Terms & Conditions

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User", "you", or "your") and Venusoft AB, a Swedish limited liability company with registered office at Kavallerivägen 2C, 174 58 Sundbyberg, Sweden, registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket) under organisation number 559395-7565 and VAT number SE559395756501 ("Company", "we", "us", or "our"), which operates the service under the brand "ERA Standards Intelligence" at erastandards.com (the "Service"). By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service in any manner, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms in their entirety, together with our Privacy Policy. If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind such entity to these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not create an account or use the Service.

2. Service Description

ERA Standards Intelligence is an AI-assisted research and information retrieval tool designed for professionals working with European railway standards. The Service uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, powered by large language models (LLMs), to retrieve, summarise, cross-reference, and present information drawn from railway standard documents including, but not limited to, ERA/ERTMS SUBSET specifications, Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI), CENELEC EN standards, and UIC leaflets.

The Service is intended to assist users in navigating and understanding complex standards documentation more efficiently. It provides AI-generated summaries, answers to natural-language queries, and cross-references between documents.

3. Important Disclaimers

By using the Service, you expressly acknowledge and accept these limitations. Failure to independently verify AI-generated outputs may result in safety hazards, regulatory non-compliance, or other serious consequences for which we bear no responsibility. You agree to hold us harmless for any consequences arising from treating Service outputs as professional advice.

4. Intellectual Property

4.1 ERA/ERTMS and TSI Documents. ERA/ERTMS SUBSET specifications and Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) are published by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and are made publicly available under EU institutional frameworks. The Service retrieves and references these documents for informational purposes. We do not claim ownership of these public documents.

4.2 CENELEC and UIC Standards. CENELEC EN standards (including but not limited to EN 50126, EN 50128, EN 50129, EN 50159) and UIC leaflets are copyright-protected publications. The Service may reference, index, or summarise portions of these standards in accordance with applicable fair use and fair dealing provisions. Users must hold valid licences from the relevant standards bodies (CEN/CENELEC, UIC) before uploading, accessing, or relying upon the full text of these standards through the Service. The Service does not grant, imply, or transfer any licence to copyrighted standards.

4.3 User-Uploaded Content. Users who upload proprietary documents to the Service retain full ownership of and all intellectual property rights in such documents. By uploading content, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to process, index, store, and retrieve such documents solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. We will not share, sublicence, sell, or otherwise distribute your uploaded documents to any third party. Uploaded documents are stored in isolated, per-user private namespaces and are not accessible to other users.

4.4 Service Proprietary Rights. The Service's user interface, software, algorithms, RAG pipeline, document processing methods, indexes, compilations, and all associated intellectual property are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in the Service beyond the limited right to use it in accordance with these Terms.

4.5 Content Availability. We may add, modify, or remove standards content from the Service at any time, including in response to intellectual property claims or licensing changes by standards development organisations, publishers, or other rights holders. Such changes shall not constitute a breach of these Terms or entitle you to any refund, compensation, or claim for damages.

5. User Responsibilities

By using the Service, you agree to the following obligations:

1. Accurate Registration. You shall provide truthful, accurate, and complete information when creating an account and shall promptly update such information if it changes.
2. Account Security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must notify us immediately at support@erastandards.com if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account.
3. Copyright Compliance. You shall comply with all applicable copyright laws when uploading documents to the Service. You represent and warrant that you have the legal right to upload any document you submit, whether by virtue of ownership, licence, or other lawful authorisation.
4. No Bulk Extraction. You shall not attempt to extract, reproduce, download, or systematically copy copyrighted standard text in bulk from the Service, whether manually or through automated means.
5. No Copyright Circumvention. You shall not use the Service as a means to circumvent, defeat, or avoid copyright protections, paywalls, or licensing requirements applicable to any standards or documents.
6. No Unauthorised Automated Access. You shall not use automated scripts, bots, scrapers, crawlers, or other programmatic means to access the Service beyond the scope of any API access expressly provided under your subscription plan.
7. Lawful Use. You shall use the Service only for lawful purposes and in compliance with all applicable local, national, and international laws and regulations.
8. Independent Verification. You acknowledge your responsibility to independently verify all information obtained through the Service against authoritative source documents before relying on it for any purpose.

6. Subscription and Payments

6.1 Subscription Tiers. The Service is offered under the following subscription plans, each with defined features, usage limits, and pricing as set out on our pricing page:

• Basic (Free) -- 20 queries per month, access to all 112 publicly available ERA/ERTMS documents currently indexed, cited answers with section and page references, inline PDF viewer, saved conversation history.
• Pro -- Up to 100 queries per day, upload licensed standards privately (CENELEC/UIC), standard update alerts, email support.
• Enterprise -- Everything in Pro, plus upload internal documents and procedures, compliance/gap analysis, impact analysis, requirements generation, national rules (NSA/NTR) and NoBo/DeBo forms, priority support. Enterprise is available exclusively via a negotiated written agreement following direct enquiry to support@erastandards.com and is not available on a self-serve basis. Where an Enterprise written agreement is signed, that agreement (together with any Data Processing Agreement and Service Level Agreement appended to it) shall prevail over these Terms to the extent of any conflict.

6.2 Payment Processing. All payments are processed securely through Stripe, Inc. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to Stripe's terms of service in addition to these Terms. We do not store your payment card details on our servers.

6.3 Billing Cycle. Paid subscriptions are billed on a recurring monthly or annual basis, as selected at the time of purchase. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle unless cancelled prior to renewal.

6.4 Cancellation. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. You will retain access to paid features until the end of the period for which you have already paid. No partial refunds will be issued for unused portions of a billing period.

6.5 Refund Policy. We offer a full refund within fourteen (14) days of your initial subscription purchase, provided that you have not exceeded fifty (50) queries during that period. Refund requests should be directed to support@erastandards.com. Beyond the initial fourteen-day period, all payments are non-refundable except as required by applicable law.

6.6 Pricing Changes. We reserve the right to modify subscription pricing at any time. We will provide at least thirty (30) days' written notice of any pricing changes via email to the address associated with your account. Price changes will not affect your current billing period and will take effect at the next renewal date following the notice period.

7. Data Protection and Privacy

7.1 Personal Data Collected. We collect and process only the minimum personal data necessary to provide the Service. This includes your email address (required for account creation and communication) and, optionally, your telephone number if you choose to provide it. We do not require or collect any other personally identifiable information at registration.

7.2 Query Logs. We may log queries submitted to the Service for the purposes of service improvement, debugging, and usage analytics. Query logs are anonymised and aggregated where possible. We do not sell, share, or otherwise disclose your individual query history to third parties.

7.3 Uploaded Documents. Documents you upload are stored in your private, isolated namespace within our infrastructure. Uploaded documents are not shared with other users, are not used to train or fine-tune language models, and are accessible only to your account and to authorised Service personnel for support and maintenance purposes.

7.4 Data Processing Location. All data is processed and stored on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) infrastructure located within the European Union. We do not transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) except as permitted under applicable data protection laws and with appropriate safeguards in place.

7.5 Data Deletion. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by contacting support@erastandards.com. We will process deletion requests within thirty (30) days, subject to any legal retention obligations.

7.6 GDPR Compliance. We process personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation, "GDPR"). You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing of, and port your personal data. You also have the right to object to processing and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. For data protection enquiries, contact support@erastandards.com.

7.7 Data Processing Agreements. Where we process personal data on your behalf as a data processor within the meaning of GDPR Article 28, Enterprise customers may request a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) setting out the subject matter, duration, nature, and purpose of processing, the categories of data subjects, and the obligations and rights of the controller. DPA requests should be directed to support@erastandards.com.

8. Limitation of Liability

8.1 "As Is" Basis. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

8.2 Liability Cap. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE LESSER OF (A) YOUR ACTUAL DIRECT DAMAGES AND (B) THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO US DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. FOR USERS OF THE FREE TIER, OUR MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED FIFTY EUROS (EUR 50).

8.3 Exclusion of Damages. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE), EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

8.3a Mandatory Exceptions. Nothing in this Section 8 excludes or limits our liability for (a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence, (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, (c) any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable EU or national law, or (d) any rights you may have as a consumer under mandatory provisions of Directive 2011/83/EU or other applicable consumer protection legislation. Where such mandatory provisions apply, our liability shall be limited to the minimum extent permitted by law.

8.5 Third-Party AI Providers. The Service utilises third-party artificial intelligence models, cloud infrastructure, and other technology services to deliver its functionality. We are not responsible for and make no warranties regarding the behaviour, availability, accuracy, or outputs of third-party AI model providers or infrastructure services. Any failure, degradation, change in behaviour, or discontinuation of a third-party AI model or service shall not constitute a breach of these Terms and we shall have no liability for any resulting impact on Service functionality or output quality.

8.6 Acknowledgment. You acknowledge that the limitations and exclusions set forth in this Section 8 are fundamental elements of the bargain between you and us, and that we would not provide the Service without such limitations.

9. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ERA Standards Intelligence, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:

1. Your use of or inability to use the Service;
2. Your violation of these Terms or any applicable law or regulation;
3. Your uploading of content that infringes the intellectual property or other rights of any third party;
4. Any reliance you or any third party places on AI-generated outputs of the Service;
5. Any claim by a third party arising from decisions or actions made based on information obtained through the Service.

Your aggregate liability under this Section 9 shall not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount of fees paid by you to us during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) two hundred and fifty euros (EUR 250). This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination of these Terms and your use of the Service.

10. Service Availability

10.1 No SLA Guarantee. Unless separately agreed in writing under an Enterprise subscription, we do not guarantee any specific level of uptime, availability, or performance. The Service is provided on a reasonable-efforts basis.

10.2 Maintenance. We may perform scheduled and unscheduled maintenance that results in temporary unavailability of the Service. Where practicable, we will provide advance notice of planned maintenance windows.

10.3 Force Majeure. We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in providing the Service caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disasters, pandemics, war, terrorism, civil unrest, government actions, cyberattacks, internet or telecommunications failures, power outages, or failures of third-party service providers (including cloud infrastructure, AI model providers, and payment processors).

11. Modifications to Terms

We reserve the right to modify, amend, or replace these Terms at any time at our sole discretion. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email and/or by posting a prominent notice on the Service at least thirty (30) days before the changes take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any modified Terms constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to be bound by the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the modified Terms, you must discontinue your use of the Service and close your account before the changes take effect.

12. Termination

12.1 Termination by User. You may terminate your account at any time through Account → Danger zone → Delete account in the application, or by contacting support@erastandards.com. The in-application option immediately cancels any active subscription, deletes your stored documents, conversation history, requirements sets, compliance reports, knowledge-graph entries, and Stripe customer record, and signs you out. Anonymous analytics with no personally identifiable information may be retained where required by applicable law. Termination does not entitle you to a refund of any fees already paid.

12.2 Termination by Us. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately, without prior notice or liability, if we reasonably believe that you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or abusive conduct, infringed the intellectual property rights of any party, or posed a risk to the security or integrity of the Service or other users.

12.3 Effect of Termination. Upon termination, your right to access and use the Service ceases immediately. We may, at our discretion, retain or delete your data in accordance with our data retention policies and applicable legal requirements. Sections 3 (Disclaimers), 4 (Intellectual Property), 8 (Limitation of Liability), 9 (Indemnification), 13 (Governing Law), and 14 (Export Controls) shall survive termination of these Terms.

13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

13.1 Governing Law. These Terms, and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Sweden, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules and excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

13.2 Jurisdiction. Subject to Section 13.3, any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms, or the breach, termination, or invalidity thereof, shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Swedish courts, with Solna tingsrätt (the district court for the Company's registered office in Sundbyberg) as the court of first instance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction as necessary to protect its intellectual property rights or confidential information.

13.3 Consumer Rights and EU Law. Nothing in these Terms limits the mandatory rights of consumers under applicable EU or Swedish law. In particular, consumers retain (a) the right to bring proceedings in the courts of their country of habitual residence under Articles 17–19 of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (Brussels I bis), and (b) the protection of mandatory consumer provisions of the law of their country of habitual residence under Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I). To the extent that any matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), such jurisdiction shall apply.

13.4 Alternative Dispute Resolution. Swedish consumers may refer disputes concerning the Service to Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) at arn.se. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 524/2013, consumers resident in the European Union may also use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. For dispute-related contact, please email support@erastandards.com. We reserve the right to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to participate in voluntary ADR proceedings, except where participation is mandatory under applicable law.

13.5 Limitation Periods. The statutory limitation periods set out in the Swedish Limitation Act (preskriptionslagen (1981:130)) and other applicable law apply to claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service. Nothing in these Terms purports to shorten any limitation period that cannot be shortened by contract under applicable law.

14. Export Controls and Sanctions

You represent and warrant that (a) you are not located in a country that is subject to a comprehensive EU or United States embargo, (b) you are not listed on any EU or United States restricted or denied party list (including the EU Consolidated List of Sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals List, or the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List), and (c) you will not use the Service in violation of any applicable export control laws, trade sanctions, or embargo regulations. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access immediately if we reasonably believe you are in breach of this Section.

15. Beta and Experimental Features

From time to time, we may offer features, tools, or capabilities designated as "beta", "preview", "experimental", or similar terms. Such features are provided on an "as is" basis without any warranty whatsoever, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or accuracy. Beta features may be incomplete, may contain bugs or errors, and may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time without notice or liability. You use beta features entirely at your own risk. We may collect additional usage data and feedback in connection with beta features to improve the Service.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable while preserving its original intent.

17. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any applicable subscription agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications, proposals, and representations, whether oral or written, relating to the Service.

18. Company and Contact Information

In accordance with Chapter 2 §§ 6–8 of the Swedish Act on Electronic Commerce and Other Information Society Services (lag (2002:562) om elektronisk handel och andra informationssamhällets tjänster), the following information is provided: