Goose River Press eBook – Terms and Conditions

Goose River Press eBook – Terms and Conditions
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY. THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO
TIME (“Terms”), ARE A BINDING AGREEMENT (“Agreement”) BETWEEN YOU (“End Users”, “AUTHORS”,
"PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS") AND GOOSE RIVER PRESS EBOOK PUBLISHING, INC. (“Goose River Press
eBook Publishing”).
By using the service available through www.gooseriverpress.com and affiliated domains (the “Site”), You agree to the
terms governing the applications, features and functionality available on or through the Site (The “Service”). If you do
not agree with these terms, do not use the service.
The following also describes the rights and responsibilities of the Author /Publisher /Agent (referred to as the APA)
and Goose River Press eBook Publishing.
1. The Grant and the Territory
The APA hereby grants and assigns to Goose River Press eBook Publishing the nonexclusive worldwide right to
digitally publish, distribute, market and sell (“Publish”), and to license others to do so, the work identified on the front
page of your submission (the “Work”). Since the terms of agreement with Goose River Press eBook Publishing,
herein, is non-exclusive, the APA is free to Publish, license, market and sell their work elsewhere so long as the APA
is not violating someone else’s agreement or violating any laws.
2. Publication. Goose River Press eBook Publishing will generally Publish any such submissions which does not
violate, or which do not appear to violate the Agreement.
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Publication of Work As Is. Generally, Goose River Press eBook Publishing will Publish APA’s Work as it is
delivered to us, and not edit or modify the Work. Certain modifications may occur caused by file or design
conversions. Goose River Press eBook Publishing does not guarantee accurate preservation of the original
Work’s formatting.
Publication Right Option of Goose River Press eBook Publishing. Goose River Press eBook Publishing
may decide not to Publish APA’s work or may decide to discontinue its publication of APA’s work for any
reason and for no reason, and no reason need be provided. Except in the cases of gross violations of this
Terms of Service, Goose River Press eBook Publishing will make every attempt to provide reasonable
notice to APA via email, up to and including providing instructions on how to remedy potential issues that
might prevent Goose River Press eBook Publishing from listing a title.
How to "Unpublish" Works from Goose River Press eBook Publishing. Goose River Press eBook
Publishing may Publish the Work until APA of the Work decides to unpublish the work (Please send us an
email or call to make request). APA may notify Goose River Press eBook Publishing in writing to remove the
Work. After that notice, Goose River Press eBook Publishing will remove the work from the Goose River
Press eBook Publishing distribution list within five business days. If the APA's book has been distributed into
major retail channels the removal from the retail partners' digital shelves may take several weeks. Goose
River Press eBook Publishing will do its best to assist APAs and publishers to have their works removed,
and to ensure APAs who terminate their Goose River Press eBook Publishing accounts receive full payment
for sales that may occur after account termination.
Distribution in the Goose River Press eBook Publishing Worldwide. We cannot guarantee total removal
from clearinghouses in varying countries. Although we can stop the sales of the ebook, we cannot remove
the fingerprint. The ISBN that we assign to your eBook remains the property of Goose River Press eBook
Publishing. Due to third party distribution policies, we recommend that if you republish your eBook outside of
Goose River Press eBook Publishing you will need to obtain a new ISBN.
Removal of poorly formatted works. Goose River Press eBook Publishing, at its option, may without
warning remove a ebook from being added to our distribution points due to extremely poor formatting from
the native file. Monies are not refunded, as we take a great deal of time and effort to work with your files.
The accounts of APAs who blatantly ignore the formatting requirements or not respond to our requests are
removed. We urge all Goose River Press eBook Publishing APAs not to waste the time of Goose River
Press eBook Publishing, our retail partners or our readers. We want to make your eBook the best it can be,
that may require your help – help us help you, do not ignore our requests.
3. Infringement.
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Removal of Infringing or Defamatory Work of APA. Goose River Press eBook Publishing takes claims of
infringement seriously and may take immediate action upon notice from someone claiming to be an Infringed
party. Generally, upon receipt of a written notice from a party infringed or defamed by APA’s material (or
someone purporting to be his APA, publisher, attorney in fact or assign), Goose River Press eBook
Publishing will remove the APA’s Work and reserves the right to remove any and all information about the
APA, the APA’s Work or the publisher from the Site.
Infringement by Others Upon APA’s Work. If an APA or copyright holder learns that a third party is
violating APA’s copyright or pirating or illegally distributing a Goose River Press eBook Publishing-published
work, the APA shall inform Goose River Press eBook Publishing; however, it is the APA’s responsibility to
seek relief from the offending parties. If that work is published by Goose River Press eBook Publishing,
Goose River Press eBook Publishing will remove it per section 3a above.
Rights Clearances and Other Legal Matters. It is APA’s responsibility to secure permissions to the Work
prior to the time APA submits such work if any material from the work belongs to, or has been licensed to,
someone else.
4. Copyright. The copyright in the Work shall belong to the APA or the party that APA cites as the copyright holder.
APA shall be solely responsible for filing its copyrights and any other intellectual property with the appropriate
governmental body. It is the APA’s responsibility to place a copyright notice on the copyright page or some other
prominent place in the Work.
5. Formats of Digital Conversions. APA shall submit their Work as a Microsoft Word .doc file, native file or PDF.
Goose River Press eBook Publishing shall utilize numerous software technology to convert the book as well as
manual human interaction abilities to convert the book into multiple ebook formats, and publish the work for use in
sampling, distributing and selling the work. Your submitted file is formatted, converted and reviewed manually and
electronically to assure the highest quality. Goose River Press eBook Publishing retains ownership of all internal
working documents. Our internal working documents are never released to the APA. Our ultimate service is to
distribute your eBook into various distribution channels using our internal working documents. Exception is only made
when conversion services are purchased for the sole purpose of conversion.
6. Royalties. So long as the proper copyright protection subsists in the Work, no infringement notices have been
filed, and revenues directly attributable to the Work are being collected by Goose River Press eBook Publishing, the
APA shall be entitled to the following payments:
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Royalty Rates. The proceeds to the APA will vary based on the sales outlet, and the method of the sales.
We make every effort to publish your eBook with the suggested price you supply to us. Due to currency
conversion rates, this rate amount may vary. Retail outlets also have the ability to adjust your suggested
cost from time to time. Your royalty rate is based off the retail outlets advertised rate. This can vary from
time to time due to using a third party publisher. Goose River Press eBook Publishing reserves the right to
use a third party for the benefit of the APA. This occasionally happens when a retail distribution point has
only assigned a few aggregators to process their catalogs. It is common practice for Goose River Press
eBook Publishing to directly publish your eBook through distribution. Goose River Press eBook Publishing
does not retain any royalty proceeds from sales of eBooks. Goose River Press does charge a 5.25%
Administration fee. When using a third party publisher, Goose River Press will always assure royalties to
APA at a minimum rate of 60%
Promotional Rights. Goose River Press eBook Publishing shall have the right to distribute samples of the
Work in any form of media, including printed media, in order to promote (a) the APA or APA’s Work and/or
(b) the Goose River Press eBook Publishing service. These samples will be licensed for free, noncommercial use, duplication and sharing, and will comply with the sample percentage of 15%- 20%. Goose
River Press eBook Publishing is not responsible for marketing your eBook once it is published. Our job is to
place your eBook on various distribution outlets, it is your job to market the eBook. We provided you with a
tool for you to sell your eBook.
Crawlable or Other Searchable Rights. Goose River Press eBook Publishing shall have the right to drive
traffic to the APA’s Work on the Goose River Press eBook Publishing Site through general Search Engine
Optimization services and crawlable, promotional hypertext links as well as arrangements with third parties
which make searchable certain sample portions of the Work.
Other Subsidiary Rights. Other than stated above, Goose River Press eBook Publishing, in its current
version, shall only Publish electronic versions of the Work, and keeps no other subsidiary rights to the Work
including hardcover or paperback editions, audio editions, multimedia editions, theatrical editions, first and
second serial rights or media rights other than the electronic version distributed on our Site. Therefore, if
another publisher will allow you to keep electronic rights to the Work, you may continue to Publish the Work
electronically while publishing a printed version of the Work with a print publisher. These rules are subject to
change from time to time, upon electronic or other notice to the End-users and any other users.
7. APA-Controlled Terms. Goose River Press eBook Publishing allows APA to control pricing and output formats,
with the exception of terms where otherwise stated in this agreement.
8. Statements, fees and Payments of APA Royalties:
Goose River Press eBook Publishing pays APA royalties on a quarterly basis, approximately 20-30 days following the
close of each calendar quarter.
Goose River Press eBook Publishing charges a varying fee for services provided at time of service. Payment is due
at the time order is placed. Special accounts that are invoiced once a week electronically are noted that payment is
due upon receipt. Goose River Press eBook Publishing reserves the right to charge a 2% late fee every fifteen days
past the first initial fifteen days of receipt.
8a. Tax withholding: The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires Goose River Press eBook
Publishing to withhold taxes from net proceeds in cases where proper tax information is not provided. For US
residents and US businesses, Goose River Press eBook Publishing requires a SSN or EIN, plus a valid US postal
mailing address. If US-based APAs do not provide valid tax id information, then the IRS requires Goose River Press
eBook Publishing to withhold 28% of earnings which Goose River Press eBook Publishing must remit to the IRS
within days of transacting the payments to APAs/publishers. For APAs and publishers outside the US, the automatic
withholding rate is 30%. Many countries have tax treaties with the United States that entitle residents and businesses
located in these countries to receive either partial or full exemption from the 30% tax withholding. To qualify, APAs
and publishers should first check if their country has a tax treaty. If a tax treaty is in effect, then the APA must apply
for and obtain an ITIN from the US IRS. Following receipt of the ITIN, the APA must complete the W8-BEN form (or
related form, see IRS instructions), sign it, and return it to Goose River Press eBook Publishing.
9. APA’s Warranties. The warranties and representations contained in this Agreement extend to APA and its
licensees and successors and assigns. By uploading content to Goose River Press eBook Publishing, you agree that
any violation of the warranties below may result in immediate deletion of your account and the forfeiture of accrued
royalties.
a. By submitting Your Work to Goose River Press eBook Publishing for publication, You, the APA warrant and
represent that to the extent the APA has given you expressly secured permission from someone else to Publish their
Work and the Work is complete and the APA:
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Is the only APA of the Work; Is the sole owner of the rights herein granted. Has not assigned, pledged, or
encumbered such rights or have not entered into any agreement which would conflict with the rights granted
to Goose River Press eBook Publishing herein; and agrees not to do any of the aforementioned without first
unpublishing the work at Goose River Press eBook Publishing. Has full right and power to enter into this
Agreement and to grant the rights granted herein
b. You further warrant that the Work contains no materials which:
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Violate any right of privacy which is libelous or violate any personal right or other right of any kind of any
person or entity (this includes publishing a person's private email address without their permission.
Would violate any of Your contracts or would disclose any information given to You on the understanding
that it would not be published or disclosed. Plagiarize or pirate any other work or infringe upon any
copyright, trademark or other proprietary right.
Are injurious to End-Users or others including but not limited to recipes, formulae or instructions.
Violate state and federal laws.
Advocate hateful, discriminatory or racist views or actions toward others
Advocate or condones violence against another person, whether or not the other party is a willing
participant.
Advocate illegal activities.
Advocate the use of Private Label Rights content to make money on the Internet, or the modification of such
content for the creation of Internet content.
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Contain images or illustrations depicting individuals perpetrating graphic violence upon another individual or
individuals – unless for educational context, not entertainment context.
Contain hyperlinks to affiliate marketing pages, especially if the ebook is published for the sole intent of
publishing hyperlinked content that directs readers to affiliate marketing pages.
Advocate or promote "systems" about how to make money on the Internet by publishing ebooks
Contain SEO keyword spam, either in your manuscript or your metadata tags.
Contain advertisements for services, or contain partial books for the purpose of promoting the purchase of
the same book elsewhere through Goose River Press eBook Publishing.
If you publish erotica content, neither the book cover nor the book interior may contain graphic images of
nudity (either photographic or illustrated) or persons involved in sex acts, and does not include children or
underage minors engaged in sexual acts or situations, witnessing such situations, considering sexual acts,
or thinking about sexual acts.
c. You further warrant the book meets the following standards for originality:
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This is not a public domain work;
The book does not include word-for-word scrapes - or is not a compilation - from Wikipedia or other public
domain, government or commercial services;
None of your book content, either in part or in its entirety, is sourced from "Private Label" rights, articles,
ebooks or information sources which license the same content to other people;
Does not contain or comprise machine-generated language translations (all translated books must be
human-translated and edited, not translated by language translation software such as Google Translate);
d. You further warrant the book represents a complete work:
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This is not a work-in-progress;
The uploaded file is not a partial sample or sample chapter, or is not a collection of sample chapters
The uploaded book represents a complete story with a beginning, middle and end.
10. End Users. “End-Users” who pay whichever fee is set by the APA to purchase a Work are allowed to use each
copy of the Work in any reasonable non-commercial manner in compliance with copyright law and pursuant to this
Agreement.
a. Rights of Use.
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Purchased works: As End User, you acknowledge that all Work furnished by Goose River Press eBook
Publishing is licensed for the use of the End Users of the Site and may not be sublicensed or resold. If you
purchase a work, you hold a non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-distributable right of use. In other
words, you are free to enjoy it for your own use, but you are not authorized to share, sell, or distribute the
work to others.
Free works including sample works: Free works and sample works published at Goose River Press
eBook Publishing are the copyrighted material of the APA, and therefore are not authorized for redistribution
without prior written consent from Goose River Press eBook Publishing. Third parties are not authorized to
download, host and otherwise redistribute Goose River Press eBook Publishing books without prior written
agreement from Goose River Press eBook Publishing. Directory services and affiliate marketers may
reproduce the metadata information found on each book's book page (cover image, book description, price,
etc.) provided hyperlinks direct visitors to the Goose River Press eBook Publishing book page, and provided
users are not charged for access to these listings, and are not required to register their personal information
to gain access to these listings.
11. Ownership. You acknowledge and agree that the Goose River Press eBook Publishing Site and Service are
proprietary to Goose River Press eBook Publishing and that the Work is proprietary to the APA; that none are
proprietary to End User.
12. Termination. Either party may terminate this agreement this Agreement at any time without notice.
13. Indemnification.
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General. You (APA) will indemnify and hold Goose River Press eBook Publishing and its licensees,
successors and assigns, and its and their distributors, customers, officers, directors, members, employees
and APAs, harmless against any expense (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees and
disbursements) or judgment, settlement or other liability arising out of any claim or legal proceeding
asserting claims contrary to any warranty or representation made by You in this Agreement.
Notice of Claim. Upon receiving notice of any claim, demand, action or suit or other legal proceeding
alleging facts inconsistent with or contrary to any of the warranties or representations contained in
paragraph 10, Goose River Press eBook Publishing shall have the right to withhold any sums payable to the
APA in reasonable amounts as security for the payment of the APA’s potential obligations pursuant to the
indemnity contained in this paragraph 13. It is intended that the right granted by this subparagraph 13(2)
shall not be unreasonably or frivolously exercised by the Goose River Press eBook Publishing.
14. Disclaimer of Publisher’s Warranties.
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DRM, Piracy and the “Honor” System. Goose River Press eBook Publishing is a strong proponent of
APA’s rights, and the right of APAs and copyright owners to receive compensation for their digitally
published Works. Therefore, Goose River Press eBook Publishing strongly discourages piracy/infringement
of APA Work and encourages customers to purchase licensed copies. However, Goose River Press eBook
Publishing does not always publish works containing digital rights management schemes that limit the
customer’s ability to consume APA’s Work as they see fit. Therefore, Goose River Press eBook Publishing
cannot completely prevent piracy/infringement of APA’s Work (the reality of the matter is that even DRMed
content can be reproduced and pirated, just as easily as a printed book can be scanned and digitized).
When APA lists the Work on Goose River Press eBook Publishing you are trusting the consumer to honor
your legal copyright and abide by the licensing terms you set. There is a growing body of evidence indicating
that DRMed Works do not sell as well as non-DRMed Work because customers resent limitations and don’t
appreciate being mistrusted. Non-DRMed Works often outsell DRMed Works by leveraging the viral nature
of uninhibited sampling and sharing which can dramatically increase your total audience and sales
opportunities. There is also evidence that by pricing your Works for less than printed equivalents, you can
further decrease piracy and increase sales volume. You understand that Goose River Press eBook
Publishing is distributing the Works according to the honor system. Some areas of distribution we do add the
DRM, however we feel the blurbs we place on the title sheet of your eBook is sufficient enough to keep
people honest.
Events Voiding Warranty. Goose River Press eBook Publishing does not warrant the (a) defects caused
by failure to provide a suitable installation environment for the Product, (b) damage caused by disasters
such as acts of God, wars, riots, strikes, terrorism, governmental restrictions, fire, flood, wind, and lightening,
(c) damage caused by unAPAized attachments, modifications or mis-configurations to the Goose River
Press eBook Publishing Environment, or (e) any other abuse or misuse by APA or the End-Users. Any
breach of the End-User License Agreement by or on behalf of an End-User, including, without limitation,
unauthorized modification or distribution of the Product or any portion thereof, will void any and all
warranties.
WARRANTY DISCLAIMER. All Works and the Service is provided to End Users “AS IS” and “WITH ALL
FAULTS.” THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE SELECTION AND USE OF THE GOOSE RIVER PRESS
EBOOK PUBLISHING SERVICE OR ANY MODIFICATIONS THERETO OR THE WORK IS WITH APA
AND END-USERS. GOOSE RIVER PRESS EBOOK PUBLISHING DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE
PRODUCT OR MODIFICATIONS WILL MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF END-USERS. TO THE EXTENT
THAT GOOSE RIVER PRESS EBOOK PUBLISHING MAY NOT, AS A MATTER OF APPLICABLE LAW,
DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, THE SCOPE AND DURATION OF SUCH WARRANTY SHALL BE THE
MINIMUM PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
LIMITATION ON DAMAGES. IN NO CASE SHALL GOOSE RIVER PRESS EBOOK PUBLISHING BE
LIABLE TO APA OR END-USERS, OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY, FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND. IN NO CASE
SHALL GOOSE RIVER PRESS EBOOK PUBLISHING OR ITS RETAILERS BE LIABLE FOR ERRORS OF
ANY KIND THAT RESULT IN SHIPMENT OR AVAILABILITY DELAYS, MISPRICINGS, OR INACCURATE
OR INCOMPLETE PRODUCT LISTINGS. It is the APA responsibility to monitor retailer listings and report
errors to Goose River Press eBook Publishing, in which case Goose River Press eBook Publishing on a
best efforts basis will strive to work with the retailer to correct the error. In the event that Goose River Press
eBook Publishing is found liable for any damages, for any reason whatsoever, APA hereby expressly agrees
that, in no event will Goose River Press eBook Publishing’ liability to APA exceed the amounts collected by
Goose River Press eBook Publishing for the APA's book in question.
15. MISCELLANEOUS.
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Entire Agreement. This Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties concerning the subject
matter hereof.
Governing Law; Severability. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
substantive laws of the State of Maine. If any portion of this Agreement is held invalid, the parties agree that
such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Agreement.
No Agency. No agency, partnership, joint venture or other joint relationship is created hereby.
Legal Action. Venue for all purposes hereunder shall be in Lincoln County, Maine, and the parties hereto
hereby consent to such jurisdiction and venue. If any action or other legal proceeding relating to this
Agreement or the enforcement of any provision of this Agreement is brought against any party hereto, the
prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements (in addition
to any other relief to which the prevailing party may be entitled).
Acknowledgement. By using the Service you acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand
it and will be bound by its terms and conditions.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the date and the year
upon which the APA first approved such Terms of Service.
Anti-Spam Policy and Enforcement
Goose River Press eBook Publishing does not engage in spam, nor does it share, rent or sell the personal contact
information of its members with third parties.
Goose River Press eBook Publishing APAs are prohibited from promoting their works via spam email (sure signs of
spam: false "senders" or "reply to addresses, inoperable or non-existant unsubscribe/remove options, multiple
receipts of the same email, superfluous text designed to confuse spam filters, and misleading subject lines). Goose
River Press eBook Publishing APAs who are found to be spamming will risk termination of their account and removal
of their works. If you believe you have been the recipient of a spam email from a Goose River Press eBook
Publishing APA, please forward the entire email message, with full headers on to [email protected].
Digital Millennium Copyright Act - http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf