Shorthand Audio

Terms of Sale

Version 1.1 — effective August 23, 2026 · Last updated: August 23, 2026

These Terms of Sale ("Terms") govern purchases made on shorthandaudio.com ("the Site") and your use of software products sold by Shorthand Productions LLC, doing business as Shorthand Audio ("we," "us," "our"). By purchasing or using a Shorthand Audio product, you agree to these Terms.

1. Payment processing & Merchant of Record

Checkout on the Site is provided by Paddle ("Paddle"), acting as our payment processor, reseller, and Merchant of Record. This means that when you buy a Shorthand Audio product, you are purchasing from Paddle — specifically Paddle.com Inc. (US), Paddle.com (Canada) Ltd (Canada), or Paddle.com Market Ltd (elsewhere), depending on your location — and Paddle's own Buyer Terms and Privacy Policy apply to your order in addition to these Terms. Paddle handles billing, invoicing, applicable sales tax/VAT, and payment method processing on our behalf — we never receive or store your card details. Your bank or card statement will show a charge from Paddle, not from Shorthand Productions LLC.

If you're purchasing as a business, you can enter your VAT/GST or tax ID number at checkout to have applicable tax zero-rated where you're eligible, and you can retrieve a VAT/tax invoice for your records from your Paddle receipt at any time.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to purchase a Shorthand Audio product, or have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to do so.

3. Software license

Purchasing a product does not transfer ownership of the software to you — it grants you a license to use it, under the terms of the End-User License Agreement (EULA) presented during installation of that product. You can read the full EULA at any time, including before you buy, at shorthandaudio.com/eula. These Terms govern the purchase transaction, license scope (including the activation limits below), and your use of the Site; the installer EULA governs your use of the software itself, including installation, copying, and reverse-engineering restrictions. Where the two conflict on a matter of purchase or license scope, these Terms control.

For Verge specifically: one license permits activation on up to 3 computers at a time. You can deactivate a computer from within the plugin to free up a seat for another machine. Verge also includes a 14-day full-featured trial that does not require a purchase or license key. Your license permits commercial use — there is no extra royalty or reporting obligation for work you produce with our software.

Updates. Your purchase includes all updates within the same major version series at no additional cost — for a Verge 1.x license, that means every 1.x release. Future major versions may be offered as paid upgrades.

If we ever shut down activation. Our software requires online activation to enforce the seat limit above. If we ever discontinue the activation service — because we stop trading or retire a product — we will release a build that does not require activation, or provide an equivalent means of continuing to use the software on the computers you have licensed. You should not lose access to software you have paid for because our servers go away.

4. License delivery

After a successful purchase, we generate a license key and email it to the address you provided at checkout, typically within a few minutes. If you don't receive your key, check your spam folder first, then contact support@shorthandaudio.com and we'll look it up.

5. Refund policy

We want you to be happy with what you buy. If a Shorthand Audio product isn't working for you, contact support@shorthandaudio.com within 14 days of your Paddle transaction date and we will authorize a full refund, no questions asked. Because Paddle is the Merchant of Record, Paddle processes the refund to your original payment method — you can also request it directly at paddle.net. Refunds are typically issued within a few business days and within 14 days at the latest; how quickly the funds appear in your account depends on your bank or card issuer.

6. Payment disputes & chargebacks

If there's a problem with a charge, please contact us or Paddle at paddle.net before disputing it with your bank or card issuer. Because Paddle is the Merchant of Record, Paddle manages all payment disputes and chargebacks on transactions for our products. Our refund policy above is deliberately generous so that a chargeback should never be necessary — if you're unhappy with a purchase, contact us first and we'll make it right. Filing a chargeback without contacting us first may result in your license key being suspended pending resolution.

7. Support

Support is provided by email at support@shorthandaudio.com. We aim to respond to all support and refund requests within 2 business days. Support covers installation, activation, licensing, and product defects for the current major version of each product.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

Violating this section may result in suspension or termination of your license and deactivation of your license key, without refund. You also represent that your use of our products will comply with applicable export control and economic sanctions laws, and that you are not located in, or a resident of, any country or region subject to a U.S. government embargo, and are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

9. Intellectual property

Verge, the Shorthand Audio name and logo, and all associated branding are trademarks and property of Shorthand Productions LLC. All rights not expressly granted under a product's EULA are reserved.

10. Disclaimer & limitation of liability

Our software is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Shorthand Productions LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including loss of data, loss of profits, or business interruption — arising from your use of, or inability to use, our products, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Our total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or our products will not exceed the amount you paid for the product giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or the limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you. If you are a consumer, you may have additional rights under the laws of your country of residence, and nothing in these Terms affects those rights.

11. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or our products shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Tennessee, and each party consents to the personal jurisdiction of those courts and waives any objection to venue. Each party waives any right to a trial by jury. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court. This clause does not deprive a consumer of the protection of any mandatory provisions of the law of their country of habitual residence.

12. Severability & entire agreement

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. These Terms, together with the applicable installer EULA and Paddle's Buyer Terms, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding your purchase. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets; you may not assign them without our consent.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by a new "Last updated" date above.

14. Contact

Questions about an order, a refund, or these Terms? Reach us at support@shorthandaudio.com. You can also contact Paddle directly regarding your order via paddle.net.