Terms and Conditions for free ebooks

These terms and conditions are for readers and writers. They are simple and straightforward. We can't prevent people breaking them, but we can terminate membership. 'We' means obooko, 'You' means ... you. By checking the agreement box on the registration form you are confirming that you have read, understand and agree with the following:

1. Content
With the exception of ebooks published by obooko, we do not accept responsibility for the content of ebooks hosted on this site. Content is the sole responsibility of the named author. However, we prohibit work that is written with the intention to encourage, promote, condone or incite racial, sexual, cultural or religious hatred; physical, mental or sexual abuse; criminal activity or acts of terrorism. This condition does not apply to work that employs or explores these issues in a fictional context.

Because we do not judge or control creative content, all works, other than those appearing in teen specific categories, must therefore be considered suitable only for mature readers. We recommend a minimum age of 16. Children under 13 years of age must not download material from this site. To allow access to our Teen category we have set a minimum age of 13 for membership, with a recommendation that people aged 13-16 discuss registration with a parent or guardian prior to joining obooko. We advise parents and guardians to assume their responsibility of supervising access to websites. If you are a mature reader but easily offended by profanities and descriptions or expressions of an adult nature, please do not download material from this site.

2. Copyright and Licences
As a member, you agree to uphold the moral, legal and intellectual property rights of the author as copyright owner. A work in digital (ebook) form is for your personal use and must not be duplicated (unless an author has given permission to print copies of their work by print enabling the file,) plagiarised, re-distributed or sold. Equally, the scope of all Creative Commons licences must be complied with and the author's retained rights respected. You hereby confirm you are aware that unauthorised use of an author's work may result in legal action being taken against you.

3. Submitting books
All e-books must be submitted by the author or the author's legal publisher: members cannot 'post' the work of others. By submitting work to obooko for publication you give us permission to distribute digital copies free on your behalf. Ebooks submitted must be formatted in text that is readable and scaleable on computers and handheld ereader devices: ideally, black text on a white background. Fiction and non-fiction books must be predominantly textual: where images are prolific and dominate the work we reserve the right to decline your submission. Ebooks containing watermarks or other restrictive devices will not be accepted. Ebooks and stories must be complete: excerpts, samplers and chapter-limited works are excluded unless they appear at the end of a complete work. Ebooks containing links to the author's personal website or blog are permitted. A link to a retail site stocking printed versions of an author's work is also acceptable. E-books deemed to be written purely as sales instruments, including marketing brochures and catalogues, will be rejected. Financial reports are also excluded from publication. A link to your own commercial website is allowed if it is directly related the content of your book. Links to other (not operated by you) commercial websites are permitted if they are necessary for reference purposes: the content of the destination website must be relevant to the text in which the link appears. Books containing direct or indirect advertising or affiliate links will not be accepted for inclusion. PLR books and those containing display advertisements (unless they are descriptive advertorial features that are related and deemed complementary to content) will also be rejected.

By completing a Submission Form you agree to keep your ebook on obooko for a minimum period of 30 days. You may request to have your work removed at any time after this minimum period by giving us 72 hours notice via the contact form.

If a manuscript is deemed to be unreadable due to substandard grammar, unintelligible content or bad formatting, it will be politely rejected and appropriate advice given.

As an author, you declare that the work is your own and that publishing permission has been granted by any contributing writers, photographers, models or artists. Further, that relevant credits have been included and royalties have been paid. In addition to the rights of the copyright owner, all print and electronic rights belonging to commercial publishers must be honoured and upheld. By agreeing to allow home printing on the Submission form and/or enabling printing of your PDF file, you give written permission for obooko members to print copies for their personal use.

We reserve the right to alter file-names and non-creative content including the deletion of or changing of web URLs and links within supplied files.

Authors may list a maximum of 10% of the total number of works listed in any single fiction category.

4. Authors' rights
We confirm that your work will not be made available for sale and that your rights are always retained in full; none of your rights are transferred to us. We believe you should always have control over distribution of your work, so you may come and go as you please; there is no contract. You may withdraw your work from obooko at any time, subject to the minimum publishing period, by sending an email request via the Writers Issue option on the Contact form.

5. Malicious damage and abuse
Although all files submitted to obooko are scanned for known viruses, we cannot guarantee their purity. It is therefore your responsibility to check files downloaded to your computer using your own anti-virus software. We do not accept responsibility for any loss, monetary or otherwise, incurred by malicious software contained within a file or contracted from any destination link from that file. Please contact us if you experience any occurrence of this nature. All reported cases of abusive behaviour toward fellow members or malicious abuse of our website systems will result in instant termination of membership.

6. Investigations
We reserve the right to delete a book from our site at any time to investigate a claim of breach of any of these conditions. We do not accept responsibility for any loss, monetary or otherwise, incurred by the author and/or publisher or any other person or organisation during these investigations.

7. Communication
You agree to obooko sending you occasional email messages and newsletters related to your membership. Messages may include the promotion of books, products and services. Your personal details will not be shared with any person or organisation outside obooko.

8. Advertising
Products or services advertised or referred to on obooko are neither recommended nor endorsed unless stated. We do not have control over websites, products or services that are referred to, advertised or sponsored. We do not accept responsibility for any loss, monetary or otherwise, incurred through transactions and contracts you make with such advertisers or sponsors.

9. Membership
Registration provides you with membership of the obooko online community only, no other rights are granted or bestowed. We reserve the right to cancel a membership at any time if the above terms and conditions are not complied with.