Terms & conditions

Article 1 Definitions

  • Booklink – a company who facilitates individual persons and legal entities in selling books directly to readers
  • Author – individual person or legal entity who publishes books via Booklink for personal and/or business purposes
  • Reviewer – individual person or legal entity who reviews manuscripts for authors
  • Customer – anyone who visits Booklink, including Author and Reviewer
  • Services – functionalities and services offered by Booklink to the Customer
  • Products (and goods) – products offered by Booklink, mainly books and e-books
  • Register – filling in an online form with name, email and password, in order to create an Account at Booklink
  • Account – registered access to the website of Booklink, by using a Personal Dashboard
  • Personal Dashboard – online overview of all activities employed by the Author: books published, sales, finance, Author website, fans and messages from Booklink
  • Profile – personal information about the Author; only part is public information, such as the author’s name and picture
  • Publishing – going through the six publication steps in order to publish a book
  • Marketing and Sales – a combination of activities in order to stimulate the sales of Author’s books
  • Author Website – the personal website offered to the Author by Booklink, used to communicate with the outer world and for selling books
  • Affiliate – website promoting and selling books from the Author, via a link with Booklink and/or the Author’s website
  • Shop – the webshop of Booklink

Article 2 Identity of Booklink
Booklink
E-mail: info@booklink.io

Article 3 Applicability

  • 3.1 These General Conditions apply to all Customers of Booklink. For Authors and Reviewers specific additional conditions apply
  • 3.2 Before a Customer starts using the Products and Services of Booklink he will be notified of the General Conditions.
  • 3.3 Authors have to agree to the General Conditions before they start publishing with Booklink.
  • 3.4 Customers can download a copy of the General Conditions from the website of Booklink at all times.

Article 4 Services of Booklink

  • 4.1 General – Booklink is an online publishing company that offers Authors the opportunity to publish their books without any costs involved. Booklink supports Authors in publishing of books and marketing and sales thereof. Customers can buy books at Booklink via the Shop or via the website of the Author. Ordered books will be delivered to the address supplied by the Customer.
  • 4.2 Publishing – In order to publish a book the Author must complete the six publishing steps of Booklink.
  • 4.3 Marketing and Sales – Booklink offers the Author a series of promotional activities
  • 4.4 Personal Dashboard – web page offering the Author an overview of his activities.
  • 4.5 Shop – Booklink owns a web shop wherein all Author’s books will be displayed and offered for sale to Customers. Privately published books will not be shown in the shop of Booklink. Books ordered by the Customer will be delivered to the address supplied by the Customer.
  • 4.6 Other services – Services offered by Booklink that are not specifically mentioned in the General Conditions, also are ruled by the General Conditions.

Article 5 Specific Conditions Applying to the Author

  • 5.1 The Author must have an Account with Booklink and must agree with the terms and conditions.
  • 5.2 The Author will not use racist, hatred arousing, discriminating or insulting texts or phrases in his publications. The Author will not plagiarise texts from others in his publications.
  • 5.3 The Author will not misuse the (community) facilities of Booklink in the sense of placing negative, hatred arousing texts. Booklink retains the right to remove books and inactivate the Author’s account at Booklink’s sole discretion, should such an event occur.
  • 5.4 The Author is responsible for the contents of the book. Booklink facilitates the publication thereof. Should (legal) action occur against books from the Author, the Author must respond and is fully responsible. The Author indemnifies Booklink for any claims or damage that may occur due to the publication of his book(s). The Author will not claim compensation from Booklink in any form. Should Booklink suffer any damage, including legal costs, the Author is required to reimburse Booklink.
  • 5.5 The Author will not hold Booklink responsible for malfunction of services offered by Booklink. The Author will not take any legal action against Booklink, should malfunction of said services occur.
  • 5.6 The Author will not publish a book at Booklink when the Author does not fully own the copyright of the contents, for example if the copyright of all or part of the contents is owned by a third party. Should the Author publish such a book, he will indemnify Booklink for any consequences and the Author will be held fully responsible and accountable for all matters resulting there from.
  • 5.7 Should the Author detect malfunctions in the services offered by Booklink, the Author shall notify Booklink immediately, by using the online contact form.
  • 5.8 The Author permits Booklink to use his book(s) and information about the Author for promotional activities. In such cases Booklink is allowed to use widgets, social networks, press releases, fora and blogs, tell-a-friend functionalities and to cooperate with business partners of Booklink.
  • 5.9 The Author is allowed to refer to Booklink in regard to his book(s), as long as the Author does not damage the reputation of Booklink, nor infringes upon the intellectual property rights of Booklink.
  • 5.10 Booklink is entitled to deactivate the account of the Author and stop the sales of his books, if the Author at any time does not comply with the rules specified in the General Conditions. Booklink does not bear any responsibility, nor can be held accountable for any damage, directly or indirectly, by the Author, should such an incident occur.

Article 6 Copyrights, Publication Rights, Reproduction Rights and Intellectual Property Rights

  • 6.1 The Author always holds the copyright, as is regulated by law.
  • 6.2 Booklink has the right to reproduce and sell books (and e-books) of Author for the duration that the Author stays active at Booklink and for the duration that the Author’s books are available for sale at Booklink.
  • 6.3 The Author is entitled to leave Booklink at any time and at the Author’s convenience. In such a case the Author retains the publication rights and the reproduction rights. It is the Author’s responsibility to withdraw his publications from Booklink. Should the Author fail to do so, Booklink is allowed to continue to sell these publications via the Author’s website and via Booklink’s web shop.
  • 6.4 The website of Booklink, its functionality and the content of the website (excluding manuscripts and book files) are the intellectual property of Booklink and therefore are protected by copyright. Customers are not allowed to copy the website or any portion thereof and/or publish them for other purposes than stated in the General Conditions, unless Booklink has given permission in writing beforehand.

Article 7 Specific Conditions applying to the Reviewer

  • 7.1 The Reviewer must have an Account at Booklink and must agree with the General Conditions.
  • 7.2 The Reviewer agrees with the Author regarding the review method, the areas of attention and the delivery time of the reviewed manuscript.
  • 7.3 The Reviewer will follow all regulations regarding the privacy of the Author, conform to the General Conditions of Booklink and any law applicable regarding privacy rules for individuals. Reviewer will not show the manuscript in any form to third parties, neither copy it nor use it for commercial purposes without prior written permission from the Author.
  • 7.4 The Reviewer will not claim any royalties on a published book that was reviewed by the Reviewer.
  • 7.5 The Reviewer will never claim any copy- and/or publishing rights regarding books reviewed by him/her.
  • 7.6 The Reviewer will not use any hateful, racist, discriminating or insulting terms in the reviewing of the manuscripts offered to him/her by the Author.
  • 7.7 Booklink is entitled to deactivate Reviewer’s Account, should Reviewer not comply with the rules as stated in the General Conditions. Should such a case occur, then Booklink owes no responsibility or need to explain to the Reviewer or the Author.
  • 7.8 Booklink cannot in any way be held responsible for the work delivered by the Reviewer. The Reviewer will not hold Booklink responsible.
  • 7.9 The Reviewer is responsible and held accountable for any damage that might occur, for instance to the Author in such cases where the Reviewer does not comply to the rules stated in the General Conditions and/or in the Specific Conditions applying to the Reviewer. The Reviewer indemnifies Booklink for any claim that might occur.
  • 7.10 The Reviewer will pay a small percentage of his fee to Booklink for any work that was acquired via Booklink or one of its Business Partners.
  • 7.11 The entire Article 7 applies to any free review service offered by Booklink as well as to any paid review service.

Article 8 Purchase of Services and Products at Booklink

  • 8.1 Booklink will take the utmost care in fulfilment of orders concerning Services and Products. Booklink cooperates with trusted third parties, among others in the areas of reviewing, design and layout, payment systems, printing and distribution.
  • 8.2 Prices for Services and Products offered on the website and in the shop are VAT (Sales Tax) inclusive, but exclude postage and packaging costs (if applicable). The latter costs will be shown before the Customer completes the purchase.
  • 8.3 Prices for Services and Products offered by Booklink are subject to change.
  • 8.4 Payment methods are displayed on the payment screen. Payment for all Services and Products must be made before delivery.
  • 8.5 Displayed delivery times are estimations. No claim can be made due to delivery outside these estimates.
  • 8.6 The delivery address is the address given by the Customer.
  • 8.7 After having received his/her Product(s) the Customer is entitled, without clarification, to nullify his/her purchase within fourteen days of receiving the Product(s). Booklink appreciates knowing why the Customer cancelled a purchase and asks him/her kindly to explain. This does not apply to Services provided and delivered. The Customer is obliged to check all goods upon delivery. If the Product is not to the Customer’s satisfaction, the Customer must notify Booklink in writing via the customer service email, within fourteen days after the delivery date. If that date has passed, the Customer is deemed to have accepted his/her order.
  • 8.8 Booklink accepts returns when they have been sent within 14 days of delivery and if they are accompanied by a copy of the invoice and/or the original shipping notice. Each book must be undamaged and returned in the original packaging. Return costs are borne by the Customer.
  • 8.9 In cases of force majeure Booklink is entitled to suspend delivery or nullify the order, without judicial interference. Should such a case appear, Booklink will notify you in writing per email and will not accept any claims for compensation.
  • 8.10 If the Customer is not satisfied with the goods or services delivered, he may contact Booklink via its customer service email address.

Article 9 Liability

  • 9.1 Booklink has built its website carefully and with the utmost integrity. Booklink is not liable in any case for the contents on its website, as far as it is placed there by Customers. Booklink takes a serious effort to prevent incorrectness on its website (especially unlawful and criminal information) and to conform to the norms and values of Booklink (See Articles 5 and 11 of the terms and conditions).
  • 9.2 When Customers register with Booklink they must complete certain data to acquire an account. Booklink is not liable nor can it be held accountable for the correctness of these data. The responsibility thereof is borne solely by the Customer.
  • 9.3 Booklink is not liable nor can be held accountable for the access to or information on any other website that is linked to the website of Booklink.
  • 9.4 Booklink is not liable nor can be held accountable for direct and/or indirect damage that may occur to the Customer regarding publishing books or published books by the Customer at Booklink.

Article 10 Privacy of Personal Information

  • 10.1 Booklink processes and stores personal information as a consequence of the services it offers. This information is stored in conformation with legal requirements, which may differ per country.
  • 10.2 Booklink acknowledges a Privacy Statement wherein is stated how Booklink takes care of personal information. The Privacy Statement is an integral part of the terms and conditions.

Article 11 Notice & Take Down (NTD)

  • 11.1 Booklink follows the international behaviour code Notice & Take Down (NTD).
  • 11.2 Any customer is entitled to file a complaint regarding (supposed) unlawful and/or criminal contents on the website of Booklink, with the request to remove such contents from that website.
  • 11.3 When filing the complaint the Customer must inform Booklink correctly and completely, including but not limited to the following:
    • Contact information of the Customer.
    • Information Booklink needs to check the specified content; the URL where this information can be found.
    • A description explaining why the contents are unlawful and/or criminal according to the Customer, or an explanation why these contents may conflict with criteria published by Booklink regarding unwanted contents.
  • 11.4 Booklink will judge the complaint within two weeks after having received it, after which Booklink will contact the Customer. Dependent upon a preliminary quick scan, the following actions may be taken:
    • Booklink contacts the Author of the content and agrees with the Author how to take care of the matter. Booklink then contacts the Customer
    • Booklink requests the Author to contact the Customer (for which the Customer has to give permission first), with the aim that Author and Customer can mutually agree on a solution. Booklink will act as mediator.
    • Booklink removes the contents when it is clear that the complaint was just. Author and Customer will then be informed.
    • Booklink will take no action, of which the Customer will be informed.
  • 11.5 Announcements involving a search warrant regarding a criminal offense will be verified by Booklink at the applicable official institution.

Article 12 Final Statements

  • 12.1 These General Conditions apply to each Customer of the software and services offered by Booklink. Questions regarding the General Conditions can be sent by email to: info@booklink.io
  • 12.2 Booklink may amend the General Conditions at any time, in its sole discretion. Booklink will always display the most recent version of the General Conditions on its website.
  • 12.3 Should one or more articles (or subarticles) of these General Conditions be terminated or nullified at any moment in time, the remaining articles (and subarticles) will still fully apply.
  • 12.4 These General Conditions are governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Netherlands. Should conflicts arise between Customer and Booklink, they will first attempt to come to an arrangement between themselves. Should a conflict not be settled in this way, then the courts of the Netherlands shall have exclusive venue and jurisdiction over any disputes that arise.

Rotterdam, 20 October 2012

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