Terms of Service

1. Agreement to These Terms

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of FetchLayer, including the Reddit Scraper API, related dashboards, authentication flows, credits, subscriptions, and related tools we make available.

By accessing or using FetchLayer, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Service provider: HootCodes LTD, Sofia Center, Aleksandar Stamboliyski Blvd 55, 4, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria. Legal contact: legal@hoot.codes.

In these Terms and across all related policies, "FetchLayer", "we", "us", and "our" refer to HootCodes LTD and the FetchLayer product, service, website, and API it operates. "You" and "your" refer to the person or entity accessing or using the service.

2. What the Service Does

FetchLayer provides programmatic access to structured data from publicly available Reddit content, including API endpoints, an MCP integration for AI tools, usage dashboards, API key management, and related billing features.

FetchLayer is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Reddit, Inc. We are committed to maintaining continuous, reliable service. Our infrastructure is designed with resilience in mind — including redundant data retrieval methods, adaptive rate management, and proactive monitoring — so that upstream platform changes do not disrupt your workflows. In extraordinary circumstances where a third-party platform fundamentally prevents access despite our best efforts, we may need to adjust or temporarily suspend affected features, but we will always prioritise restoring full functionality as quickly as possible.

Pass-through architecture

FetchLayer operates as a real-time pass-through service. When you make an API request, we fetch publicly available content from the source platform on your behalf, structure it, and return it to you in real time. We do not maintain a database, cache, index, or archive of third-party content. No Reddit posts, comments, user profiles, or other third-party content is stored on our servers beyond the transient duration necessary to process and deliver your individual API response.

Our role

FetchLayer acts as a technical intermediary that fetches, structures, and delivers publicly available data at your instruction. We perform the technical act of collection on your behalf. You are the party that determines what data to request, for what purpose, and how to use it. You are the data controller for any personal data contained in the results you receive.

Legal position on public data access

Accessing publicly available data on the open web is lawful. This position is supported by established legal precedent, including the U.S. Ninth Circuit's ruling in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp. (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court's narrow interpretation of the CFAA in Van Buren v. United States (2021), and the EU Digital Single Market Directive's text-and-data-mining exceptions. FetchLayer only accesses content that is publicly available without authentication. We do not bypass login walls, paywalls, or other access-control mechanisms that require credentials.

3. Accounts and Access

You must provide accurate information when creating an account and keep your sign-in email and account details current. You are responsible for activity under your account, including use of your API keys.

• Do not share API keys or access credentials with unauthorized parties.
• You must promptly revoke any key you believe has been exposed or misused.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts, keys, or requests to protect the service, other users, or third parties.

4. Pricing, Credits, and Billing

FetchLayer may offer free access, usage-based credits, subscriptions, enterprise agreements, or custom pricing. Current pricing information is shown on the website or in a separate order form.

• Paid access may be billed in advance unless a custom agreement states otherwise.
• Usage-based products may be metered by results, credits, requests, or another unit described at purchase.
• Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled before renewal, unless an order form says otherwise.
• Taxes, duties, and bank fees are your responsibility unless required to be included by law.
• We may change prices prospectively. Price changes do not retroactively affect already-purchased usage.

Except where required by law or expressly promised in writing, fees are non-refundable once incurred.

5. Scraping-Specific Terms

The service is designed to access publicly available data. Your use of that data may still be subject to platform rules, intellectual property rights, privacy laws, consumer protection rules, and sector-specific restrictions depending on your jurisdiction and use case.

• You are responsible for determining whether your use of FetchLayer and any output data is lawful for your business and jurisdiction.
• You must not rely on FetchLayer as a legal opinion about what scraping, monitoring, or data use is allowed in your specific situation.
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted access to any third-party source, specific content, or any given output format.
• You must not use the service to bypass authentication, paywalls, technical access controls, or other restrictions not intended for public access.

What FetchLayer does NOT do

• We do not store, cache, archive, or index Reddit content or any other third-party content on our servers.
• We do not access content behind login walls, authentication barriers, or private/restricted areas.
• We do not sell, license, or redistribute personal data. We are not a data broker.
• We do not use scraped content to train machine learning models.
• We do not create derivative databases, competitor products, or content mirrors from third-party data.

Liability for data use

FetchLayer provides access to publicly available information. You are solely responsible for how you use, store, process, publish, or redistribute the data you obtain through the service. We do not assume liability for your downstream use of content, including any claims arising from copyright, privacy, defamation, platform terms violations, or regulatory non-compliance related to your use of the data.

If you are uncertain whether a particular use is lawful, you should seek independent legal advice before proceeding.

AI, LLM, and MCP usage

FetchLayer operates as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) provider, enabling AI IDEs and agents to call our endpoints programmatically. HootCodes LTD does not train models on the data that passes through the service. However, if you pipe FetchLayer output into large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, fine-tuning pipelines, or any other AI/ML workflow, you are independently responsible for ensuring that your AI utilization complies with applicable copyright law, platform terms, and data protection regulations.

6. Acceptable Use

You must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy. Without limiting that policy, you may not use FetchLayer to:

• break the law or violate another person’s rights;
• harass, stalk, dox, intimidate, or target individuals with scraped data;
• build or support unlawful surveillance, unlawful profiling, or prohibited eligibility decisions;
• collect, publish, or process sensitive personal data without an appropriate legal basis;
• interfere with the service, overload infrastructure, or attempt to defeat rate limits or security controls.

7. Intellectual Property and Third-Party Content

We retain all rights in FetchLayer, including our software, branding, documentation, dashboards, and site content, except for third-party materials and user content.

Third-party content returned through the service may be protected by copyright, database rights, trademark rights, privacy rights, or contract. These Terms do not grant you ownership of third-party content or a blanket right to reuse it for any purpose.

Ownership chain

Content originating from Reddit is authored and owned by Reddit users. Reddit licenses certain display and access rights. FetchLayer facilitates programmatic access to publicly available content but does not transfer ownership of that content to you. You are responsible for determining your own legal basis for any use, storage, republication, or redistribution of third-party content.

Copyright restrictions

Under the EU Digital Single Market Directive, scraping copyrighted content is permitted for the purpose of text and data mining (i.e., generating information such as patterns, trends, and correlations). It is not permitted to republish, syndicate, or redistribute the original creative expression of third-party content without appropriate rights. You must not use FetchLayer to create a competing publication or mirror of the source platform's content.

Trademarks

FetchLayer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Reddit, Inc. You must not use Reddit's trademarks, logos, or branding in a way that suggests endorsement, affiliation, or sponsorship by Reddit. If you display content sourced through FetchLayer, you must attribute it appropriately and not present it as your own original work or as originating from FetchLayer.

8. Content Removal and Takedown

If you believe that content accessible through FetchLayer infringes your copyright, intellectual property rights, or other legal rights, you may submit a takedown request to legal@hoot.codes.

Because FetchLayer operates as a real-time pass-through service and does not store or host third-party content, takedown actions are implemented by blocking access to specific queries, URLs, or content patterns rather than by removing stored copies. We will act on valid notices in a timely manner.

DMCA notices (United States)

If you are a copyright owner or authorized agent and believe content accessible through FetchLayer infringes your copyright under U.S. law, you may submit a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to legal@hoot.codes containing:

• identification of the copyrighted work(s) you claim have been infringed;
• identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it;
• your contact information (name, address, telephone, and email);
• a statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
• your physical or electronic signature.

EU Digital Services Act

Where applicable under the EU Digital Services Act or equivalent national implementation, we will process lawful removal orders from competent authorities and provide a mechanism for rights holders to notify us of allegedly illegal content. Contact legal@hoot.codes with sufficient detail for us to assess and act on your notice.

Reddit content

Content returned by FetchLayer originates from publicly available Reddit pages. If content is deleted, suspended, or otherwise removed from Reddit, it may no longer be available through FetchLayer. We may also remove or restrict access to content at Reddit's request or to comply with applicable law.

9. Data Availability and Platform Risk

FetchLayer is built for stability. We continuously invest in infrastructure redundancy, automated failover, and adaptive retrieval strategies to ensure reliable access regardless of upstream changes. Our goal is that platform-level disruptions are invisible to you.

That said, third-party platforms may change their systems, terms, rate limits, access controls, or data availability. Here is how we handle that:

• Our commitment: We actively monitor all upstream dependencies and maintain multiple retrieval pathways. When a platform makes changes, we adapt — typically before you notice.
• Extreme circumstances: In rare cases where a platform fundamentally blocks all access despite our mitigation efforts, we may need to temporarily suspend or limit affected features. We will notify affected users promptly, work to restore service as quickly as possible, and provide transparent status updates.
• Your credits are protected: If a disruption lasts more than 72 hours and affects your ability to use prepaid credits, we will extend credit expiry or issue proportional credit at our discretion. Refund rights required by applicable law always apply.
• We are not liable for brief interruptions, data unavailability, or changes in output format caused by third-party platform actions that we resolve within a reasonable timeframe.

10. Right of Withdrawal (EU/EEA Consumers)

If you are a consumer in the EU or EEA, you generally have a 14-day right of withdrawal for distance contracts. However, you acknowledge and agree that:

• For subscriptions and credits: by requesting that the service begins immediately upon purchase (e.g., by making an API call or accessing the dashboard after payment), you consent to the service beginning before the withdrawal period expires.
• Once digital service performance has begun with your prior express consent, and you have acknowledged that you thereby lose your right of withdrawal, the right of withdrawal no longer applies to the extent that performance has been provided.
• If you have not used the service and the withdrawal period has not expired, you may request withdrawal by contacting support@hoot.codes within 14 days of purchase.

This does not affect any mandatory consumer rights that cannot be waived under applicable law.

11. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate access immediately if we believe you are violating these Terms, creating security risk, exposing us or others to legal risk, abusing third-party sources, or using the service in a way that could harm people or systems.

You may stop using the service at any time. Termination does not affect obligations that by their nature should survive, including payment obligations, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and dispute provisions.

12. Disclaimers

FetchLayer is provided on an as is and as available basis to the maximum extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, complete, accurate, or suitable for your specific legal or operational needs.

We do not warrant that data returned from third-party sources will remain available, accurate, timely, or lawful for your intended use.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, HootCodes LTD will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, or business opportunities.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or related to the service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the service in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) EUR 100.

14. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless HootCodes LTD from claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses arising from your use of the service, your data practices, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of law or third-party rights.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Bulgaria, excluding conflict-of-law rules. Courts of competent jurisdiction in Bulgaria will have exclusive jurisdiction unless mandatory law requires otherwise.

16. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, if higher) to create an account or use FetchLayer. By using the service, you represent that you meet this age requirement. We do not knowingly provide services to minors.

FetchLayer is primarily intended for developers, businesses, and commercial use. By using the service, you represent and warrant that:

• you are not located in, organized under, or a resident of any country or territory subject to comprehensive trade sanctions by the European Union or the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including but not limited to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions;
• you are not listed on any EU, UK, or U.S. restricted or denied party list;
• you will not use the service in violation of any applicable export control or trade sanctions law.

17. General Provisions

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and HootCodes LTD regarding the service and supersede all prior agreements, communications, and understandings.

No waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms at any time does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by us to be effective.

Assignment

We may assign or transfer these Terms and our rights and obligations, in whole or in part, at any time without notice. You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent.

Force majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of government, third-party platform changes or outages, natural disasters, pandemics, war, terrorism, labor disputes, internet or infrastructure failures, or actions of regulatory bodies.

18. Contact

For legal notices, complaints, or contract questions, contact legal@hoot.codes. For support questions, contact support@hoot.codes.