Terms & conditions

bookmundo mascot reading an announcement

Article 1: Definitions

Bookmundo: a company that facilitates the printing, publishing, and distribution of books for private individuals and legal entities;

User / Author / Publisher: any visitor to Bookmundo who uses the services and or functionalities provided by Bookmundo, and/or has books hosted on the Bookmundo platform with the aim of having them printed and/or published and/or sold. When publishing a book via the Bookmundo platform, the User is effectively self-publishing the work and therefore, takes on the role, and associated responsibilities of, the Publisher. As such, the two terms will be used interchangeably in these Terms and Conditions depending on context.

Customer/Client: an individual or legal entity that does not own books on the Bookmundo platform itself, but orders books from Users via the author webshop or Bookmundo webshop;

Person – individual person or legal entity;

Services – functionalities and services provided by Bookmundo to the User. This includes both free services and paid services;

Goods – products offered by Bookmundo, principally books;

Register – providing a name, email address and password in order to create an Account on the Bookmundo website and thereby access its publishing platform and associated services;

Account – an account is created once a User has registered on the website, allowing them to log in to the Bookmundo platform and access the functionalities that the platform provides;

Personal Dashboard – a dashboard accessible through a User’s Account, providing an overview of all the User’s activities, including the User’s books, orders, the User’s personal data; optionally: the User’s sales and finances, webshop;

Profile – personal information relating to the User, used by Bookmundo to provide its services to the User; this information is kept strictly confidential; if the User wishes to sell books, only the Author’s name is public;

Order – any purchase made on the Bookmundo platform, website, or webshop, including author webshops;

The Work – the book, ebook, PDF or any other media that the User publishes or has printed or uploaded using the Bookmundo platform;

Publishing – when a User goes through the publishing steps as defined by the Bookmundo platform to publish and sell their Work; Publishing is not compulsory. If the User publishes the Work or has the Work printed in any capacity or quantity, the User is also considered the Publisher of the Work;

Marketing and Promotion – a range of actions undertaken by the User to promote the sale of their Work;

User/Author Webshop– the personal webshop provided to the User by Bookmundo with the purpose of displaying and selling their Work online;

Webshop – Bookmundo’s general webshop.

Article 2: Identity of Bookmundo

Bookmundo is part of Mijnbestseller Nederland B.V. (KvK 53426312) and is located at Delftsestraat 33, 3013AE, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Mijnbestseller Nederland B.V. is a provider of on-demand book printing, book publishing and bookselling services. 

Email: info@bookmundo.com

Article 3: Applicability

3.1 These Terms and Conditions apply to all Users and Customers of Bookmundo.

3.2 Before Services and/or Goods are purchased from Bookmundo, Users will be informed about the Terms and Conditions by Bookmundo.

3.3 Users must agree to the Terms and Conditions before ordering and/or publishing a book using Bookmundo.

3.4 Users can view the most recent version of the Terms and Conditions at any time on the Bookmundo website.

Article 4: Services provided by Bookmundo

4.1 General: Bookmundo is an online platform that allows Users to quickly and easily upload, publish, and/or order books and magazines and have them shipped to any address they wish. In addition, Bookmundo allows Users to sell (and promote) books and magazines.

4.2 Printing – Users can upload their books and magazines quickly and securely on the Bookmundo platform. These uploaded Works will not be accessible to the public until published, allowing Users to print books for their own private use; printing is possible starting from a single copy. Clients can order books from Users once those books have been published. Purchased books are printed on demand (PoD).

4.3 Personal Dashboard – web page with an overview of all User activities, including an overview of all User orders, including PDF invoices of individual orders.

4.4 Sales and Royalty – Bookmundo allows the User to sell published books and magazines through Bookmundo’s Webshop and the User’s Webshop. The User is always the Publisher of their work; Bookmundo’s role is to facilitate the publishing, printing, and distribution process. Customers can buy books published by Users on Bookmundo. In addition, Bookmundo offers the User the opportunity to sell books through external sales channels such as bookstores, Kobo, and Amazon. Bookmundo pays monthly royalties to the User, assuming the total amount exceeds £10. The User is responsible for filling in the bank details–which are necessary for the transfer of any earned royalties–in the User’s account, and keeping these bank details updated. Once a year, at the end of the year, royalties amounting to less than £10 are paid. Royalties with a total amount lower than £1 will not be paid.

4.5 Marketing – If the User wishes to sell books, Bookmundo offers the User a range of promotional tools, including a personal webshop and interfaces with social media and WhatsApp.

4.6 Shop – Bookmundo provides the User with a personal webshop free of charge, should the User wish to sell their book. In addition, Bookmundo has a global webshop which includes all books published by Users who have decided to sell their books. Books purchased by Users or Customers will be delivered to the address provided by User.

4.7 Other services – services made available or provided by Bookmundo and not specifically mentioned in the Terms and Conditions are still subject to the conditions outlined in the Terms and Conditions.

Article 5: Specific Terms and Conditions for the User

5.1 The User must have an account with Bookmundo and be familiar with the Terms and Conditions.

5.2 The User will not use hateful, racist, discriminatory or offensive texts in the book. The User will not upload plagiarized content and will use proper source citations where relevant.

5.3 The User will not abuse the (community) functionalities of Bookmundo in the sense of posting negative, inflammatory and/or hateful texts. Bookmundo reserves the right to suspend the User’s account and remove books in breach of the Terms and Conditions from publication if appropriate.

5.4 The User is responsible for the content of the book. Bookmundo facilitates the printing (and publishing, should the User choose to take advantage of that feature) of the User’s book. In the event of any (legal) proceedings or other allegations against the User and/or the book, any and all responsibilities associated with such proceedings fall to the User. The User will not hold Bookmundo liable in the event of legal action. The User shall indemnify Bookmundo against any third-party claim in this context and shall be liable for all damages, including legal costs, suffered by Bookmundo as a result.

5.5 The User will not hold Bookmundo responsible for the malfunctioning of any Services offered by Bookmundo. The User will not hold Bookmundo liable or – in any sense – take legal action against Bookmundo.

5.6 The User will not have a book printed and/or published via Bookmundo if the User does not fully own the reproduction or publishing rights, e.g. if the publishing rights are already held by a third party. In the unlikely event the User does so, the User indemnifies Bookmundo for any consequences this may have and the User bears full responsibility and is liable for all resulting issues. Orders placed by the User of books to which the User does not have the copyright will not be delivered by Bookmundo. Bookmundo will not return the money from the orders in breach of copyright.

5.7 If the User experiences defects in the functionalities offered by Bookmundo, the User will inform Bookmundo immediately via email.

5.8 The User gives Bookmundo permission to use the book, possibly with accompanying information about the User, for promotional activities. Note: This only applies to books that have been put up for sale by User. In doing so, Bookmundo may in any case use widgets, social networks, press releases, forums & blogs, tell-a-friend functions and collaborations with Bookmundo business partners. Books that the User has set to ‘Private’, and as such can only be printed are not covered by this provision. 

5.9 The User is permitted to refer to the fact that the User’s book is for sale via Bookmundo, provided that in doing so he does not endanger the reputation of Bookmundo and the reference does not infringe the (intellectual property) rights of Bookmundo.

5.10 In case of questions and/or complaints, the User will communicate with the Bookmundo staff in a respectful manner, in line with generally accepted moral standards. Bookmundo reserves the right to terminate communications in the event of abusive language being used against its staff.

5.11 The User accepts the fact that books printed for the User are customised products and are made to order specifically for the User. This means that the User cannot return the purchased books unless there is a production defect (see article 8). If Orders are delivered with a defect and the User is found to be in the right, Bookmundo will reprint the Order, using the manuscript and cover files in the state they were in at the time of ordering. The Order will not be refunded.

5.12 Bookmundo has the right to suspend the User’s account at any time and remove any uploaded books in the account from publication. Bookmundo is not accountable to the User for this and the User will not hold Bookmundo liable for any direct and/or indirect damages whatsoever.

5.13 The User is the legal publisher of the work and as such fully liable for claims of third parties regarding the publication and reproduction of the work. Bookmundo enables the User to have the work printed, published and sold. The User is free to use the name of Bookmundo, for example in the colophon page, assuming it is phrased as follows: “Published and printed via Bookmundo”. Whenever the term ‘User’  is used in the Terms and Conditions, it should be understood as being synonymous with ‘Publisher’ in the event that a User publishes their book(s).

Article 6: Copyrights, Publishing Rights and Intellectual Property

6.1 The copyright is at all times vested in the User by law.

6.2 The User must have the appropriate reproduction and publishing rights of all Work that the User prints and/or publishes via Bookmundo. The User is fully liable for any lawsuits or other damages resulting from not having the correct rights of any Work that they have published or printed. Orders placed by the User containing copyrighted material to which the User does not possess the aforementioned rights will not be produced by Bookmundo, insofar as Bookmundo is aware of this at the time of printing. Bookmundo will not refund the Orders made in breach of copyright. Bookmundo reserves the right to suspend the User’s Account immediately in the event that the User is in breach of copyright. In case of imminent litigation, Bookmundo may be forced to transfer the User’s data to the authorities and/or other agencies.

6.3 Bookmundo has the right to reproduce and sell the User’s books as long as the User is active (i.e. has an account) at Bookmundo and as long as the User’s book is published at Bookmundo. This does not apply to books which are not published or put up for sale by User. The right to sell books expires once the books are removed from publication by User. Within 24 hours of unpublishing their Work, the User’s Work will no longer be available for purchase through Bookmundo’s webshop or the User’s author webshop. Third-party bookstores need more time to remove books from their inventory. This can take up to 4 weeks. If a third party has stocked the User’s book and the User has already received their royalties from this transaction, the third party has the right to sell the stock before removing the Work from their inventory.

6.4 The User can decide to leave Bookmundo at any time. If the User decides to terminate their account on Bookmundo, it is the User’s responsibility to secure any uploaded files and – if any Work has been published – to remove it from publication. Bookmundo will then remove the book from the webshop and the author’s webshop within 24 hours. If the User has chosen to also sell the Work through third-party bookstores, Bookmundo will inform the bookstores and request that they stop selling the Work. This process may take 1 – 2 weeks. If a third-party bookstore or retailer (e.g. Amazon) has already stocked the book, then the third-party bookstore or retailer is entitled to sell their stock before removing the Work from their inventory.

6.5 The Bookmundo website, its functionality, and its contents (with the exception of manuscripts and books) are the intellectual property of Bookmundo and enjoy copyright protection. The User is not permitted to copy, disclose or use any parts, components, or other aspects of the website for purposes other than those included in the Terms and Conditions, without prior written consent from Bookmundo.

Article 7: Purchase of Services and Goods at Bookmundo (General)

7.1 Bookmundo will take the utmost care when executing orders for the Services and Goods it provides. Bookmundo works with reliable partners, including, but not limited to, experts and market leaders in the fields of editing, correction, formatting, payments, printing and distribution.

7.2 The prices of the Services and Goods on the website and in the shop include VAT, but do not include shipping costs (if applicable). Shipping costs are displayed at the checkout screen.

7.3 The prices of the Services and Goods are subject to change.

7.4 The payment methods are indicated in the payment screen. All Services and Goods require payment in advance.

7.5 The delivery times of the Services and Goods indicated on the site are indicative, no rights can be derived from them. The same applies to the expected delivery time provided by Bookmundo on the order confirmation.

7.6 The delivery address is the address provided by the User/Customer. After the User/Customer has paid they will receive an order confirmation. This email must be carefully checked for accuracy by the User/Customer. Any errors in the address must be reported to Bookmundo immediately. If an incorrect address is entered, the responsibility for Bookmundo to deliver to the correct address expires. The User/Customer is responsible for damages and/or additional costs to be incurred.

7.7 At the time an Order is handed over to the delivery service, the User/Customer will receive a shipping confirmation containing the tracking code. The User/Customer is responsible for tracking the status of the delivery and for receiving the Order, even if this means picking up the Order at a pick-up point.

7.8 If an Order is returned to Bookmundo as a result of the User/Customer providing the wrong address, not accepting the Order upon delivery, or failing to retrieve the Order at their designated pick-up point, Bookmundo may resend the Order one more time, provided that the User/Customer accept the shipping costs. If reshipping the Order is still possible, Bookmundo will not refund the purchase. Bookmundo will store returned Orders for a maximum of 4 weeks. If the returned Order has not been claimed within this period, the contents of the Order will be destroyed.

7.9 If upon receiving an Order it appears that the contents of said Order have been damaged or otherwise not up to the standards and/or specifications stated on the Bookmundo website the User/Customer is entitled to contact Bookmundo to inform them of the state of their Order. If the User chooses to do this, they are required to provide clear photographs of the defective product(s). Bookmundo will decide whether or not the Order is eligible for a reprint based on these photographs and communicate this to the User.

7.10 In the event of force majeure, Bookmundo has the right, at its own discretion, to suspend the execution of an order or to dissolve agreements with the User without judicial intervention. The User will be notified of this in writing, without Bookmundo being liable for any compensation.

7.11 The books are printed via Printing-on-Demand (PoD). International margins of 3mm apply to PoD production. Complaints falling within the 3mm margin will not be taken into consideration.

Article 8: Purchase of Services and Goods at Bookmundo (Specific Terms and Conditions for the User)

8.1 If the User orders their own Work, the components (i.e. manuscript, cover) of the ordered Work will be printed in the state they were in at the time the Order was placed. Changes to the manuscript or cover files made after the Order has been placed will not be included in the final product. Bookmundo advises Users to check their files carefully before ordering. By extension, if an ISBN for a book is ordered at the same time as the book for which it is meant, the ISBN will not be printed on the cover of the book.

8.2 It is not possible to make changes to an Order after it has been placed if it concerns the number of books ordered or the version of the manuscript or cover files being used. All processes are highly automated and book production often starts within 1 hour. The delivery address can usually still be changed within 24 hours of the Order if it contains an error.

8.3 Cancelling an Order: an Order cannot be cancelled. The books are produced on demand, the processes are highly automated and the production of the books generally starts within an hour of orders being placed.

8.4 Returning an Order: Upon placing an Order, the User acknowledges their commitment and agreement to purchasing the books and will not file a complaint unless the books are not printed properly. The User accepts that the books are made specifically for the User via printing on demand and the purchased books cannot be returned. Bookmundo does not accept returns unless the contents of an Order exhibit a demonstrable defect due to an error in printing or shipping. Please refer to clause 7.7 in this regard.

8.5 Bookmundo strongly advises the User to order proof copies of their Work first and to check these thoroughly – preferably with co-readers – to determine that the book (cover, manuscript and publication information) meets their expectations. The User acknowledges that books for which no proof copies have been ordered and which, as a result, need to be taken out of publication, will not be prioritised in support by Bookmundo. Costs resulting from complaints about books leading to their return will be deducted from the User’s royalties.

8.6 Services: Bookmundo offers various Services to Users including, but not limited to, correction, editing, coaching, manuscript formatting, cover design and epub creation. If a User purchases a Service, Bookmundo and the User will first agree on the contents, specifications, and price of the Service via email. Bookmundo may require a 50% deposit in advance for certain Services. After the specified Service has been provided, the User will receive an invoice for the remaining amount, which must be paid to Bookmundo within the time frame specified on the invoice.

Article 9: Purchase of Goods at Bookmundo (Specific Terms and Conditions for Customers)

9.1 Account. The Customer placing an Order with Bookmundo is free to choose whether or not to create an account. Books can also be ordered and paid for without an account.

9.2 Order. The Customer pays directly when placing an Order. After receiving payment, the Customer will receive an order confirmation stating the expected delivery time. The delivery time is non-binding, and as such the Customer cannot derive any rights from this expected delivery time.

9.3 Printing and Shipping. The books will be printed and shipped at the Customer’s request. When the Order is ready, it will be transferred to the delivery service and the Customer will receive a shipping confirmation.

9.4 Returns. Despite the fact that this is a custom-made product, where the books are printed specifically for the Customer, which would normally make them exempt from the legal right of return, the Customer has the right to return an Order within a period of 14 days after delivery without needing to provide any reason. If the Customer has purchased several books of the same title, the Customer is entitled to return 1 copy only. After the expiration of the 14-day period, the Customer is considered to have accepted the Order. In case of return within 14 days, the Customer must return the contents of the Order in undamaged condition to Bookmundo in addition to paying the shipping costs themselves. After receiving the returned Order and ascertaining that its contents are undamaged, Bookmundo will refund the customer (minus shipping costs) within six working days.

9.5 The Customer can contact Bookmundo’s support desk with any questions. Customers can generally expect a response within 24 hours.

9.6 Bookmundo is in no way responsible for the contents of the Work purchased by the Customer. If the Customer is offended by the contents of the book, the Customer must inform Bookmundo, after which Bookmundo will evaluate the complaint and initiate the ‘Notice and Takedown’ procedure if deemed necessary.

9.7 Bookmundo reserves the right to deactivate the account of any User who does not abide by the Terms and Conditions at its sole discretion. 

Article 10: Liability

10.1 Bookmundo has developed its site with the utmost integrity and care. Bookmundo is in no way liable for the content placed on its site by Users. Bookmundo makes every effort to ensure that the content on its site is factually correct and ethical (not illegal and not punishable and in accordance with Bookmundo’s standards and values) and to remove illegal content if it is discovered. See Articles 5 (Specific Terms and Conditions for the User) and 11 (Notice & Take Down).

10.2 When Users register with Bookmundo and create an account, they are required to provide certain data. Bookmundo is neither responsible nor liable for the validity of the data, provided; that responsibility lies with the User.

10.3 Bookmundo is not responsible or liable for the access to, or the information on, any other website connected to the Bookmundo website through one or more links.

10.4 Bookmundo is not liable for direct and/or indirect damages to the User in the context of books to be published and/or published through Bookmundo.

Article 11: Privacy and personal data

11.1 Mybestseller 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.

11.2 Bookmundo has a Privacy Statement which describes how Bookmundo handles personal data. The Privacy Statement is an integral part of the Terms and Conditions and the most recent version can always be found on the Bookmundo website.

Article 12: Notice & Take Down

12.1 Bookmundo follows the international Notice and Take Down (NTD) code of conduct.

12.2 Any Person is entitled to report (allegedly) unlawful and/or criminal content on the Bookmundo website, and request that this content be removed from the Bookmundo website.

12.3 When reporting, the Person must fully and correctly inform Bookmundo of the following:

  • Contact details of the Person submitting the report
  • Data that Mybestseller needs in order to review the content, including at least the location where it was found (URL)
  • A description of why the content is unlawful and/or punishable according to the Person submitting the report or why this content violates the criteria of undesirable content outlined by Bookmundo’s Terms and Conditions.

12.4 Bookmundo will assess the report within two weeks, after which the Person who submitted the report will be contacted. Depending on an initial analysis of the report, one or more of the following actions may be undertaken:

  • Bookmundo contacts the User and comes to an agreement with the User. Bookmundo informs the Person who submitted the report.
  • Bookmundo requests the Person who submitted the report to contact the User (after approval of the User) with the aim of reaching a mutual agreement on the publication. Bookmundo will act as a mediator.
  • Bookmundo will remove the publication if there is evidence of illegal activity and will inform the User and the Person who submitted the report.
  • Bookmundo does not take any action, the Person who submitted the report will be informed accordingly.

12.5 Reports submitted as part of a criminal investigation or regarding a criminal offence must verifiably originate from a law enforcement agency or other legal entity.

Article 13 Final Provisions

13.1 The Terms and Conditions apply to every User and Customer of the platform and services of Bookmundo. Questions regarding the Terms and Conditions can be submitted by email to: info@bookmundo.com.

13.2 Bookmundo may unilaterally amend the Terms and Conditions at any time. Bookmundo always displays the most recent version of the Terms and Conditions on its website.

13.3 If one or more provisions of these Terms and Conditions are at any time wholly or partially void or voidable, the remainder of these Terms and Conditions will remain in full force and effect.

13.4 The General Terms and Conditions are governed by Dutch law. Should disputes arise between the User and Bookmundo, the two parties will first attempt to resolve them by coming to an agreement between themselves. Should a dispute not be settled this way, then the courts of the Netherlands shall have exclusive venue and jurisdiction over any disputes that arise.

 

Rotterdam, January 2023