Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User", "you") and Anish Monci Varghese ("Developer", "we", "us") governing your use of the Lekhanam macOS application and the associated website at lekhanam.app (collectively, the "Service").

These Terms apply to all versions of Lekhanam, including any updates, new features, or supplemental services made available over time. By continuing to use the app after any updates to these Terms, you accept the revised terms.

If you are using Lekhanam on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you have the authority to bind that organisation to these Terms, and "you" in these Terms refers to that organisation.

License to Use the App

Grant of licence

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, the Developer grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to download and use Lekhanam on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, solely for your personal use.

Personal use

You may use Lekhanam to write, plan, and export your own creative or non-fiction work for personal enjoyment, educational purposes, or professional writing practice at no cost.

Commercial use

You are permitted to use Lekhanam to produce manuscripts, books, and other written content that you subsequently sell, publish, or license commercially. Writing and publishing your own books using Lekhanam — including selling them through retailers, self-publishing platforms, or directly — is expressly permitted and encouraged.

However, the following constitute commercial uses that are not permitted under this free personal licence:

• Reselling, sublicensing, or redistributing the Lekhanam application itself or any modified version of it.
• Bundling Lekhanam with a paid product or service offering without prior written permission from the Developer.
• Using Lekhanam in a managed service, software-as-a-service offering, or writing platform provided to third-party clients, unless a separate commercial licence has been arranged.

To enquire about a commercial or enterprise licence, contact contact@anishmoncivarghese.com.

Restrictions on the licence

This licence does not include the right to:

• Modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Lekhanam application.
• Remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary notices, labels, or copyright notices within the application.
• Use the Lekhanam name, logo, or branding in any way that implies endorsement of your product or service.
• Copy or replicate the design, code, or functionality of the application to create a competing product.

Permitted & Prohibited Use

What you may do

• Write, edit, and export your own books, manuscripts, and creative works.
• Use the AI writing assistance features (local model and Apple Intelligence) to draft, revise, and improve your own work.
• Install Lekhanam on multiple Macs that you personally own and use.
• Back up your writing files stored in ~/Documents/Lekhanam/ using any backup method you choose.
• Publish, sell, or distribute books you write using Lekhanam — your creative output belongs entirely to you.
• Share screenshots or screen recordings of Lekhanam for review, tutorial, or promotional purposes, provided you make clear the content is from Lekhanam.

What you may not do

• Redistribute, resell, rent, lease, or sublicense the Lekhanam application to any third party.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code or underlying AI model weights bundled with the app.
• Use the app to produce content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, threatening, fraudulent, or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Attempt to circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security features of the application, including Touch ID authentication.
• Misrepresent the origin of the application or claim authorship of Lekhanam's software, design, or branding.
• Use the AI features to generate content that infringes the copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights of any third party.

Intellectual Property

Your content — you own it entirely

By writing in Lekhanam, you do not grant the Developer any licence, right, or interest in your content. Because Lekhanam is a fully local application and your data never leaves your device (except as described in the Privacy Policy regarding Apple Intelligence), the Developer has no access to your writing and therefore no basis for any such claim.

You are solely responsible for ensuring that your content does not infringe the intellectual property rights of others, including copyrighted characters, settings, or text you may incorporate.

The Developer's intellectual property

All rights in the Lekhanam application — including its source code, user interface design, visual assets, logo, trade dress, and the Lekhanam name — are and remain the exclusive property of Anish Monci Varghese. These Terms grant you no ownership interest in the application itself.

The open-source libraries used within Lekhanam (including Electron, React, TipTap, and others) remain the property of their respective copyright holders and are used under their respective open-source licences.

AI model weights

The Qwen 2.5 model weights bundled with or downloaded by Lekhanam are the intellectual property of Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team, distributed under the Qwen licence. Use of these models within Lekhanam is permitted for personal use consistent with that licence. Commercial use of the model weights directly (outside of the normal app functionality) may be subject to additional restrictions under the Qwen licence terms.

AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

How AI works in Lekhanam

Lekhanam provides AI writing assistance through two systems:

• Local Qwen 2.5 model — a language model that runs entirely on your Mac via node-llama-cpp. Outputs are generated probabilistically and may contain factual inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or unintended content.
• Apple Intelligence — Apple's on-device and Private Cloud Compute AI system, available on macOS 26 Tahoe or later. Apple's own terms of service govern use of this feature.

No guarantee of accuracy or originality

AI language models generate text by predicting likely continuations based on training data. As a result, AI-generated output may:

• Contain factually incorrect statements presented with apparent confidence.
• Reproduce phrasing or passages that resemble existing published works, which could raise copyright concerns if published without review.
• Produce content that is offensive, inappropriate, or inconsistent with your intentions.
• Contradict plot points, character details, or facts established elsewhere in your manuscript.

Your responsibilities

You agree that:

• You will review all AI-generated suggestions before incorporating them into any work you publish or distribute.
• You are solely responsible for the final content of any manuscript exported from Lekhanam.
• You will not use the AI features to generate content that violates any applicable law, including laws governing defamation, copyright, obscenity, or hate speech.
• You understand that the Developer cannot guarantee that AI-generated text is free from third-party intellectual property claims.

Copyright and AI output

The legal status of copyright in AI-generated content is evolving and varies by jurisdiction. In many countries, including India, copyright protection currently requires human authorship. You should treat heavily AI-generated passages as potentially unprotectable and take steps to add sufficient original human authorship to any work you intend to protect by copyright.

The Developer provides no legal advice on this matter. Consult a qualified intellectual property lawyer if you have concerns about the copyright status of AI-assisted writing.

No Warranty

LEKHANAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE DEVELOPER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
• WARRANTIES THAT THE APPLICATION WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
• WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY CONTENT GENERATED BY OR DISPLAYED IN THE APPLICATION, INCLUDING AI-GENERATED TEXT.
• WARRANTIES THAT THE APPLICATION WILL MEET YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.

You acknowledge that your use of Lekhanam is at your sole risk. The Developer strongly recommends maintaining regular backups of your writing files. The Developer is not responsible for any loss of data, including drafts, characters, or manuscripts, arising from software defects, hardware failure, accidental deletion, or any other cause.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties. If you are located in such a jurisdiction, some of the above exclusions may not apply to you, and you may have additional consumer rights under local law.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE DEVELOPER, ANISH MONCI VARGHESE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY:

• INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES;
• LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES;
• COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
• LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO ANY WRITTEN CONTENT, MANUSCRIPTS, OR CREATIVE WORK STORED IN OR PROCESSED BY THE APPLICATION;

WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF THE DEVELOPER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

IN ANY CASE, THE DEVELOPER'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE USE OF LEKHANAM SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE APPLICATION IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM. BECAUSE LEKHANAM IS CURRENTLY OFFERED FREE OF CHARGE, THIS AMOUNT IS ZERO.

The limitations in this section reflect a fair allocation of risk between you and the Developer. The Developer would not have made Lekhanam available to you without these limitations. These limitations apply even if any limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.

If you are a consumer in a jurisdiction that does not allow limitations on implied warranties or liability for incidental or consequential damages, these limitations may not apply to you, and you may have additional statutory rights.

Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

Governing law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. Specifically, these Terms are subject to the applicable provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (and its amendments), the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and any other applicable Indian legislation.

Jurisdiction

Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms, including any question regarding their existence, validity, or termination, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of India. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts and waive any objection to proceedings in such courts on the grounds of venue or inconvenient forum.

Informal resolution

Before initiating any formal legal proceeding, you agree to first contact the Developer at contact@anishmoncivarghese.com and attempt to resolve the dispute informally. The Developer will attempt to resolve the issue within 30 days. If the dispute is not resolved within that period, either party may pursue formal legal remedies.

Consumer rights

If you are a consumer resident in India, you may also have recourse under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, including the right to file a complaint with the relevant consumer forum or the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you have under applicable consumer protection law.

Termination

Termination by you

You may stop using Lekhanam at any time by uninstalling the application from your Mac. Uninstalling the app does not delete your writing files stored in ~/Documents/Lekhanam/. You must delete that folder manually if you wish to remove all associated data.

Termination by the Developer

The Developer reserves the right to terminate or suspend your access to any future updates, support, or services related to Lekhanam if you materially breach these Terms and fail to cure the breach within 14 days of written notice. Because Lekhanam is a locally installed application, the Developer cannot remotely disable a copy of the app already installed on your device; termination therefore applies to your right to receive future versions and support.

Effect of termination

Upon termination of these Terms for any reason:

• Your licence to use the current installed version of the application continues only to the extent needed for you to export your writing data and cease use.
• All provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall continue in full force, including Sections 4 (Intellectual Property), 6 (No Warranty), 7 (Limitation of Liability), and 8 (Governing Law).
• Your ownership of all writing content you have created using Lekhanam is unaffected by termination.

Changes to These Terms

The Developer reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. When changes are made, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will be revised.

For material changes — for example, changes that meaningfully expand your obligations or limit your rights — the Developer will make reasonable efforts to provide advance notice, such as a notice on this website or within the application.

Your continued use of Lekhanam after the effective date of any revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of those Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the application.

It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for updates. The most current version of these Terms will always be available at lekhanam.app/terms.html.

Contact for Legal Questions

If you have any questions, concerns, or notices regarding these Terms of Use, please contact:

The Developer aims to respond to all legal enquiries within 30 days of receipt. For disputes, please also refer to the informal resolution process described in Section 8 before initiating formal proceedings.

You may also reach us regarding privacy matters via the Privacy Policy contact details.