Terms of use
These terms explain, in plain language, how you may use the free book and this website.
Effective 2026-08-02. Last reviewed 2026-08-02.
Read, share, adapt
The text and illustrations of When the Machines Were Young are offered under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence. You may copy, print, translate, redistribute, and adapt the work, including commercially, provided that you give appropriate credit, link to the licence, identify changes, and share adaptations under the same licence.
Copyright and related rights can differ by jurisdiction. The licence applies to the extent that such rights subsist. Nothing here limits uses already permitted by law.
Suggested attribution
Indicate any changes you make.
No endorsement
Reuse must not imply that Nell Watson, Young Machines, or any organisation named on the author page endorses an adaptation, translation, product, or service unless separate written permission has been given.
Information and warranties
The fables and supporting material are provided for education, discussion, and enjoyment. They are not legal, medical, financial, or engineering advice. The site and downloads are provided as available, without warranties to the extent permitted by law.
Children, links, and availability
The site has no accounts, purchases, or user submissions. Adults remain responsible for deciding how linked external material is used with children. External sites have their own terms. Pages, files, and these terms may be corrected or updated as the edition develops.
Corrections
To report a textual, visual, accessibility, or metadata error, use Nell Watson’s contact page. Please name the edition, format, story or page, and the correction you propose.
Creative provenance
The book’s end matter describes its collaborative writing and image production process. That disclosure is part of the edition and should be kept in any substantial reproduction.