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Ayn.com

Terms of use

Last updated 4 October 2026.

Plain terms for a reference site. The part that matters most is section 4: Ayn.com explains and summarises; it is not Rand’s text, not an authority on Objectivism, and not advice about your life, money or legal position.

1. Who we are and what this is

Ayn.com (“Ayn.com”, “we”, “us”) is an independent reference about Ayn Rand and Objectivism, published by Silicon Valley Ventures. It offers summaries of Rand’s novels and nonfiction, notes on characters and concepts, a dated timeline, sourced quotations, essays, a suggested reading order, links to booksellers and an occasional email newsletter. There are no user accounts; the earlier AI coaching feature and its sign-in were retired in October 2026.

Ayn.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by or speaking for the Estate of Ayn Rand, the Ayn Rand Institute or The Atlas Society.

2. Agreement

These Terms govern your use of ayn.com and everything on it. By using the site you accept them; if you do not, please do not use it. You must be at least 18, or have the permission of a parent or guardian who accepts these Terms for you.

We may change these Terms at any time. The date above changes with them, and continued use after a change means you accept the revised version. We may add, change, suspend or remove any page, feature or newsletter at any time without notice or liability.

3. What you may and may not do

You may read, print and share pages for your own personal, educational or internal purposes, and quote our own text briefly with attribution and a link to the page.

You may not:

  • scrape, crawl or harvest the site systematically, or republish it in bulk;
  • present our summaries, essays or analysis as your own;
  • use the site or its content to train, fine-tune or ground a machine learning model that reproduces or substitutes for it;
  • resell or commercially redistribute the content;
  • submit false, abusive or automated messages or newsletter signups, including signing up someone else’s address;
  • interfere with the site, probe it for vulnerabilities, get around its security checks, or place unreasonable load on it;
  • use it for any unlawful purpose.

We may block or restrict access to anyone at our discretion, without notice.

4. Information only, not advice

Everything on Ayn.com is for general educational and informational purposes. Summaries and explanations are our paraphrase and interpretation, not Rand’s words, and reasonable readers, scholars and the institutes that promote her work may read her differently. Where we quote her, we quote briefly and cite the source; check the original before relying on a quotation.

Nothing here is philosophical counselling, psychological, medical, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, and no professional or advisory relationship arises from reading the site, subscribing to the newsletter or writing to us. Do not make decisions about your health, money, career or legal affairs on the strength of anything you read here.

5. Accuracy and third-party sources

We check dates, titles, publication details and quotations against public sources and link those sources where we can. Even so, sources disagree, editions differ, and we make mistakes. If you find one, tell us through the contact page, ideally with an edition and page or a reference link, and we will correct it.

We link to reference sites and other third-party pages for convenience. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, availability, accuracy or practices.

6. Bookseller links and affiliate disclosure

Book and audiobook links go through a short address on this site (/go/shop/book) and then to the seller. Some of these are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Ayn.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and Amazon and Audible links may pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. Bookshop.org links are plain links that pay us nothing. The current position for each seller is on the disclosure page.

A commission never changes what we write about a book or where it sits in the reading order. We are not the seller of any book, and any purchase is between you and the bookseller, on their terms, prices and return policies. Book titles, covers and product details shown here belong to their publishers, to Amazon or to the respective sellers.

7. Newsletter and contact form

The newsletter is free. You join by confirming a link we email you (double opt-in), and every issue has a one-click unsubscribe. The contact form is for corrections, source suggestions and general questions. Writing to us does not create any client, agency, fiduciary or professional relationship, and we do not promise to reply to every message or to act on any suggestion. How we handle what you send is set out in the privacy policy. We take no payments on this site.

8. Copyright and content

Ayn Rand’s works are protected by copyright and are owned by their rights holders. We quote short passages for commentary, criticism, scholarship and reference, with attribution, and we do not reproduce her works.

Our own text, summaries, essays, design, compilations and the code that generates these pages are ours and are protected by copyright. Names and marks of third parties belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.

Anything you send us, including corrections, suggestions and feedback, may be used, adapted and published by us without restriction, attribution or payment. Please do not send anything you consider confidential.

Copyright complaints. If you believe material on Ayn.com infringes your copyright, write to us through the contact page identifying the work, the URL where it appears, your contact details and a statement that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner. We will investigate promptly and remove anything infringing.

9. No warranty

The site and everything on it is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the site or the newsletter will be available, uninterrupted, error-free, secure or free of harmful components.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we and our owners, affiliates and contributors are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for lost profits, savings, data or goodwill, arising out of or relating to the site, the newsletter, any linked site or these Terms, whether in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, even if we were told such damages were possible.

Our total liability to you for all claims relating to the site is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim (which, as the site is free, is normally nothing) or one hundred US dollars (US$100). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions; where that is so, our liability is limited to the minimum the law permits.

11. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ayn.com, its owners, affiliates and contributors from any claim, loss, liability or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of your use of the site, your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or third-party right, or anything you submit to us.

12. Disputes, arbitration and class action waiver

Please read this section carefully; it affects how disputes are resolved.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to the site or these Terms will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court. You and we each waive any right to a jury trial and to take part in a class, collective or representative action. An arbitrator may not consolidate claims or preside over any representative proceeding.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by telling us so through the contact page within 30 days of first using the site. Opting out does not affect the rest of these Terms. If this section is found unenforceable as a whole, any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts sitting in New York County, New York.

13. General

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of law rules. If any provision is found unenforceable, it is severed and the rest stands. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them, including on a sale of the site.

These Terms, together with the privacy policy and the disclosure, are the entire agreement between you and us about the site.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: use the contact page or email hello@ayn.com.