with separate counsel at our expense. You may not settle a claim in a way that admits fault or imposes obligations on us without our written consent.
Except where mandatory law provides otherwise, Delaware law governs these Terms, excluding conflict-of-law rules. Subject to Section 16, disputes will be brought in the state or federal courts in New Castle County, Delaware, and each party consents to their jurisdiction. Either party may instead bring an eligible small-claims case in the county of your residence. This choice does not deprive you of non-waivable protections or court access under the law where you live.
Read this Section carefully. It affects how you and Lecture Hat resolve disputes.
16.1 Except for the exceptions below, you and Lecture Hat agree to resolve disputes arising from these Terms or the Services by binding individual arbitration. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this agreement to arbitrate.
16.2 Before starting arbitration, send a written Notice of Dispute stating your name, account email, the issue, and the relief you seek to [email protected] or Lecture Hat, Inc., 7710 SW 67th Ave, South Miami, FL 33143-4532, Attn: Legal. Our notice will go to your account email. The parties will attempt informal resolution for 60 days after receipt before filing arbitration. Applicable limitations periods are tolled during this process.
16.3 The American Arbitration Association ("AAA") will administer arbitration before one arbitrator under its applicable Consumer Arbitration Rules. Hearings may take place in the county where you live or in Wilmington, Delaware, subject to those rules and required consumer protections. Documents-only, telephone, or video proceedings may be used as the rules permit. A court with jurisdiction may enter judgment on the award.
16.4 Filing fees, administrative fees, arbitrator compensation, and any allocation of costs follow the applicable AAA consumer rules and fee schedule. Lecture Hat will pay the amounts those rules require the business to pay. Any statutory right to recover attorneys' fees or costs remains available.
16.5 Each party may bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not preside over class or representative arbitration or combine different users' claims without all parties' consent, to the extent this restriction is lawful.
16.6 If coordinated filings qualify for AAA's mass-arbitration procedures, the applicable AAA procedures govern administration. This clause does not require unrelated users to share one merits hearing or arbitrator, and does not change the individual nature of each claim.
16.7 By agreeing to arbitration, both parties waive a judge or jury trial for claims required to be arbitrated.
16.8 A court decides whether an arbitration agreement was formed, which agreement governs when separate agreements conflict, the enforceability and scope of the class-action waiver, and any other issue that applicable law reserves to a court. Subject to those exceptions, the arbitrator decides disputes about this arbitration agreement's interpretation, applicability, or enforceability. This delegation does not override the Course Pilot or executed institutional agreement rules in Sections 19.2 and 23.
16.9 Either party may bring eligible individual claims in small-claims court or seek injunctive relief in court for infringement or misuse of intellectual property. Claims or relief that cannot lawfully be waived or arbitrated remain available in the appropriate court. If AAA will not administer a claim under this clause and the parties cannot agree to a lawful alternative, that claim may proceed in court under Section 15.
16.10 You may opt out by emailing [email protected] with the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out," or mailing our address above, within 30 days after first accepting these Terms. Include your full name and account email. Opting out does not affect other terms or your access. We will confirm receipt in writing.
16.11 If the class-action waiver cannot be enforced for a claim or form of relief, that part proceeds in court and any separable arbitrable claims remain subject to this Section. Class arbitration is never authorized. Other invalid provisions are severed if the remainder can lawfully operate. This Section survives termination and does not alter the separate court or transfer-clause regime of an executed institutional DPA.
17.1 We may add, update, retire, or discontinue features to improve functionality or performance, address technical or security needs, comply with law, or adapt to changes in necessary third-party services. If we discontinue or materially degrade a feature that is a material part of your paid Subscription, you may cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of prepaid fees for the unused remainder of that term.
Where EU digital-services consumer rules apply, changes beyond those needed to maintain conformity require a valid contractual reason, no additional charge, and clear information. For a change with more than a minor negative effect on access or use, we will provide notice reasonably in advance on a durable medium, such as email, describing the change, timing, and termination rights. You may terminate without charge within 30 days of receiving that notice or of the change, whichever is later, unless we enable continued use of the unchanged, conforming service without extra cost. Statutory refunds and any longer notice or other protection required by applicable national law remain available. These protections can apply to free Services as well as paid plans and are not shortened by Section 17.2.
17.2 We may modify these Terms to reflect service changes or legal, regulatory, or security requirements. Material changes apply prospectively and we will provide at least 15 days' advance notice by email or a prominent in-product notice, identifying the effective date, or longer notice where required by law. If you disagree, stop using the affected Services; you may cancel before the change takes effect and obtain a refund of prepaid unused fees for the remainder of the term. Continued use after notice and the effective date indicates acceptance, where permitted by law. Arbitration changes do not apply to disputes of which we already had notice.
You agree to receive account and legal notices electronically, including by account email and in-product notice, to the extent permitted by law. Keep your contact details current. This consent does not waive any legal requirement for a particular form of notice.
19.1 These Terms and the applicable Acceptable Use Policy, Refund & Subscription Policy, Public Beta Terms, EULA, AI Use Disclosure, DMCA Policy, and Study Companion Terms constitute our agreement on their subjects, together with any separately executed agreement. The Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Study Companion Privacy Policy explain data practices and legal privacy rights; accepting these Terms does not replace consent or another lawful basis required for processing.
19.2 Section 23 governs Course Pilot activity. A separately executed agreement controls the subjects it expressly addresses, including agreed commercial and dispute provisions. An executed institutional DPA controls processing of the personal data it covers, including any applicable mandatory transfer clauses. Otherwise, a subject-specific document controls within its scope: the Refund & Subscription Policy for billing; the Beta Terms for pre-release participation; the EULA for application licensing; and the Study Companion documents for that extension. Terms Sections 12, 13, 15, and 16 remain controlling for the standard Services, subject to applicable law and any such separately executed agreement. Privacy notices remain the factual baseline for processing; no precedence provision waives privacy rights.
19.3 If part of this agreement is unlawful or unenforceable, it is severable and the rest remains in effect to the extent possible. A failure to enforce a term on one occasion does not waive it on another. The parties are independent; these Terms create no partnership, agency, joint venture, or employment relationship. Neither party is responsible for a failure caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, subject to mandatory law and the refund rights above.
19.4 You may assign this agreement only with our written consent. Lecture Hat may assign it to an affiliated entity or in a merger, acquisition, or sale of the relevant business or assets. These Terms bind permitted successors and assigns.
19.5 There are no third-party beneficiaries except Apple and its subsidiaries for the application distributed through Apple, as stated in the EULA. No permission to use Lecture Hat or third-party marks is implied.
19.6 Our ability to provide the Services is subject to applicable export-control and sanctions laws. You represent that you are not a prohibited or restricted party or located where providing the Services to you would violate those laws. You must not make the Services available in a way that causes a violation.
19.7 Applicable statutory limitation periods govern claims. Nothing here shortens a non-waivable period to bring a claim.
19.8 Send legal notices to [email protected] or our postal address in Section 20, except where law or a specific provision requires another procedure. A Notice of Dispute must also meet Section 16.2.
Lecture Hat, Inc., 7710 SW 67th Ave, South Miami, FL 33143-4532, USA. Email: [email protected].
California users may contact the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Complaint Assistance Unit at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or (800) 952-5210.
The standard Services are offered in Public Beta under our Public Beta Terms. Pre-release availability and data-loss qualifications do not override billing, refund, privacy, or mandatory consumer rights. Public Beta participation is separate from a Course Pilot.
Third-party names and logos belong to their owners and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, accreditation, or affiliation. Lecture Hat is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to the University of Florida or its affiliated entities. An academic email address does not create an institutional agreement.
23.1 A Course Pilot is a limited program for a particular course with its own Pilot Terms presented for acceptance at signup or first course access.
23.2 The accepted Pilot Terms exclusively govern your participation in that Course Pilot, including pilot enrollment and use of its course notebook. These standard Terms and policies govern activity outside the Course Pilot only if you separately accept them for that use. The Privacy Policy remains the notice of actual processing, and a separately executed DPA controls the covered personal data. We do not impose the standard arbitration provision on in-course activity solely through this page.
23.3 A pilot offered to individual participants does not itself create an agreement with their institution or imply institutional endorsement. A separately executed institutional agreement may establish a different relationship.
24.1 If you join a class, the teacher may access work submitted to that class, assignments you complete, and class activity as described in the features and Privacy Policy. You retain your rights and authorize the processing necessary to display, review, and evaluate the work within that class.
24.2 Teachers are responsible for their classes, submission requirements, and institutional rules. Lecture Hat ordinarily contracts with individual users. A teacher account or class enrollment alone does not designate us as a FERPA school official or establish institutional direct control. An institution seeking processing of education records on its behalf must enter an appropriate written agreement with us; no general FERPA compliance guarantee is made by these Terms.
Template attribution: Adapted from Automattic's WordPress.com Terms of Service, April 10, 2026, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Lecture Hat changed the parties, product scope, eligibility, content license, AI rules, subscription and refund rules, dispute process, and institutional/pilot terms. This adapted legal text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0; that license covers this text, not our software, branding, or customer content. The linked source is credited, not incorporated as an unmodified agreement.