Terms of Use
GENERAL
Welcome to Book Country. Book Country LLC is an online literary community, located at www.bookcountry.com (the “Website”), where writers and readers can share and discuss each other’s work and can self-publish their works. Book Country focuses on fiction, in particular, genre fiction such as fantasy and romance. In the future, Book Country may expand to include non-fiction and/or illustrated works, and may also provide access to additional publishing-related goods and services. Visitors to and members of this Website are sometimes referred to herein as “user” or “you.” Book Country LLC is a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 (“we” or “us” or “our” or “Book Country”).
USING THE WEBSITE
By accessing or using this Website, you agree to be bound by and comply with these General Terms of Use, which includes Book Country’s Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these General Terms of Use, please do not use this Website. Book Country reserves the right, in its discretion, at any time, to update and modify these General Terms of Use and to supplement them with additional agreements or terms of use that pertain to particular features of the Website. Book Country will post any updates or modifications on the Website and/or may provide notice by email or any other means that provides reasonable notice. By using the Website after such postings or notice, you agree to be bound by and comply with these modifications. We reserve the right, in our discretion, to terminate your access to the Website and/or to remove your content and/or profile.
ELIGIBILITY & USER INFORMATION
This Website is intended for adults and not users under 18 years of age. By using this Website, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction. To enter certain sections of the Website and/or to use certain features of the Website, such as to upload your work, post comments, view more than 5,000 words of other authors’ works and to follow or connect with other members of the Website, you may be asked to register as a member and to provide certain personal information about you and your work, which will include, among other things, selecting a password and a screen name and providing your email address. You are responsible for the accuracy of any information you provide to us and for maintaining the confidentiality of your email address and password. This Website’s collection and use of your information are described in the Website’s
Privacy Policy.
Unless specifically requested, please do not send us any confidential or proprietary information or material. Any information, proposals, requests, manuscripts, creative works, pictures, photographs, letters, documents, demos, ideas, suggestions, concepts, methods, systems, designs, plans, techniques or other materials submitted, posted, uploaded, sent or otherwise transmitted to us on or through the Website in any manner, or by email (collectively, the “Content”), will be deemed to be not confidential or secret, and may be used by us in any manner consistent with these General Terms of Use and the
Privacy Policy. You are solely responsible for all Content you post or upload.
As a member of Book Country, you will be able to post or upload Content on the Website, including excerpts from your writing (your “Work”), and to exchange information and ideas about your writing and the writing of others. When you upload, you will be asked to categorize your Work by genre. If you upload your Work, up to 5,000 words will be viewable by visitors to the Website at any one time and up to 30,000 words will be viewable by members of the Website at any one time. You will be able to follow other members and to establish connections with them, which will allow them to see more of your Work and you to see more of theirs. You may also arrange with us to self-publish your Work as an ebook and/or in printed form
that you may sell via the Website, and, in the future, to make your Work available for purchase via other online booksellers.
Except as set forth herein, you will retain all rights in your Content, including the copyright; posting your Content on the Website does not change your ownership rights. By posting or uploading any Content on the Website: (i) you understand that if your Work is in a genre included on the Book Country Website, and complies with these General Terms of Use, your Work may be made accessible to users of the Website and members will be able to review, comment on it and rate it; (ii) you represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in your Content, that such Content is original and does not, and will not, infringe the copyright, trademark or any other right of any person or entity, and that any “moral rights” in the Content have been waived; and (iii) you grant to us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable right and license (A) to display the Content on the Website, and (B) with respect to Content other than your Work, to use, display, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, perform, make, sell and export such Content, in whole and in part, on the Website or in any formats and through any media, as we see fit, and you shall have no claims against Book Country for such use or non-use. Although Book Country may maintain copies of your Content, we are not required to do so and we may delete or destroy any such Content at any time.
You will have the right to remove your Content and to terminate your membership at any time, by clicking on the “Deactivate my account” button on your profile page. We will remove your Content and terminate your membership as soon as practicable following receipt of your request. Once we remove your Content it will not be retrievable, even if you reactivate your account. However, the inclusion of some Content on the Website (e.g., comments you may post on the Website) may be perpetual and irrevocable.
As between you and us, except for your Content, all content, information, materials, text, images, audio, video, computer code and software appearing on this Website (collectively, the “Website Content”) is the property of Book Country or third parties. The Website Content is protected, without limitation, by US and foreign copyright and trademark laws. The Website Content is presented for your personal, non-commercial use only. Copying or downloading these materials (other than your own) for anything other than your personal use is a violation of these General Terms of Use and may be a violation of copyright and trademark laws. Book Country, the Penguin name and logo, and other names, trademarks and logos appearing on the Website, are trademarks owned by Book Country LLC, Penguin Group (USA) Inc. or other third parties. If you access this Website from outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with local laws.
USER CONDUCT
Book Country is not responsible for material submitted or posted to this Website by users or other third parties or for any goods and services offered on this Website by users or other third parties. You acknowledge that materials posted to this Website by users may include derogatory or other negative or offensive comments about your Work, and that Book Country is not responsible for any such comments.
You acknowledge that Book Country may or may not pre-screen materials posted by users. Book Country or its designees have the right, in their sole discretion, to refuse or remove any content that violates these General Terms of Use or is otherwise objectionable, or for any other reason.
You agree not to upload or post on this Website any Content (including your Work) that: a) is libelous or defamatory or is obscene, pornographic, abusive, harassing, or threatening; b) infringes any intellectual property right or any other rights of any entity or person, including but not limited any copyrights or trademarks; c) violates any law; d) advocates illegal activity; e) advertises or otherwise solicits funds or is a solicitation for goods or services, except on sections of the Website, if any, e.g., a listing board, on which solicitation for goods and services is expressly authorized by Book Country; f) contains a virus or other harmful component; g) solicits personal information; h) involves the transmission of chain mail, junk mail or spam; or i) impersonates another person or entity. You also agree that while using the Website, you will not: i) obtain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to other computer systems, materials, information or any services available on or through the Website, ii) engage in spidering, “screen scraping,” “database scraping,” harvesting of e-mail addresses or other personal information, or any other automatic or unauthorized means of accessing the Website, or obtaining lists of users or other information from or through the Website; or iii) circumvent, reverse engineer, decrypt, or otherwise alter or interfere (or attempt, encourage or support anyone else’s attempt to do any of the foregoing) with the Website or its services or any software on the Website.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE OPERATION OF THIS WEBSITE OR THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, GOODS OR SERVICES APPEARING OR OFFERED ON THIS WEBSITE, ALL WHICH ARE PROVIDED "AS IS." WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THIS WEBSITE OR ANY EMAIL WE SEND YOU ARE VIRUS OR ERROR FREE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVICES, SITE CONTENT, FUNCTIONS OR MATERIALS CONTAINED THEREIN WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, UP-TO-DATE OR UNINTERRUPTED. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL MEET USERS’ REQUIREMENTS. NO ADVICE, RESULTS OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN. WE ALSO ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY, AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR, ANY DAMAGES TO, OR VIRUSES THAT MAY INFECT, YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR OTHER PROPERTY ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR BROWSING IN THE SITE OR YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIALS, DATA, TEXT, IMAGES, VIDEO, OR AUDIO FROM THE SITE. BOOK COUNTRY DOES NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSE, SUPPORT, SANCTION, ENCOURAGE OR AGREE WITH ANY SITE CONTENT OR ANY SUBMITTED MATERIALS, AND WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH SUBMITTED MATERIALS AND ANY OTHER CONTENT, MATERIALS OR INFORMATION CREATED BY OR PROVIDED BY USERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LINKS TO OR CONTENT CONTAINED ON THIRD PARTY WEB SITES. ALL USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR BACKING UP THEIR SUBMITTED MATERIALS AS BOOK COUNTRY UNDERTAKES NO OBLIGATION OR RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER THEREFOR. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE WEBSITE, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO STOP USING THE WEBSITE.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WILL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE EXCEED, IN THE AGGREGATE, THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT(S), IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO US FOR THE PURCHASE OF GOODS OR SERVICES FROM THIS WEBSITE, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).
INDEMNITY
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Book Country and its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates and representatives harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorneys' fees, related to any violation of these General Terms of Use by you or arising out of your use of this Website (including, without limitation, your Content).
LINKS TO THIRD PARTY WEBSITES; INFORMATION ABOUT THIRD PARTIES
This Website may contain links to other websites and/or information about third parties who provide publishing-related goods and services. Book Country is not responsible, nor shall it be held liable for, any content, services or products provided by third parties or offered on their websites. These General Terms of Use apply solely to this Website. You should always review the terms and conditions of any other website that you access through a link from this Website.
LINKS TO THIS WEBSITE
You may create a hyperlink to this Website provided you do so in a fair and legal manner and do not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, and provided further that the link (i) does not portray Book Country, Penguin, this Website or any of the services offered on this Website in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise offensive matter, (ii) does not suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part, (iii) does not use any of Book Country’s, Penguin’s or their affiliates’ or licensees’ trade marks, trade names, brands logos or other intellectual property, and (v) does not frame any portion or pages of this Website on any other website. We reserve the right to revoke linking permission without notice.
UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS
You understand that this Website is not an official or unofficial channel for the submission of unsolicited manuscripts for publishing consideration by Penguin Group (USA) Inc. This Website is not a back door to Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and the acceptance of any Content on this Website does not represent any acceptance, endorsement, or agreement by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
GOVERNED BY UNITED STATES AND NEW YORK LAW; JURISDICTION
This Website is operated in the United States for U.S. audiences. This Website is governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of the United States or the State of New York as applicable, without giving effect to their principles of conflicts of law. By using this Website and/or providing us with your personal information, you waive any claims that may arise under the laws of other countries or territories located outside of the United States or states other than New York. Persons who access the Website from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. Further, you agree that any dispute arising out of your use of the Website or these General Terms of Use will be finally determined by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator in accordance with the rules of the America Arbitration Association (including the Supplemental Procedures for Resolution of Consumer-Related Disputes if applicable). Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The arbitration shall be conducted in the English language in New York, New York, in accordance with the United States Arbitration Act.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Book Country prohibits the posting of any information or materials that violate or infringe the copyrights of any person or entity. If you believe that your work has been copied and made available on this Website in a manner that would constitute copyright infringement, please provide the following information in writing to our designated DMCA Copyright Agent:
1. an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
2. a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
3. a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Website;
4. your address, telephone number, and email address;
5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
6. a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.
Book Country's designated DMCA Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:
By mail:
Copyright Agent
Attn: Legal/DMCA Complaints
Book Country
c/o Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10014
By phone: (800) 631-8571
By fax: (212) 366-2867
By email: copyright@us.penguingroup.com
ENFORCEMENT
If any provision of these General Terms of Use is adjudged unlawful or void or unenforceable in whole or in part, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
TERMINATION FOR REPEAT INFRINGEMENT
In appropriate cases, Book Country will terminate the accounts of repeat copyright infringers. If you believe that a user of this Website is a repeat infringer, please contact Book Country's DMCA Copyright Agent as described above and provide enough information for us to verify the individual is a repeat infringer.
Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains generally what information is collected on our Website and how it is used. This Website is published and maintained by Book Country, which is part of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., with offices located at 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Book Country is referred to in this Privacy Policy as “we,” “us” and “our.” By visiting this Website, and/or using the services offered on or through it, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy as amended from time to time, and our
General Terms of Use of which this Privacy Policy is a part. As we update and expand our services, this Privacy Policy may change, so please check back to this page from time to time. This Website is intended for users who are located in the United States of America. This Privacy Policy is governed by and interpreted under the laws of the United States.
For additional Information about your California privacy rights, please click
here.
Table of Contents
Please click on a section title below to skip to that section of this Privacy Policy.
What personal information may be collected on this Website
What Website usage information may be collected on this Website
How we may use your information
How we may share your information with others
Rights to Opt In and Opt Out
Your California Privacy Rights
Your Access Rights
Security
Consent to Processing
“Linked-To” Websites
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Contact Us
What personal information may be collected on this Website
Personal Information: In order to identify you, provide services and personalize your use of the Website, we may from time to time request and collect personal information, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, photograph, credit card and other payment information for orders you place, and other demographic information from users of our Website, for example, through such users’ activities, transactions and completion of online forms on our Website. Such information is collected, for example, when users create profiles, subscribe to services or features on the Website, submit materials or contribute content to the Website, make online purchases, enter contests, complete surveys, submit a comment or question to us using a “Contact Us” feature, send us an e-mail, or in any other way submit personal information to us via our Website.
E-mail-A-Friend: You may be able to send information about our products and/or Website to friends by using an “E-mail to Friend” or similar feature on the Website. You may be asked to provide the name and e-mail address of your friend to us, but such information will only be used to send the initial notice to your friend; we will not save it or use it for any marketing purposes thereafter.
What Website usage information may be collected on this Website
Cookies: “Cookies” help us to identify and track you, and to improve and personalize your use of the Website. Cookies are small data files that are sent automatically from a Web server to your Web browser and are stored on your computer’s hard drive when you visit or revisit the Website. Examples of how we may use cookies include the use of a stored user name and password to automatically complete a form and the use of home page preferences for return visits. Cookies permit us and our service providers to track the pages you visit, the content you view and the purchases you make on the Website. Most Web browsers can be set to erase or block the acceptance of cookies or to inform you when a cookie has been sent so that you can refuse the cookie. Additionally, as the Website may from time to time use Flash cookies, if you have a Flash player installed on your computer, your Flash player can be set to reject or delete Flash cookies (which cannot be managed via your browser settings, as with traditional cookies). However, please note that refusing a cookie may limit your access to certain areas and/or functions of the Website, such as your ability to upload manuscripts and make purchases. Although the information collected through cookies is not by itself considered personally identifiable information, such information may enable us to relate your use of our Website to other information we have collected about you, including your personal information.
By using the Website, you consent to our use of cookies in connection with this Website.
IP Addresses, Clickstream data and other Tracking Technologies: In addition to our use of cookies as described above, our server automatically collects Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and other clickstream data which we may use for administrative and other purposes (including, for example, information about which pages you visit on this Website, which other websites you link to or link from, any search terms you input into the Website, and other Website usage activity logged by our servers). We may also use other technologies that are similar to or work in conjunction with cookies to help us track and monitor Website usage (e.g., Web beacons, site tags, clear GIFs, etc.). Although clickstream data and information collected through these other types of tracking technologies is not by itself considered personally identifiable information, it may permit us to relate your use of our Website to other information about you, including your personal information.
How we may use your information
We will use your information (including both your personal information and your Website usage information) to respond to your requests, process your orders or transactions, and to provide you with product and service offerings. We may also use your personal information for internal record keeping, to administer our Website and services, and to customize your use of the Website. From time to time, we may match information collected from you through this Website (including both personal information and Website usage information), and use such information along with information obtained from other sources, including third parties. We will not disclose your personal information on public areas of the Website without your permission (including, for example, when you decide to make “public” certain information about yourself on the Website).
In addition, if you consent by opting in, we may send you notices and otherwise correspond with you, via e-mail and otherwise, about products, services and events sponsored by us and others that we think might interest you.
How we may share your information with others
Public forums: Information you submit or post to a public area of our Website, such as a public profile, chat room, bulletin board, discussion, blog or other community tool or area, will become available to other members of the Website or to the general public. We therefore advise you to exercise great care in determining what information you choose to make publicly available through our Website.
Third-party offers: We will not share your information with other companies, including our affiliates, for their marketing purposes unless you consent by opting in. If you want us to stop sharing your personal information with other companies for their marketing purposes, please follow the procedures outlined in the Right to Opt In and Opt Out section below.
Co-sponsored contests, sweepstakes and offerings: We will not share your information with co-sponsors of contests, sweepstakes or other promotions on the Website unless you consent by opting in. To opt in or out, follow the instructions in the Right to Opt In and Opt Out section below. The co-sponsors will have the right to use your information for their own purposes, in accordance with their own policies. We are not responsible for how the co-sponsors may use your information.
Service providers: We may use third parties, including our corporate parent, Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and affiliates, to help operate and administer our Website and deliver our products and services, and we may share your information with them to use on our behalf on an as-needed basis for such non-marketing purposes. Examples include Website or database hosting companies, e-mail service providers, distribution companies, fulfillment companies, payment processing companies, and other similar service providers that use such information on our behalf.
Legal disclosures: We may disclose user information to government authorities and to third parties if required by law (including police investigation) or if we have reason to believe that someone is injuring or interfering with us, our Website, other users or third parties, or is violating our Terms of Use.
Corporate change of control: In the event of a corporate acquisition, merger, sale, reorganization, consolidation, liquidation, bankruptcy or transfer of assets, personal information and other types of user information may be amongst the transferred assets.
Website usage and other non-personally identifiable information: In addition to the above purposes, we may disclose Website usage information and other non-personally identifiable information to third parties. Such information may include, for example, aggregate data or demographic reports that do not describe or identify any individual user.
Rights to Opt In and Opt Out
You may have the right to “opt in” and/or “opt out” of certain of our uses of your personal information. For example, when you register or submit personal information on this Website, you may have the opportunity to choose, by checking or un-checking the appropriate box, whether you want to receive promotional emails from us and whether we may share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
If you opt in, you may later opt out of receiving our promotional e-mails by clicking on an opt-out or “unsubscribe” link within the promotional e-mail you receive, or by changing your e-mail preferences in your account profile. Please understand that if you opt out of all future promotional emails, we may still contact you in connection with your relationship, activities, transactions and communications with us.
If you opt in and later want us to stop sharing your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing use, you can adjust your preferences in your account profile. Your request will apply as of the date we receive it. We are not responsible for communications from third parties that received your personal information prior to your request. To stop communications from such parties, please contact them directly.
Your California Privacy Rights
To comply with California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, we provide all of our users (including those who are California residents) the right to opt out of our sharing of their personal information with third parties for direct marketing use. See the
Rights to Opt In and Opt Out section above to learn how to exercise those rights.
Your Access Rights
You may review, update or modify the personal information that is stored in your user account on this Website by visiting the “My Profile” area of your account on this Website.
Security
We endeavor to protect the security and integrity of sensitive personal information collected via this Website by adopting reasonable industry standard security measures. For example, for our e-commerce services, we endeavor to encrypt sensitive personal information you send us during the check-out process and protect it by a firewall on a secure server. However, due to the open nature of the Internet, we cannot guarantee that any information is 100% secure.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and for any access to or use of the Website via your password, whether or not authorized by you. Please notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security. You are also responsible for any information including personal information that you post or submit on public areas of the Website.
In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your personal information may have been compromised, we will endeavor to give you appropriate notice as quickly as possible, including by email.
You consent to our use of e-mail for such notification.
Consent to Processing
By using and providing personal information to this Website, you consent to the collection, maintenance, processing and transfer of your information in and to the United States and other countries and territories, pursuant to the laws of the United States, which may provide lesser privacy protections than the laws of other countries.
“Linked-To” Websites
The Website may contain links to other websites and online services, which have their own separate terms of use and privacy policies. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information provided to or collected on any other website or service.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time, and such changes will be effective immediately upon posting to this Website. Under certain circumstances (for example, in connection with certain material changes), we may also elect to notify you of changes or updates to our Privacy Policy, or to request your consent for such changes, by additional means, such as posting a notice on the front page of our Website or sending you an e-mail.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments regarding our privacy practices, you may contact us at:
info@bookcountry.com.
Effective Date: 2/28/2011