Terms of Use

Mature Audiences & Sensitive Content

Mystery Files is intended for mature audiences. The Site documents real crimes, disappearances, deaths, and unexplained phenomena. As a result, it contains material that some people will find disturbing, including graphic or distressing images, crime-scene and archival photographs, depictions of violence or death, and descriptions of traumatic events.

Viewer discretion is strongly advised. If you are sensitive to such content, or if it may cause you distress, please do not continue. This Content is presented for documentary, educational, and historical purposes and never to glorify, endorse, or sensationalise harm.

Definitions

• "Mystery Files", "we", or "us": the operators of this website.
• "You" or "User": any visitor or contributor to the Site.
• "Content": text, images, video, audio, data, and any other material presented on the Site.
• "Submission": any tip, correction, report, or other material sent to us via the contact form or email.

Use of Content

Content on Mystery Files is curated from publicly available sources and is presented for educational and informational purposes. Where original commentary, layout, illustrations, or data compilations are ours, they remain the property of Mystery Files or our contributors and are protected under copyright and related laws.

You may read, share links to, and personally reference our pages. Bulk scraping, automated harvesting, or wholesale republishing of our content without written permission is not permitted.

Image Sourcing & Copyright Removal

Many of the images on Mystery Files are gathered automatically from publicly available sources and presented here for documentary, educational, and historical commentary. We make reasonable efforts to rely on public-domain or fair-use material and to credit sources where that information is available, but in a large, automatically compiled archive some attribution may be incomplete.

If you are a rights holder and believe an image or other item has been used in a way that infringes your copyright, we will act promptly. Send a removal request through our contact form (select Copyright / Takedown), identifying the specific case and the content in question, and we will review and remove the material where appropriate.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use automated tools to access the Site at a rate that disrupts service.
• Attempt to bypass, probe, or compromise the Site's security.
• Submit false or misleading reports through any form on the Site.
• Use the Site to harass, defame, or threaten any person.
• Misrepresent your affiliation with us in any way.

User Submissions

When you submit a tip, correction, or new case through our forms, you grant Mystery Files a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to review your Submission and, where appropriate, to incorporate the information into the case file. We may edit submissions for clarity, length, or accuracy, and we may credit or anonymise contributors at our discretion.

Please don't send us anything you wouldn't want quoted or summarised. Do not submit other people's copyrighted material without permission.

Accuracy & Editorial Disclaimer

Mystery Files documents unsolved cases, folklore, and unexplained phenomena. We work hard to present information accurately, but many cases involve disputed facts, anonymous testimony, or speculative theories. Presence of a theory or claim on the Site is not an endorsement of its truth. We are not a primary investigative authority and our coverage should not be relied upon for legal, medical, or other consequential decisions.

Vote & Community Integrity

The vote feature is intended as a casual ranking signal. Please cast verdicts honestly. Using bots, scripts, or coordinated campaigns to manipulate the ELO ranking of any case is a violation of these Terms and may result in your access being restricted.

Orders, Payments & Fulfilment

Mystery Files sells physical products: printed case dossiers, apparel, and other merchandise. Payments are processed by our third-party payment provider; we do not store your card details. Prices, products, and availability are shown on the Site and may change at any time. Where shipping is charged separately, it is shown at checkout before you pay.

Printed dossiers and apparel are made to order and produced and shipped by third-party print-on-demand partners. Delivery estimates are not guaranteed, and any import duties, taxes, or customs charges are your responsibility. Because items are printed individually for you, we cannot accept change-of-mind returns; however, if an item arrives damaged, defective, or materially different from what was ordered, contact us via the contact form (use Order Enquiry) and we will arrange a replacement or refund in line with applicable consumer law.

No Warranties

The Site is provided as is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including (without limitation) warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Mystery Files, its operators, contributors, and affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Site or its Content. Our total aggregate liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim (which, in most cases, will be zero).

Suspension & Termination

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to the Site at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or are misusing the Site in a way that threatens its operation or other users.

Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected here with an updated effective date. Your continued use of the Site after the change indicates your acceptance of the revised Terms; if you do not accept them, please stop using the Site.

Governing Law & Severability

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which Mystery Files is operated, without regard to its conflict-of-laws provisions. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

Contact the Bureau

Questions about these Terms? Send them through the contact form (use General Inquiry as the report type) or email us at info@mystery-files.com. See also our Privacy Policy.