← Pica

Version 0.5-draft · 2026-10-09 · Draft

Terms of use

Draft. A lawyer is reviewing these terms. When the final version is published, you'll be asked to read and accept it.

The agreement

These terms are an agreement between you and Parquecasa Publishing, a sole proprietorship in British Columbia run by Caleb Parkhouse ("we"). They cover the Pica app and website. Our Privacy Policy explains what we do with your information. You accept both when you create an account.

Who can use Pica

You must be 16 or older. In British Columbia anyone under 19 is a minor, and a minor's contract may not bind them. If you're under 19, please use Pica with your parent's or guardian's agreement. [REVIEW]

One account per person. Keep your password to yourself. You're responsible for what's done with your account.

Your cards and photos

Your cards, photos and notes are yours. You give us permission to store them, process them (including identifying the book and preparing the card) and show them to you, for as long as they're in your account. That's all we use them for. The permission ends when you delete them, apart from the short time our providers' backups take to expire.

A photo of a book cover shows artwork that belongs to its artist or publisher. Your photo is yours, but the art in it isn't. Use Pica for books you hold.

Library contributions

The Library is what Pica knows about books, shared by every reader. Your Library contributions are:

  • printings you add to the Library when yours isn't listed;
  • what you note about a printing, such as its price, printing or cover artist, and that a cover shown for it isn't right;
  • covers you share, while "Add your covers to the Library" is on.

You license your Library contributions to us and to everyone under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. As far as the law allows, you waive any right to be named as their contributor, and any moral rights in them. [REVIEW]

The licence doesn't cover your own cards, your archive, or photos you haven't shared. And it can't cover what isn't yours to give, such as the cover art in a photo. [REVIEW]

Contributions carry no name. If you delete your account, they stay in the Library with nothing that leads back to you. [REVIEW]

Only contribute what's true of a copy you hold. Don't paste text from elsewhere: blurbs, descriptions or reviews.

The Library's sources

The Library is built on data from the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). The ISFDB's data is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

  • We've changed it. We've combined the ISFDB's data with data from Open Library and with readers' contributions, and present it in our own form.
  • Your right to reuse it is untouched. Nothing in these terms limits anyone's right to reuse the ISFDB's data under its licence.
  • No endorsement. Neither the ISFDB nor Open Library endorses Pica.
  • Cover images aren't part of that licence. Some are shown from the ISFDB's own servers. They belong to their artists or publishers.

What you may not do

  • Upload anything that isn't a photo of a book, its barcode or its copyright page, as your cover, barcode or copyright photo.
  • Upload or write anything unlawful, hateful, harassing, sexual, or that exposes someone else's private information.
  • Put links or advertising in your handle, motto or notes.
  • Upload photos or text you have no right to share.
  • Scrape Pica, overload it, get around its limits, or try to reach other people's data.
  • Copy or rebuild Pica's identification engine or cover index.

We may remove anything that breaks these rules, and we may suspend or close the account behind it.

Reports and removal

To report something, use "Report" on a record page or "Report a problem" in Settings, or write to hello@parquecasapublishing.com. We look at every report, and we may remove the content, or not.

Copyright. If you believe something on Pica infringes your copyright:

  • In Canada: we forward a notice of claimed infringement that meets the Copyright Act to the person it concerns, and keep a record of it.
  • In the United States: send a notice to our designated agent, [DMCA AGENT]. It must include your signature; the work; the material and where it is; how to reach you; a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorised; and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you're authorised to act.
  • If your material was removed by mistake, you may send a counter-notice to the same agent. It must include your signature; what was removed and where it was; a statement under penalty of perjury that it was a mistake; and your name, address, phone number, and consent to the jurisdiction of the courts. We restore the material in 10 to 14 business days unless the person who complained goes to court.
  • Knowingly false notices can make you liable for the harm they cause.
  • We close the accounts of repeat infringers.

[REVIEW: the copyright section, and the DMCA agent once registered.]

What Pica is, and isn't

Pica identifies books and helps you document them. The Library may be wrong or incomplete. Pica doesn't authenticate, grade, appraise or value books, and nothing in it is advice about what a book is worth.

Pica is offered as it is today, without guarantees. We'll try to keep it running and your archive safe, but we can't promise it will always be available or error-free. Download your archive if you want your own copy.

Price

Pica is free today. We may offer paid features later. If we do, we'll tell you first, and we'll never charge you for anything you haven't agreed to.

Our responsibility

As far as the law allows, we're not responsible for indirect or unforeseeable losses, or for losses caused by the Library being wrong. Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under consumer protection law, including British Columbia's Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. [REVIEW]

Closing your account

You can stop using Pica and delete your account at any time in Settings. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, and we'll tell you why unless the law or safety prevents it. If we ever close Pica, we'll give you notice and time to download your archive. [REVIEW]

Changes

If we change these terms, the version and date at the top change. If the change matters, we'll ask you to read and accept it before you carry on.

Law

These terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia and of Canada that apply there. You can bring a dispute in the courts of British Columbia, or wherever else the law lets you. Nothing here requires you to use arbitration or gives up your right to join a class action. [REVIEW]

If you got Pica from Apple's App Store

If you downloaded Pica from the App Store, these points also apply. They're the terms Apple requires.

  1. Who the agreement is with. These terms are between you and us, not Apple. We, not Apple, are solely responsible for Pica and its content.
  2. Your licence. You may use Pica on any Apple-branded products you own or control, as the App Store's Usage Rules allow, including through Family Sharing. The licence can't be transferred.
  3. Support. We alone provide maintenance and support. Apple has no obligation to provide any.
  4. Warranty. If Pica fails to meet any warranty that applies, you may tell Apple, and Apple will refund what you paid for it, if anything. Apple has no other warranty obligation, and anything else of that kind is ours.
  5. Claims. We, not Apple, handle any claim about Pica or your use of it. That includes product liability, failure to meet a legal or regulatory requirement, and consumer protection or privacy claims.
  6. Intellectual property. If anyone claims that Pica, or your having or using it, infringes their intellectual property, we, not Apple, will investigate, defend, settle or discharge the claim.
  7. Legal compliance. You confirm that you're not in a country under a US government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting", and that you're not on any US government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  8. Contact. Questions, complaints and claims go to Parquecasa Publishing, [ADDRESS]; hello@parquecasapublishing.com; [PHONE].
  9. Other terms. When you use Pica, you must also follow the terms of any third-party service you use with it, such as your mobile data plan.
  10. Apple can enforce these terms. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms. Once you accept them, Apple may enforce them against you.

Contact

hello@parquecasapublishing.com · Parquecasa Publishing, [ADDRESS]