Terms of use

These terms apply when you use www.theblackthread.net: the builder, the patch library, the guides and an account. By using the site, you agree to them. We've kept them as short and plain as we could.

How we handle your data is explained in the privacy policy.

1. Who we are and how to reach us

The Black Thread is run by Bogdan Pop, a private individual in Romania. In these terms, "we" and "us" mean Bogdan Pop, and "you" means the person using the site.

Email mail@bogdan-pop.com for anything: questions, reports, copyright complaints or returns. Under the EU's Digital Services Act, this address is also our single point of contact for users and for EU and national authorities. We accept messages in English and Romanian.

2. Who can use it

You must be 16 or older to create an account. If we find that an account belongs to someone younger, we delete it.

Keep to one account per person, use an email address that reaches you, and keep your password to yourself. You're responsible for what's done with your account. If you think someone else has got into it, tell us.

3. The service

The Black Thread is a design tool for planning battle jacket and vest layouts. It's free at the moment, and you don't need an account to use it.

We provide it as it is. We work to keep it running and accurate, but we can't promise that it will always be available or free of errors, or that every size in the library is exact. Sizes come from shop listings and from what people enter, so measure your real patches before you cut or sew anything.

We may change features, or stop the service. If we stop it, we'll give account holders reasonable notice where we can, so they can export their designs first.

Exported images are for planning your own jacket. They can contain band artwork and shop photos that belong to other people, so don't sell them or use them commercially.

4. Your uploads

You keep ownership of what you upload.

You give us permission (a licence) to store your uploads, process them and show them to you in the builder. Processing includes removing the background automatically and reading the colours and proportions. The licence is worldwide and free, covers only what's needed to run the service, and ends when you delete the upload or your account.

Your uploads aren't shown to other people. If we ever add a way to share designs publicly, it will be your choice for each design. Images are served at long links that can't be guessed, and anyone who has a link can open the image.

By uploading something, you confirm that you're allowed to, for example because it's your own photo of a patch you own, and that it doesn't break section 5.

Band names, logos and artwork belong to their owners. The Black Thread isn't connected to, or endorsed by, any band, label or artist.

5. What's not allowed

These rules cover everything you add to the site: uploaded images, patch and band names, design names and descriptions, links and messages. Don't add, or use the site for:

• anything illegal, or anything that infringes someone else's copyright, trademark or other rights;
• content that promotes hatred, violence or discrimination against people for who they are, for example because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity;
• threats or harassment;
• sexual content, and above all anything that sexualises children, which we report to the police;
• other people's personal data, such as their photos, addresses or phone numbers;
• malware, or anything meant to harm the site or the people using it;
• scraping or copying the patch library or the site in bulk, automated access, or anything that overloads the service;
• getting into other people's accounts, or getting round our security or limits.

6. Reporting and moderation

Reporting. If you see something on the site that you think is illegal or breaks these terms, email mail@bogdan-pop.com with:

• the link to it, or enough detail for us to find it;
• why you think it's illegal or against these terms;
• your name and email address;
• a line confirming that you believe the report is accurate and made in good faith.

You can leave out your name and email if you're reporting child sexual abuse material.

We confirm that we've received your report, look at it carefully and fairly, and tell you what we decided. Every decision is made by a person. We don't use automated moderation.

What we can do. If something breaks the law or these terms, we can remove it or block access to it, and we can suspend or close the account that added it. What we do depends on how serious it is and whether it has happened before.

Reasons. When we act against your content or your account, we email you to say what we did, why, which rule or law it was under, and how to challenge it, unless the law stops us from telling you.

Challenging a decision. Reply to that email within six months and tell us why you think we got it wrong. We'll look at it again and tell you the outcome. You can also go to court.

Danger to life. If a report suggests a threat to someone's life or safety, we tell the police.

7. Copyright complaints

If you own the rights to something on the site, including a photo in the patch library, and you haven't allowed it to be used here, email us. Include:

• what the work is;
• the link to where it appears on the site;
• your name and contact details;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use isn't allowed by you, someone acting for you, or the law;
• a statement that the information in your complaint is accurate and that you own the rights or may act for the owner;
• your signature. Typing your full name is enough.

If the complaint holds up, we remove the material or block access to it, and tell the person who uploaded it.

Counter-notice. If your upload was removed and you think that was a mistake, or that you have the right to use it, reply with:

• what was removed and where it was;
• why you believe it was removed by mistake, or why you're allowed to use it;
• your name and contact details, and a statement that the information is accurate.

We pass the counter-notice on to the person who complained. If they don't tell us within 10 working days that they've started legal action, we may put the material back.

Repeat infringers. We close the accounts of people who repeatedly upload material that infringes copyright.

8. Links to shops

Most patches in the library link to the shop that sells them. These are independent shops. We don't sell their patches, we're not part of any purchase you make from them, and we're not responsible for those shops, their products, prices or delivery. Their own terms and privacy policies apply when you buy from them.

9. The support patch

The one thing we sell is our own patch, and you buy it through Ko-fi. Ko-fi's terms apply to the checkout and payment. Our shipping and returns page covers delivery, returns and faulty items. Nothing in these terms reduces your rights as a buyer.

10. Liability

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability:

• for harm we cause on purpose or through gross negligence;
• for death or personal injury;
• for anything else the law doesn't let us limit or exclude.

Nothing in these terms takes away the rights you have as a consumer under the law of the country where you live.

Within those limits: the builder is free, so as far as the law allows, we aren't liable for loss caused by ordinary (slight) negligence, such as a lost design, a layout that doesn't come out as planned, or the site being unavailable. Export the designs you care about, so you have your own copy.

We aren't responsible for the shops the library links to (section 8), or for content other people add.

11. Ending it

You can stop using the site whenever you like. To delete your account, email us from the address on the account. We'll delete it, with your uploads and designs, within one month.

We can suspend or close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these terms, as section 6 explains, and we'll tell you why.

12. Law and courts

Romanian law applies to these terms. If you're a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where you live (Rome I Regulation, article 6).

You can take a dispute to the courts of Romania or of the country where you live. If you're a consumer, we can only take a claim against you to the courts of the country where you live.

If a court finds part of these terms invalid, the rest still applies.

13. Changes

We may change these terms, for example when we add features. The date at the top shows when the current version took effect. If a change matters, we'll tell account holders by email, or with a notice when they next sign in. If you don't agree with a change, you can stop using the site and ask us to delete your account.