Terms of Use
The following terms apply to all “users” of the Bibliophone service, whether you are an “end user” or a “contributor”.
The term “end user” constitutes anyone who downloads content from Bibliophone via its website or any affiliated channels, including, but not limited to, social media outlets, and any visitors to the aforementioned outlets. Bibliophone cannot accept responsibility for any content which has been forwarded from an outside agent/individual.
The term “contributor” constitutes anyone who submits their work for publication on Bibliophone’s website or affiliated channels.
The terms “user/s” and “using” constitute any and all of the above.
The term “service” constitutes any of the audio or visual content available for use at Bibliophone, and includes the visitation to the site or any of its affiliated outlets.
These terms form a legally binding agreement between you and Bibliophone, and it is important that you read them carefully. All users accept Bibliophone’s terms and conditions upon visiting the site or any of its affiliated channels. This includes, but is not limited to, the downloading and submitting of files and the browsing of the site and/or its affiliated channels. You must accept Bibliophone’s terms and conditions before using any of Bibliophone’s services, and you can do this simply by using the service.
Bibliophone reserves the right to make changes to the terms and conditions. It is important that you refer back to these regularly. If you do not agree to these changes, you may no longer use any of Bibliophone’s services. If you continue to use Bibliophone’s services, this shall indicate your acceptance of any amended terms and conditions.
General conditions of use
By using Bibliophone’s service, you understand that all material is copyrighted either by Bibliophone or by a contributor. You may not distribute or duplicate material found on the service without prior permission from Bibliophone or, in the case of an audio book, poem or sample, the permission of its author.
You may refer to any of the content found on the service, including all audio files. Referral may include URLs. As a contributor, you accept that any user may link to your work, and while they may not duplicate or distribute it without your permission, they may quote from it. In these terms and conditions a quote constitutes not more than fifty words.
As a contributor you adhere to Bibliophone’s copyright policy. You understand that any breach of this policy can result in your work, and any reference to you as a contributor, being removed from any and every part of Bibliophone’s service. Bibliophone takes the issue of copyright infringement seriously and you should take the time to read the Copyright policy at the end of these terms and conditions.
By submitting your work as a contributor, you agree to offer Bibliophone non-exclusive rights to it. This means that Bibliophone has the right to publish and distribute your work but does not have exclusivity. As such, you are free to publish your work elsewhere, via any other channels you choose, as long as it is not in violation of that channel’s own terms and does not violate any laws. Bibliophone has the right to publish your work and link to it on any of its associated platforms, including but not limited to its social media channels. Bibliophone, at the time of writing these terms of use, makes use of the Soundcloud player in order to offer a better audio experience for its users. We also maintain a Soundcloud account, and any work submitted to us can, and usually will be, featured on our Soundcloud account as well as on the Bibliophone website. We reserve the right to change our audio delivery channel without notification, and should this transpire to be the case, may mean your work is no longer featured on our Soundcloud account.
Bibliophone will, as a general rule, publish any work that is not of an unsavoury nature. Bibliohone reserves the right however to unpublish/remove any work without explanation. This may include defamatory or libellous/slanderous content, obscenity, racism, insights to violence but is not limited to the aforementioned. Bibliophone may remove your content at any time, without notice.
As a contributor you are responsible for ensuring your work applies to Bibliophone’s copyright policy and any copyright laws and restrictions not mentioned within the policy. If Bibliophone is notified of any infringement, we reserve the right to remove the work from publication until the issue has been resolved, and potentially to remove it permanently.
Bibliophone assumes that all work submitted to it adheres to international copyright laws and the Bibliophone copyright policy. Any work published on the service that is deemed to be in breach of the aforementioned laws and policy will be removed. Any claim made by an author shall be against the contributor of the work and not against Bibliophone.
As a contributor, it is your responsibility to ensure your work features an appropriate copyright notice at the start of any file submitted to us.
It is understood by the contributor that while Bibliophone generally publishes files as delivered, certain modifications may be necessary and Bibliophone reserves the right to make these without prior notification. Bibliophone does not guarantee preservation of the original work’s qualities or content.
The contributor has the right to unpublish their work at any time. You can contact us at [email protected] to request this and your work will be removed from the site within four working days.
Bibliophone may distribute a contributor’s work for promotional and marketing purposes, for free non-commercial use, duplication or sharing. Bibliophone is keen to promote its services and may make use of a contributor’s work either by referring to its content or for use with search engine optimisation.
In addition to any aforementioned violations, Bibliophone may refuse to publish, or at any given time to unpublish, your work as a contributor if is contains any of the following:
- Gratuitous or sadistic violence or insight to violence
- Illegal content
- Racism
- Information on how to sell/market audiobooks or how to sell and market yourself as a writer. Although many of these references are genuine and of use to Bibliophone’s users, there is a danger of publishing spam if we accept them
- Any lists deemed to be entirely lacking in creativity such as "top 10 tips for removing chewing gum”. Bibliophone will determine if something could be construed as advertising, and reserves the right not to publish it
- Any gratuitous or obscene sexual content. Erotica is acceptable, but anything involving underage minors in a sexual situation will be deemed as inappropriate
- Any content that is not clearly audible
- Anything that does not meet the definition of a ‘book’ or ‘story’. If it sounds more like a leaflet, brochure or marketing material it will not allowed
- Any material deemed by Bibliophone to be of an overtly unsavoury nature
Changes to Bibliophone’s service
As a user you accept that Bibliophone may change its service at any time without prior notification. We are always trying to improve the experience we offer to our users, both contributors and end users, and as such may amend any part of the service. We also reserve the right to cease operating the service at any time without prior notification. Similarly, as a user you have the right to cease using the service at any time without notifying us. The exception to this is if you wish to have your work unpublished, in which case you must inform Bibliophone as mentioned above.
External links
Bibliophone may link to external websites either on this website or on its social media channels. Bibliophone is not responsible for these websites and you should click on external links only if you are happy to do so, and should read the terms and conditions/policies of external websites. If you are unhappy with any terms/policies in place on external websites, you should leave that site.
Bibliophone is not responsible for any actions a visitor takes when using an external website. We may work with external suppliers/service providers, and may link to their platforms, but any contract you engage in with them is between you and the organisation in question. We try to only deal with nice people and organisations (it's important to us and our values) but as we grow, we cannot watch everything all the time. So please only use/purchase any services if you are completely happy to do so.
Limitations on damages
Bibliophone is not liable to any of its users or any third party for any damages sought or incurred. Bibliophone is not liable for any errors regarding descriptions or definitions and it is the responsibility of the contributor to monitor their work on the site and notify Bibliophone of any errors and/or omissions. In the event that Bibliophone is found liable for damages the contributor agrees that these shall not exceed the amount collected by Bibliophone for any downloads of that contributor’s work. Since Bibliophone offers a free service, it is understood that this amount will generally be zero.
Copyright Policy
Bibliophone provides a service to its contributors (the creators of audio work) and its end users (the visitors to Bibliophone’s website and affiliated channels). Part of the service offered by Bibliophone is the publication and digital distribution of audio files. Bibliophone does not own the works submitted to it and published on the service. By agreeing to Bibliophone’s terms and conditions, contributors certify that they own the copyright to the work/files they submit and that they are legally permitted to do so.
Although incidents of copyright infringement are extremely rare, if you feel that a work published using the service is in breach of copyright legislations, please contact us immediately stating the material in question and if possible providing a link (URL) to the material. You should include in your communication with Bibliophone full contact details of the copyright owner and links to the infringed owner’s work. You should state that you believe a copyright infringement has taken place and explain the specific detail of the infringement (for example whether the infringement applies to the whole or part of the work, and if the latter, identify the part). You should also state, under penalty of perjury, that all the information contained in your infringement notice is accurate and state whether you are the owner of the copyright or a person authorised to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
Bibliophone will generally remove the work in question once notified of an infringement, while the case is investigated. Dependant upon the outcome and legal advice, it may replace the work back onto its site and affiliated channels (such as social media outlets) either in whole or in part, once amended if necessary.
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