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Kickstart claims "Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill."1

And it goes further threatening the creator with lawsuit from backers: If your project is successfully funded, you are required to fulfill all rewards or refund any backer whose reward you do not or can not fulfill. A failure to do so could result in damage to your reputation or even legal action on behalf of your backers.

But since "Kickstarter's Terms of Use" is a contract between Kickstarter and a creator, how a backer can sue a creator who fails to deliver a promised functionality for a product?

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  • Note that the tickbox underneath all that says "I have read these _Important Reminders_, the Terms of Use...." - the "Your Responsibility" part is an _important reminder_ that you have a potential legal obligation to your backers - remember, in the US, anyone can sue anyone.
    – user4210
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 0:39
  • But is a Kickstarter Campaing a contract?
    – lvella
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 0:39
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    It doesnt matter, remember the "in the US, anyone can sue anyone" part of my comment. You received financial backing, and it could definitely be argued in court that you have a fiduciary duty to them and cannot just take the money and run. But even if that argument fails, it will have failed in court, meaning the legal action will have been taken.
    – user4210
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 0:43

2 Answers 2

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Because the contract is between the creator and the backer

Kickstarter is not a part of this contract — the contract is a direct legal agreement between creators and their backers. Here are the terms that govern that agreement:

Kickstarter has separate agreements with creators and backers but the creators and backers have their own contract.

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  • Do we know that this isn't an English contract? No possibility of CRPTA 1999? law.stackexchange.com/a/48957
    – user89
    Commented Feb 10, 2020 at 9:31
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how a backer can sue a creator who fails to deliver a promised functionality for a product?

"Legal action on behalf of your backers" means that Kickstarter (not the backers) will sue the creator. It will do that after the backers complain — to honor its contract with them and/or as a goodwill gesture.

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  • Silent downvote is pretty much like silent fart.
    – Greendrake
    Commented Jun 19, 2019 at 5:23

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