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Terms & Conditions

Effective August 9, 2026

These Terms & Conditions (the “Terms”) govern your use of Cloak’s file-protection service (the “Service”) operated by Cloak Protect, Inc. (“Cloak,” “we,” “us”). By uploading a file, checking the box to accept these Terms, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Definitions

“Documentation” means the user guides, technical specifications, supported-environment lists, and other materials describing the Service that Cloak makes generally available to users at cloakprotect.org, as updated from time to time. Documentation does not include marketing, promotional, demonstration, sales, or support materials, none of which forms part of these Terms.

“Protected Output” means the file or files generated by the Service from Source Content. Protected Output is a new and distinct file that differs from the Source Content in its encoding, structure, and rendering behavior. Protected Output does not include the Source Content itself.

“Source Content” means any document, file, text, or other material you submit to the Service for protection, together with all content contained in it. As between you and Cloak, Source Content is and remains yours.

2. The Service

The Service protects documents you provide so that their contents are readable by people but resistant to automated systems and AI scrapers. We provide the Service on an as-is basis and may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of it at any time.

3. Your files and content

You retain all ownership of the files you submit. You represent that you have the right to submit each file and to have it processed by the Service, and that doing so does not infringe any third party’s rights or violate any law. You grant Cloak a limited license to process your file solely to provide the Service and its output back to you.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Service to:

5. No reverse engineering — and the consequences of trying

The protected output, the Service, and the software and techniques behind them are Cloak’s confidential and proprietary property. You agree that you will not, and will not permit or assist anyone else to:

These restrictions are a material condition of your use of the Service. You acknowledge that any breach would cause Cloak serious and irreparable harm for which monetary damages alone may be inadequate. Accordingly, in the event of a breach you agree that Cloak is entitled to immediate injunctive relief without the need to post a bond, in addition to all other remedies available at law or in equity, including recovery of Cloak’s actual, consequential, and statutory damages, its lost profits, any profits or gains you derived from the breach, and its costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. You further agree that such a breach may expose you to substantial monetary liability, and that this clause survives any termination of these Terms.

6. Intellectual property

Except for the license to your own files described above, Cloak and its licensors own all rights in the Service, including all software, designs, and protection technology. No rights are granted to you other than the limited right to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.

7. Disclaimer of warranties

7.1 NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. THE SERVICE, THE PROTECTED OUTPUT, THE DOCUMENTATION, AND ALL RELATED MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS.” CLOAK MAKES NO WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, GUARANTEES, OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR THE PROTECTED OUTPUT, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.

7.2 CLOAK AND ITS LICENSORS AND SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

7.3 WITHOUT LIMITING SECTIONS 7.1 OR 7.2, CLOAK DOES NOT WARRANT AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT:

  1. the Service or any Protected Output will prevent, defeat, deter, or detect any act of unauthorized access, copying, extraction, ingestion, scraping, indexing, training, reproduction, or distribution, by any party, whether automated or human;
  2. the Service or any Protected Output will be effective against any particular system, model, tool, technique, or actor, whether now existing or developed in the future;
  3. the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, available, or error-free, or that any defect will be corrected;
  4. any Protected Output will render, display, print, paginate, format, or reproduce correctly, completely, or consistently in any viewer, application, device, operating system, or workflow;
  5. any Protected Output will be readable, legible, usable, openable, or acceptable to any recipient, whether human or automated, or suitable for any submission, competition, registration, production, distribution, or filing, or capable of being ingested, parsed, indexed, searched, analyzed, summarized, scored, or otherwise processed by any software, model, or automated system, including any such system operated by an intended or authorized recipient;
  6. any results, output, metrics, or reports obtained from the Service will be accurate, complete, or reliable; or
  7. any Protected Output will qualify as, or be treated by any court, agency, or authority as, a technological protection measure, technological measure, or similar measure under any law.

7.4 NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM CLOAK OR THROUGH THE SERVICE, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.

7.5 SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH CASE, ANY WARRANTY THAT CANNOT BE DISCLAIMED IS LIMITED IN DURATION TO THIRTY (30) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE APPLICABLE PROTECTION OPERATION AND IS OTHERWISE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

8. Assumption of risk

8.1 You acknowledge, understand, and agree that:

  1. NO CONTENT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY IS COMPLETE OR PERMANENT. The Service is designed to increase the difficulty, cost, and unreliability of automated extraction of your content relative to human reading. It is not designed to, and does not, make unauthorized access, copying, extraction, or use impossible.
  2. DETERMINED ADVERSARIES MAY DEFEAT THE SERVICE. Protected Output may be subject to extraction by methods including, without limitation: optical character recognition applied to rendered or rasterized images; screen capture, photography, or video recording; manual transcription or re-keying; format conversion; multimodal or vision-capable models; and techniques not presently known to Cloak or to the industry.
  3. THE ADVERSARIAL LANDSCAPE CHANGES CONTINUOUSLY. Techniques effective today may become ineffective without notice. Your protection depends in part on your use of the most current version of the Service.
  4. THE SERVICE IS ONE LAYER, NOT A COMPLETE STRATEGY. It is intended to be used together with other protective measures, including access control, distribution discipline, confidentiality agreements, copyright registration, and monitoring.
  5. THE SERVICE DOES NOT CREATE, PRESERVE, ENFORCE, OR ADJUDICATE LEGAL RIGHTS. It does not register copyright, does not monitor for infringement, does not detect or prove unauthorized use, and does not constitute legal advice.
  6. THE SERVICE MODIFIES YOUR FILE. Protection works by altering how text is encoded and rendered. Protected Output is a new file that differs from your original at the technical level and may behave differently in some viewers, workflows, and systems.
  7. NO GUARANTEE HAS BEEN MADE. You have not relied on, and Cloak has not made, any representation, warranty, promise, or guarantee that your content will not be accessed, copied, extracted, ingested, reproduced, distributed, or used to train any model, or that Protected Output will be accepted by or perform as expected for any recipient. Any statement inconsistent with this Section, whether oral or appearing in any marketing, promotional, demonstration, or support material, is superseded by these Terms and is of no force or effect.

8.2 NO RELIANCE. You represent that in deciding to use the Service you have relied solely on these Terms and the Documentation, and not on any other statement, representation, or material.

9. Accessibility and compatibility

9.1 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY. Protected Output may not be compatible with screen readers, text-to-speech tools, braille displays, text selection, copy-and-paste, full-text search, or text-based indexing. Cloak makes no warranty of compatibility with any assistive technology.

9.2 YOUR OBLIGATIONS. You are solely responsible for determining your own obligations under applicable accessibility laws and for providing accessible alternative formats to any person who requires them.

9.3 VIEWERS AND WORKFLOWS. Protected Output is rendered by software Cloak does not control. Behavior may vary across PDF viewers, screenwriting applications, e-readers, browsers, mobile devices, printers, production management systems, and submission portals. Cloak supports only the environments identified in the Documentation and disclaims all responsibility for behavior in any other environment.

10. Your responsibilities

10.1 You are solely responsible for:

  1. RETAINING AN UNPROTECTED MASTER COPY of all content you submit. Cloak is not a backup, archival, or storage service, and you must not rely on Protected Output as the sole or authoritative copy of any work.
  2. TESTING BEFORE DISTRIBUTION. Opening, reviewing, and verifying each Protected Output before sending, submitting, filing, or distributing it, to confirm that it renders correctly, is complete and legible, and is fit for your intended use — including any submission to an agent, manager, producer, studio, network, competition, fellowship, guild registry, copyright office, or court.
  3. SUBMISSION SUITABILITY. Confirming that the intended recipient accepts Protected Output and that Protected Output satisfies any applicable format, encoding, accessibility, or technical requirement, including any requirement or expectation arising from the recipient’s use of automated or AI-assisted intake, coverage, analysis, scoring, or evaluation tools. Recipients may use such tools without disclosing that they do so. Where a recipient’s requirements or processing methods are unknown, uncertain, or restrictive, you should submit unprotected content.
  4. SELECTION AND SUITABILITY. Determining whether the Service is appropriate for your content, your threat model, and your risk tolerance. You have had the opportunity to evaluate the Service and have not relied on Cloak to make that determination for you.
  5. DISTRIBUTION CONTROL. Deciding to whom Protected Output is distributed and on what terms. The Service does not control redistribution by recipients.
  6. COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES. Implementing other protections appropriate to the value of your work, including access controls, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, copyright registration, and monitoring for unauthorized use.
  7. CURRENCY. Using the most current version of the Service and re-protecting content when updated versions are released. Use of superseded versions may materially increase your exposure.
  8. RIGHTS AND COMPLIANCE. Ensuring you hold all necessary rights in the content you submit and that your use of the Service complies with applicable law.
  9. NOTICE. Promptly notifying Cloak of any suspected failure, bypass, defect, or vulnerability of which you become aware.

10.2 You agree that Cloak has no responsibility for any consequence arising from your failure to perform any obligation in Section 10.1.

11. Limitation of liability

11.1 EXCLUDED CATEGORIES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CLOAK WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, INCOME, EARNINGS, ROYALTIES, GOODWILL, REPUTATION, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, OR FOR THE COST OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, STATUTE, OR OTHERWISE) AND EVEN IF CLOAK HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

11.2 EXTRACTION AND MISUSE BY THIRD PARTIES. WITHOUT LIMITING SECTION 11.1, CLOAK WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO: THE UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, COPYING, EXTRACTION, INGESTION, SCRAPING, INDEXING, DISCLOSURE, REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, PUBLICATION, OR USE OF ANY CONTENT OR PROTECTED OUTPUT BY ANY PARTY; THE USE OF ANY CONTENT OR PROTECTED OUTPUT TO TRAIN, FINE-TUNE, OR EVALUATE ANY MACHINE LEARNING MODEL BY ANY PARTY; THE APPEARANCE OF ANY CONTENT, OR OF ANY MATERIAL RESEMBLING OR DERIVED FROM ANY CONTENT, IN ANY MODEL, DATASET, OUTPUT, PRODUCT, OR WORK; THE LOSS OF, FAILURE TO SECURE, OR IMPAIRMENT OF ANY COPYRIGHT, TRADE SECRET, OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT; OR THE DIMINUTION IN VALUE OF ANY WORK.

11.3 CONDITION OF PROTECTED OUTPUT. WITHOUT LIMITING SECTION 11.1, CLOAK WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE CONDITION, APPEARANCE, ENCODING, FORMATTING, PAGINATION, TYPOGRAPHY, LAYOUT, LEGIBILITY, COMPLETENESS, OR TECHNICAL BEHAVIOR OF ANY PROTECTED OUTPUT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION: ANY ALTERATION, CORRUPTION, GARBLING, OMISSION, DUPLICATION, MISRENDERING, OR LOSS OF TEXT, FORMATTING, METADATA, OR OTHER CONTENT; ANY FAILURE OF PROTECTED OUTPUT TO OPEN, DISPLAY, PRINT, TRANSMIT, UPLOAD, OR PROCESS CORRECTLY IN ANY VIEWER, APPLICATION, DEVICE, PORTAL, OR SYSTEM; ANY INCOMPATIBILITY WITH ANY THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE, SUBMISSION PLATFORM, PRODUCTION WORKFLOW, OR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY; OR ANY REJECTION OF PROTECTED OUTPUT BY ANY RECIPIENT OR SYSTEM ON TECHNICAL, FORMATTING, OR ACCESSIBILITY GROUNDS, OR BECAUSE IT COULD NOT BE READ, INGESTED, OR PROCESSED BY ANY AUTOMATED OR AI-ASSISTED SYSTEM.

11.4 PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER OUTCOMES. WITHOUT LIMITING SECTIONS 11.1 THROUGH 11.3, AND WHETHER OR NOT SUCH DAMAGES ARE CHARACTERIZED AS DIRECT, CLOAK WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO:

  1. THE REJECTION, NON-SELECTION, NON-ACCEPTANCE, DISQUALIFICATION, NON-PURCHASE, NON-OPTION, NON-PRODUCTION, OR NEGATIVE EVALUATION OF ANY WORK BY ANY AGENT, MANAGER, ATTORNEY, PRODUCER, STUDIO, NETWORK, PLATFORM, PUBLISHER, FINANCIER, CONTEST, FELLOWSHIP, LABORATORY, FESTIVAL, GUILD, INSTITUTION, OR OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY;
  2. THE READING EXPERIENCE, IMPRESSION, RESPONSE, COVERAGE, SCORE, OR OPINION OF ANY READER OR RECIPIENT OF ANY WORK, WHETHER HUMAN OR AUTOMATED, INCLUDING ANY ASSESSMENT, SUMMARY, COVERAGE, SCORE, RANKING, FLAG, OR RECOMMENDATION GENERATED BY ANY SOFTWARE, MODEL, OR AI-ASSISTED TOOL, AND INCLUDING ANY FAILURE OF ANY SUCH TOOL TO INGEST, PARSE, PROCESS, OR EVALUATE PROTECTED OUTPUT ACCURATELY, COMPLETELY, OR AT ALL, WHETHER OR NOT SUCH FAILURE RESULTS FROM THE INTENDED OPERATION OF THE SERVICE;
  3. THE LOSS OR NON-RECEIPT OF ANY EMPLOYMENT, ENGAGEMENT, ASSIGNMENT, COMMISSION, DEAL, SALE, OPTION, GRANT, PRIZE, CREDIT, REPRESENTATION, MEMBERSHIP, PROMOTION, OR PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITY;
  4. ANY HARM TO YOUR PROFESSIONAL REPUTATION, STANDING, RELATIONSHIPS, OR CAREER TRAJECTORY, OR ANY CLAIM THAT USE OF THE SERVICE CAUSED, CONTRIBUTED TO, OR FAILED TO PREVENT ANY SUCH HARM;
  5. THE OUTCOME OF ANY NEGOTIATION, SUBMISSION, PITCH, SOLICITATION, APPLICATION, AUDIT, ARBITRATION, PROCEEDING, OR CLAIM INVOLVING ANY WORK; OR
  6. ANY DELAY, MISSED DEADLINE, OR MISSED SUBMISSION WINDOW.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUCH OUTCOMES DEPEND ON MANY FACTORS OUTSIDE CLOAK’S KNOWLEDGE OR CONTROL, INCLUDING THE MERITS OF YOUR WORK, MARKET CONDITIONS, AND THE SUBJECTIVE JUDGMENT OF THIRD PARTIES, AND THAT THE ALLOCATION OF RISK IN THIS SECTION IS A MATERIAL AND BARGAINED-FOR BASIS ON WHICH CLOAK MAKES THE SERVICE AVAILABLE AT ITS STATED PRICE.

11.5 THIRD-PARTY SERVICES. Cloak is not responsible for any third-party software, platform, or service with which the Service or Protected Output is used, including screenwriting applications, submission portals, and file storage or transmission services.

11.6 Nothing in this Section limits your obligations or Cloak’s remedies under Section 5.

12. Cap on liability

12.1 AGGREGATE CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CLOAK’S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, FROM ALL CAUSES OF ACTION AND UNDER ALL THEORIES OF LIABILITY, WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (a) THE TOTAL FEES YOU PAID TO CLOAK IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY, OR (b) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

12.2 CUMULATIVE. MULTIPLE CLAIMS WILL NOT EXPAND THIS LIMIT.

12.3 ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. THE LIMITATIONS IN SECTIONS 11 AND 12 APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

12.4 BASIS OF THE BARGAIN. YOU AND CLOAK ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS IN SECTIONS 7, 11, AND 12 REFLECT A REASONABLE ALLOCATION OF RISK, ARE REFLECTED IN THE PRICING OF THE SERVICE, AND ARE AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN YOU AND CLOAK. CLOAK WOULD NOT MAKE THE SERVICE AVAILABLE ON THESE TERMS WITHOUT THEM.

12.5 EXCEPTIONS. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS EXCLUDES OR LIMITS ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

12.6 JURISDICTIONAL LIMITS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, CLOAK’S LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

13. Exclusive remedy

13.1 RE-PROTECTION. If any Protected Output fails to render correctly, is incomplete, illegible, or corrupted, or is rejected by a recipient or system on technical or formatting grounds, your sole and exclusive remedy, and Cloak’s entire obligation, is for Cloak — upon your resubmission of the applicable Source Content — to use commercially reasonable efforts to diagnose the issue and re-perform the protection operation, including where appropriate by applying the then-current version of the Service, adjusting protection parameters, or applying a modified configuration, and to deliver a corrected Protected Output.

13.2 TURNAROUND. Cloak will use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver a corrected Protected Output within ten (10) business days of your resubmission.

13.3 IF CURE IS UNSUCCESSFUL. If, after reasonable attempts over a period of twenty (20) business days from your resubmission, Cloak is unable to deliver a Protected Output that resolves the reported issue, Cloak will (a) notify you, (b) issue you a credit for additional protection operations equal in value to the affected operation, and (c) permit you to discontinue use of the Service without further obligation. This is your sole remedy in that circumstance.

13.4 NOTICE. To be eligible for a remedy under this Section, you must notify Cloak in writing within thirty (30) days after the applicable protection operation.

13.5 NO REFUNDS. Except as required by applicable law, all fees are non-refundable, and Cloak does not provide refunds, credits, or pro-rated amounts for unused protection operations, partial periods, or dissatisfaction with the Service.

13.6 This Section states your sole and exclusive remedy and Cloak’s entire liability for any defect in, or failure of, any Protected Output, and is subject to Sections 11 and 12.

14. Severability and reformation

14.1 SEVERABILITY AND REFORMATION. If any provision of these Terms, or any portion of any provision — including any word, phrase, clause, sentence, subsection, or enumerated item — is held invalid, illegal, unenforceable, or inapplicable in any respect or in any jurisdiction, then: (a) that provision or portion will be modified and reformed to the minimum extent necessary to render it valid and enforceable while giving the fullest permissible effect to the parties’ original intent; and (b) if it cannot be so modified, it will be severed, and the remainder of these Terms will continue in full force and effect.

14.2 INDEPENDENT OPERATION. Each disclaimer set out in Section 7, each acknowledgment set out in Section 8, each allocation of responsibility set out in Section 10, each category of excluded damages set out in Section 11, and each limitation set out in Section 12 is intended to operate independently of every other, and each is severable from every other. A determination that any one of them is invalid, unenforceable, or inapplicable — whether generally, as to a particular claim, as to a particular party, or in a particular jurisdiction — will not affect the validity, enforceability, or applicability of any other, each of which will continue to apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.

14.3 ENUMERATIONS ARE ILLUSTRATIVE AND SEVERABLE. Any list introduced by “including,” “including without limitation,” or similar words is illustrative and not exhaustive, and each item in any such list is independently severable. Invalidity of any listed item will not affect the remaining items or the general language that introduces them.

14.4 PARTIAL APPLICATION. If any disclaimer or limitation is unenforceable as to a particular claim, remedy, party, or jurisdiction, it remains fully enforceable as to all other claims, remedies, parties, and jurisdictions, and as to the same claim to the extent enforceability is permitted.

14.5 NO EXPANSION BY SEVERANCE. No provision severed or reformed under this Section will be construed to create, revive, or expand any warranty, representation, obligation, or liability of Cloak not otherwise expressly assumed in these Terms.

14.6 INTENT. The parties intend that the disclaimers, acknowledgments, allocations, exclusions, and limitations in these Terms be given effect to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and that any provision held to exceed what applicable law permits be enforced as if written to the maximum extent so permitted.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Cloak and its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your files, your use of the Service, or your breach of these Terms.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Delaware for any dispute that is not subject to injunctive relief under Section 5.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after an update means you accept the revised Terms. The “Effective” date above indicates when these Terms were last revised.

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at legal@cloakprotect.org.