Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of watchpapertrails.com, all affiliated websites, applications, membership services, content, and other services operated by PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC (“PAPER TRAILS™,” “we,” “our,” or “us”).

By accessing or using our services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use our services.

2. What we are, and what we are not

PAPER TRAILS™ exists to give people the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. We are a storytelling and documentary platform, not a court, an investigative agency, a therapy provider, or a law enforcement organization.

Stories are published for informational, educational, historical, journalistic, and documentary purposes.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to submit a story. We do not currently accept submissions from or feature minors. We may refuse or remove any submission at our discretion.

To create an account or purchase a membership, you must be at least 18 and able to form a binding contract.

4. Story submissions

Submitting a story creates no obligation on our part. Submission does not guarantee:

• acceptance, filming, or publication
• compensation of any kind
• continued communication
• membership, partnership, or promotion

We may decline any submission for any lawful reason. A decision not to produce a story is not a judgement about whether that experience mattered.

You confirm that information you submit is truthful to the best of your knowledge, that you have the right to share any materials you provide, and that you are not submitting another person’s story without their consent.

5. Verification

PAPER TRAILS™ makes a genuine effort to verify the identity of every storyteller and the core facts presented before publication. Verification may include public records, court records, news reporting, photographs, documents voluntarily provided, and interviews with corroborating people.

Verification does not guarantee that every statement made by a storyteller is objectively true. We describe our process openly on our Verification page.

6. Editorial independence

PAPER TRAILS™ retains full editorial discretion over editing, sequencing, chapter markers, subtitles, graphics, thumbnails, titles, trailers, promotional material, release timing, and distribution.

We will not intentionally alter the meaning of a storyteller’s statements through deceptive editing. No advertiser, sponsor, or partner may approve, reject, review, or influence editorial decisions.

7. Stories are personal accounts

Stories represent the experiences, memories, and perspectives of the people telling them. They should not automatically be interpreted as statements of objective fact. Memory, perspective, and lived experience differ, and other people involved may recall events differently.

Where we relay a serious allegation about an identifiable person, we apply a higher evidentiary standard and consider offering that person an opportunity to respond.

8. No professional advice

Nothing published by PAPER TRAILS™ constitutes legal, medical, mental health, financial, or law enforcement advice. Seek qualified professionals where appropriate.

If you are in crisis, contact your local emergency number. In the United States, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988.

9. Intellectual property

Unless otherwise stated, all content published by PAPER TRAILS™, including video, audio, graphics, logos, branding, trademarks, site design, written materials, thumbnails, photography, and production elements, is owned by or licensed to PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC.

PAPER TRAILS™, THE STORY LINE™, and PT+ are trademarks of PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC.

No portion may be copied, reproduced, redistributed, or commercially exploited without written permission, except as permitted by law. You may share links and use brief excerpts with attribution for commentary, criticism, news reporting, or education.

10. Materials you provide

When you send us documents, photographs, recordings, or other materials in connection with a story, you grant PAPER TRAILS™ a limited license to review, store, and use them for verification and production purposes. Broader publication rights are covered by a separate written agreement signed before production.

You retain ownership of materials you provide. You confirm you have the right to share them.

11. Membership (PT+)

If you purchase a PT+ membership: billing is handled by our payment processor; subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled; you may cancel at any time through your account, effective at the end of the current billing period; access may be suspended for non-payment; and membership benefits may change over time.

Membership grants access, not ownership, of any content. Every published story remains free to watch, membership adds depth, and we do not degrade the free version to sell the paid one.

12. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• violate any law or infringe anyone’s rights
• impersonate another person or submit fraudulent information
• harass, threaten, dox, or intimidate storytellers, staff, or other users
• attempt to identify an anonymous storyteller
• interfere with site security, scrape protected content, or seek unauthorized access
• upload malicious software or disrupt our services

Attempting to unmask an anonymous storyteller is the most serious violation of these Terms. Anonymity is granted for safety reasons, and we treat attempts to defeat it accordingly.

13. Community standards

We welcome disagreement, questions, respectful criticism, and alternative viewpoints. We remove threats, doxxing, slurs, harassment, spam, and content intended to intimidate storytellers. Our principle is simple: protect people, not opinions.

14. Anonymous storytellers

Some storytellers appear anonymously. Measures may include pseudonyms, silhouette filming, voice modification, and withheld identifying details. Anonymity is reviewed case by case, approved before production, and is not guaranteed.

15. Corrections and removal

If you believe a published story contains a material factual error, contact legal@watchpapertrails.com. We review every request. Depending on the situation we may update the description, add a dated editor’s note, re-edit, or remove the story.

Storytellers may request removal of their own story. Every request is reviewed considering contract terms, safety, legal developments, public interest, and ethics. Removal is neither automatic nor automatically refused.

16. Copyright and DMCA

If you believe material on our site infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent at legal@watchpapertrails.com including:

• your physical or electronic signature
• identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
• identification of the material claimed to be infringing, and where it is located
• your contact information
• a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized
• a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and you are authorized to act on the owner’s behalf

If material you posted was removed, you may submit a counter-notice containing the equivalent information. We may terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

17. Third-party links and services

Our site links to third-party services including YouTube, payment processors, and video providers. We are not responsible for their content, policies, or practices. Your use of them is subject to their terms.

18. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and uninterrupted or error-free operation.

19. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC and its owners, employees, contractors, and affiliates shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from your use of our services.

Our total aggregate liability for any claim relating to the services shall not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

Nothing here limits liability where such limitation is prohibited by law.

20. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC, its officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, and agents from claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses arising from your violation of these Terms, your misuse of the services, or content you submit that infringes the rights of others.

21. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access at any time for violation of these Terms or where necessary to protect people or the company. You may stop using our services at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination will survive.

22. Changes to the services and these Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the services at any time. We may update these Terms; material changes will be posted here with a revised effective date. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

23. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Nevada, without regard to its conflict of laws principles.

Informal resolution first. If you have a dispute, contact legal@watchpapertrails.com and we will try to resolve it directly for at least 30 days before formal proceedings.

Venue. Any dispute not resolved informally shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Clark County, Nevada, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief, or from bringing an individual claim in small claims court.

24. Severability and entire agreement

If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any policies expressly incorporated by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and PAPER TRAILS™ regarding the services.

25. Contact

General inquiries: info@watchpapertrails.com
Story submissions: tell@watchpapertrails.com
Business: business@watchpapertrails.com
Legal, privacy, corrections, and copyright: legal@watchpapertrails.com

PAPER TRAILS™ exists because every person deserves the opportunity to tell their story in their own words. Understanding begins by listening.