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Author Rights and Royalties

Updated: November 22, 2022

IMPORTANT - THE FOLLOWING TERMS COMPRISE A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT (THE "AGREEMENT") BETWEEN YOU ("YOU" AND ALSO "I" IN THE FINAL "I AGREE…" SECTION) AND SCRIBLIOTECH, INC., ALONG WITH ITS PODIOBOOKS.COM AND SCRIBL.COM PROPERTIES ("SCRIBL"). BY SELECTING THE "I AGREE…" OPTION OF YOUR CHOOSING BELOW, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.

DO NOT SELECT "I AGREE…" UNTIL YOU HAVE CAREFULLY READ, UNDERSTAND, AND AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU ARE ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF A COMPANY OR OTHER LEGAL ENTITY, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO BIND SUCH ENTITY TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, IN WHICH CASE "YOU" AND "YOUR" SHALL REFER TO SUCH ENTITY. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SUCH AUTHORITY, OR IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MUST SELECT THE "I DO NOT AGREE…" BUTTON BELOW.

WHEREAS You desire publicity for your Work, to make it available for prospective fans or customers, the possible revenue available under this Agreement, and other benefits as may be available from time to time; and

WHEREAS Scribl desires to offer and share in the revenue of your Work.

NOW THEREFORE, for the consideration and the mutual promises contained herein and other valuable consideration, the parties agree as follows:

  1. The "Work" is a work created by You for which You represent and warrant that You own all rights that You hereby license or otherwise have permission and authority to enter into this Agreement. The Work refers to both the ebook and audiobook versions, as provided by You.
  2. RIGHTS GRANT. You hereby grant Scribl a non-exclusive and worldwide right to offer the Work for digital download only (You are not granting any print publication or subsequent or derivative rights, such as rights to movies, sequels, etc.), which shall last until revoked by You as set forth and permitted below. As a non-exclusive grant of rights, You are also free to publish with anyone else. The foregoing notwithstanding, if You choose to participate in CrowdPricing Everywhere, then You hereby assign exclusive worldwide sales and distribution rights pursuant to Section 7.
  3. CONTENT REQUIREMENTS and MODIFICATIONS. You retain full moral rights over your work at all times (i.e., Scribl may not make changes to the Work or take credit for the Work), except as a subset of such rights are specifically granted to Scribl by this Section 3. Scribl will never change the appearance or audio of the Work without your express written permission, provided through a secured Scribl web site, by fax, or by email, except that You hereby permit Scribl to (i) make technical changes to the audio or other data file(s) required for proper distribution of your work, including, but not limited to, changing fonts, font sizes, spacing, white space, layout, metadata, and adjusting the overall volume level of the audio portion of the Work to be consistent with other works, adjusting bitrate, removing microphone bumps, distortion, static, etc.); (ii) add intro and ending page(s) totaling no more than two (2) pages at each end for a total of four (4) pages; and (iii) add intro and ending audio totaling no more than one (1) minute at each end of the audio for a total of two (2) minutes.
  4. PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL. Scribl may generate promotional material for your work and use it to market your work without your prior approval, including using subparts or derivatives of the Work.
  5. TERM AND TERMINATION. You may terminate this Agreement and revoke the rights granted to Scribl hereunder at any time by removing or requesting the removal of the Work from the scribl.com website, unless You have chosen to participate in CrowdPricing Everywhere, in which case You agree to the termination terms defined in Section 7 below. The foregoing notwithstanding, Scribl may retain the Work in perpetuity for the exclusive purpose of making and providing digital copies of the Work to those end users who purchased the Work prior to the termination.
  6. PAYMENT AND REVENUE SHARE.
    1. DEFINITIONS
      1. Scribl.com Rev-Share shall be defined as seventy-five percent (75%) of the gross proceeds to Scribl per sale, unless You have provided an audiobook version of the Work that has been approved for distribution by Scribl, in which case it shall be defined as eighty-five percent (85%%) of the gross proceeds to Scribl per sale. Scribl will not deduct bandwidth, storage, or other costs that occur outside of the sale, but transaction fees, such as credit card processing or currency exchange fees, may reduce the gross proceeds to Scribl and therefore the total from which the seventy-five or eighty-five percent payment is calculated. An audiobook may be added at any time, which will effect this change upon audiobook approval for sale by Scribl.
      2. Third-Party Retailer Ebook Rev-Share shall be defined as seventy percent (70%) of the price listed on scribl.com for all ebook sales of the Work in USD or the price set by Scribl in other currencies for ebook sales of the Work in markets that use those other currencies.
      3. Third-Party Retailer Audiobook Rev-Share shall be defined as ninety percent (90%) of the revenue that Scribl receives for audiobook versions of the Work.
      4. Combined Rev-Share shall mean the combination of Scribl.com Rev-Share, Third-Party Retailer Ebook Rev-Share, and Third-Party Retailer Audiobook Rev-Share, as applicable based on your choices to participate in CrowdPricing Everywhere and to provide an audiobook version of the Work.
    2. If You choose to work with collaborators or additional content providers to add content, including, but not limited to, audio, illustrations, and/or editing services, etc. (each a "Collaborator"), then You agree that Scribl may choose to process the revenue sharing payments to such Collaborators as selected by You through the Scribl online collaboration tools, which revenue sharing payments shall be apportioned from the Combined Rev-Share. You agree that Scribl shall be acting only as a payment facilitator, that Scribl is not a party to or beneficiary of your agreement with your collaborators, and that You shall indemnify and hold harmless Scribl in connection with any claim or civil action arising from or related to your revenue sharing agreement with your collaborators.
    3. You, together with your Collaborators, if any, will collectively receive the Combined Rev-Share less any taxes or transaction costs, including credit card fees, application store fees, and currency exchange fees, apportioned per the processes defined in Section 6.b.
    4. Scribl will add your share of Combined Rev-Share to your account in the form of credits within two (2) business days from the date of sale for purchases made on scribl.com and within two (2) business days from receipt of funds for purchases made on third-party retail sites under CrowdPricing Everywhere or through any Scribl applications, as applicable. You may exchange these credits for other content on scribl.com or liquidate to funds paid into your PayPal account, subject to any PayPal transaction fees, at which point, depending on your local tax laws, such funds may become taxable income to You. Scribl may change these payment methods in its sole discretion by updating the Payment Methods description available at scribl.com, but will not do so without providing at least forty-five (45) days prior notice.
    5. Unless specified otherwise in writing and agreed by both parties hereto, all prices are set by Scribl’s CrowdPricing system pursuant to its revenue and sales maximizing intellectual property protected by United States and international patents.
  7. CROWDPRICING EVERYWHERE
    1. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS. If You have opted to have the Work distributed to third party retail outlets via CrowdPricing Everywhere, then You hereby assign to Scribl worldwide exclusive distribution rights for the digital book (ebook) and/or the audiobook per you CrowdPricing Everywhere elections of ebook and/or audiobook. However, if there is a particular retail outlet where Scribl has not placed the Work for distribution following sixty (60) days’ notice by You, then, provided the price of the Work through such third-party site will be greater than or equal to the price on scribl.com, You may distribute directly to that site until such time as Scribl notifies You that it is able to distribute the Work through that retail outlet and warrants that it will use its best efforts to do so. The foregoing notwithstanding, You may always place the Work on your own private website dedicated to You and your works to the exclusion of all other authors, except those of immediate family members.
    2. TERMINATION. If You have opted to have the Work distributed to third party retail outlets via CrowdPricing Everywhere, then (i) if Scribl has paid You, on average, less than fifty dollars ($50) per month in the year prior to your termination request date, then You may terminate this Agreement at any time with sixty (60) days’ prior notice after the first nine (9) months from the effective date of this Agreement; or (ii) if Scribl has paid You, on average, at least fifty dollars ($50) per month in the year prior to your termination request date, then You agree that You may not terminate this Agreement for four (4) years from the last one (1) year period during which Scribl paid, on average, at least fifty dollars ($50) per month (six hundred dollars ($600) per year). Pursuant to the time frames of this Section 7.b., You may also choose to terminate only the CrowdPricing Everywhere distribution and associated rights assignment, while still leaving the Work on scribl.com without the added rights assignments to Scribl. Upon termination, all rights not otherwise stated herein to extend beyond the termination revert to You.
  8. PRINT AND TRADITIONAL PUBLISHERS AND OTHER MEDIA. For the sake of clarity only, You retain all rights other than those explicitly granted to Scribl hereunder. These include, but are not necessarily limited to, print publishing rights, movie rights, videogame rights, and rights to create derivative works. Scribl makes no claims to any of those rights. Should You obtain a bona fide offer from a third-party that would require You to assign rights to such third-party, Scribl will use reasonable business efforts to confirm the limits of its rights as a reassurance to such third-party. It is Scribl’s intent that your success through Scribl may also support your success in other media, such as print publishing, movies, etc.
  9. For all rights gained by Scribl pursuant to the terms in this Agreement, You agree to execute any instrument that may be required by law or court to perfect such rights.
  10. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. In no event will either party be liable to the other party or any third party for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, speculative, or punitive damages, regardless of whether such damages arise under contract, tort, statute, or otherwise, and whether or not a party has advance notice of the possibility of such damages. The maximum aggregate liability for any claims arising under or in connection with this agreement shall be limited to payments due to You under this agreement during the year preceding the action asserted to be the source of damages between the parties. In no event will Scribl ever by liable for any taxes associated with your share of the revenue and You hereby assume full responsibility for any such taxes.
  11. WARRANTY. THIS SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
  12. GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of New York, United States, without reference to choice of law principles, and any disputes arising from or related to this Agreement shall be resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction in New York County, New York, unless otherwise agreed by the parties to such dispute, and the parties to this Agreement hereby submit to the jurisdiction of such courts.

If any of these terms are unacceptable to You for the Work, You may not submit the Work through this site.

Version 22.11.22