If you help fund a project on Kickstarter and that project fails, Kickstarter has no legal obligation to intervene.
That’s what Kickstarter describes in an update made to its terms of service today. According to the changes, “Anyone who backs a project is accepting the creator’s offer, and forming that contract. Kickstarter is not a part of this contract,” reads the new terms of service.
“If a creator is unable to complete their project and fulfill rewards,” according to the terms, “they’ve failed to live up to the basic obligations of this agreement. To right this, they must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to the best possible conclusion for backers.”
According to Kickstarter, creators with unfulfilled projects must do the following:
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- Post an update that explains what work has been done, how funds were used, and what prevents them from finishing the project as planned;
- Work diligently and in good faith to bring the project to the best possible conclusion in a timeframe that’s communicated to backers;
- Be able to demonstrate that they’ve used funds appropriately and made every reasonable effort to complete the project as promised;
- Be honest, and have made no material misrepresentations in their communication to backers; and
- Offer to return any remaining funds to backers who have not received their reward (in proportion to the amounts pledged), or else explain how those funds will be used to complete the project in some alternate form.
Kickstarter cautions, however, that doing the above may not protect project creators from “legal action by backers.” You can view the full updated terms here.
