SERVICES AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

This Agreement Form includes and incorporates by reference those additional terms and conditions included in the service orders, receipts, and communications from Us, as well as Our Privacy Policy, Legal Notice, Content Guidelines, submission and approval forms, and the terms of use governing the use of Our websites and the You Center (collectively referred to as the “Agreement”). As used in this Agreement, “We,” “Our” and “Us” refers to Universal Media Firm (a limited liability company, doing business under the imprint name “Universal Media Firm”) and its employees, agents, representatives, partners, parent and related entities and imprints, licensees, successors and assigns; “Contractors” refers to third party publishers, agencies, vendors, retailers, distribution channels, and suppliers with which We contract; and “You” and “Your” refers to the person or entity accepting this Agreement by signing below. This Agreement will continue to be in effect from the date it is first signed by You, until terminated as described by the terms and conditions below. By signing this Agreement, you engage Us to provide certain creative, publishing, and editorial services (“Publishing Services”), marketing, and promotional services (“Marketing Services”), as well as book sale and distribution services (“Distribution”) [collectively referred to as the “Services”], with the objective of publishing, selling and/or distributing a book, in print, digital, video, and/or audio format (the “Work”). The specific Services purchased by You, may be purchased individually or bundled into a “Purchasing Package,” and will be set forth in one or more separate “Service Orders”. This Agreement applies to and governs all Services provided by Us while this Agreement is in effect, as well as any acts incidental to the fulfillment of the Services or other responsibilities under this Agreement or applicable law.

RIGHTS

You reserve all rights to and/or ownership of Your book. Universal Media Firm does not possess any rights to and/or ownership of Your book. You recognize that Universal Media Firm only functions as a provider of services including but not limited to book sales, online availability & distribution, and printing. In addition, we acknowledge that We do not have the right to review or correct the content of the Your book unless otherwise specified by You. YOU (AND/ OR THE PERSONS YOU ARE EXCLUSIVELY AUTHORIZED TO REPRESENT IN THIS AGREEMENT) WILL REMAIN THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE OWNER(S) OF ALL RIGHT, TITLE, AND INTEREST, INCLUDING COPYRIGHT, IN AND TO YOUR MANUSCRIPT.

NON-EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT

The agreement between Universal Media Firm and You is non-exclusive in nature; thus, it allows You to work with any other agents, publishers, firms and the like. In addition, Universal Media Firm allows You to engage in any other agreement at any given time as long as You do not breach Your agreement with the company if You grant other agent, publishers, firms and the like the exclusive rights.

WARRANTIES

You acknowledge that You are solely and fully responsible for the content of the Manuscript and the Work and that We will not be liable to You, or to any third party or other person or entity for the content of Your Manuscript or the Work, regardless of whether We had any knowledge or could have reasonably known of any violation of Your above representations or that the Work or Manuscript otherwise violates law. You guarantee to the company that You possess sole ownership of Your manuscript and is the owner of the copyright of its contents. Moreover, you guarantee that You did not commit plagiarism in relation to Your manuscript and ensures that its contents are entirely Your creation. Universal Media Firm can decide at its discretion if Your manuscript is subject for violation or complaint with the content policy, including but not limited to cover image, product data, book file, and other specifics. You must ensure that Your manuscript does not contain libelous, illegal, offensive, threatening, infringing, legally obscene, defamatory and intentionally hateful, and harmful or potentially harmful contents. You warrant or guarantee that 1) the book does not contain advertisements that either explicitly or implicitly persuades readers to purchase a product other than the book, 2) that the book does not contain materials that You are not authorized or own a copyright to distribute, and 3) the contents do not pose intentional harms or potentially harm the reputation of an individual or a third party. If You failed to abide the aforementioned cases, Universal Media Firm has the right to terminate Your account.

FULFILLMENT OF SERVICES

During the Term of this Agreement and for the purpose of fulfilling the Services purchased by You and complying with Our obligations under this Agreement, with respect to Your Manuscript and Third Party Property licensed to You for use in the Work, You authorize, consent to and grant to Us and Our Contractors the following:

  • The worldwide rights and license to display, exhibit, reproduce, digitize, modify, license, and otherwise use the information that You provide to Us about You (such as Your name or chosen pen name, image, likeness, appearance, voice, video footage, biographical and personal information, etc.) and information about the Work (such as the title, Your description of the Work, excerpts and images from the Work, etc.), in all materials created by Us or on Our behalf that incorporate any of the information above, in any format and in all media;
  • The worldwide rights and license to send free review copies of the Work to members of media and other potential book reviewers or book sellers, in Our sole discretion;
  • The worldwide rights and license to make excerpts or previews of the Work available for preview on websites or via other media, including the websites of certain retailers such as Amazon, Google, and Apple, in Our sole discretion;
  • The exclusive, transferable, worldwide license to manufacture, store, use, display, execute, reproduce (in whole or in part), transmit, modify (for example, for formatting purposes or to create authorized derivative works), import, make, have made, offer to sell, print, publish, market, sublicense, distribute, and sell (individually or as part of compilations of collective works), and license for use via any subscription model or lending model, through all distribution channels available now or at a later time, in any language, in any format, and via any medium, now known or hereafter devised, selected in Our sole discretion and consistent with the Services You purchase.

Before We are required to begin fulfillment of the Services, you must submit to Us: (a) a fully completed Title Submission Form or other forms requested by Us; (b) Your Manuscript; and (c) full payment for the Services. We are not responsible for the loss of or damage to Your Manuscript while in transit or while in Our possession. We are not obligated to preserve or return Your Manuscript or any other submitted materials to You.

Upon final approval of the Work, we will make the Work available through Our website and Our Contractors, consistent with the Services purchased by You. The Work may be sold individually in any format, or may be distributed in one or more of the following models: (i) divided with only certain portions of the Work sold; (ii) combined, in whole or part, with other works and sold as part of a bundle; (iii) combined, in whole or in part, with other works and sold as part of a subscription service; or (iv) combined, in whole or in part, and sold as part of a lending service. We do not warrant that any particular Contractor will offer the Work for sale, as this is up to the sole discretion of the Contractor, or that We will continue to use any particular Contractor. If We receive a complaint from You or a third party regarding the Work, we may discontinue the distribution of the Work while We resolve the complaint. You are responsible for the payment of shipping and handling fees applicable to the shipment of copies of the Work to You, whether included with the Service(s) or Publishing Package, provided free-of-charge, or otherwise purchased by You from Us.

You are responsible for supplying and maintaining with Us complete and current personal information, including, but not limited to, Your name, address, telephone number, email address, bank information, and tax information. NOTE: Fulfillment of a Service occurs either when You return the author questionnaire, whether or not completed fully or correctly, or when We or a Contractor begin work on the Service, whichever occurs first.

ROYALTIES

Royalties will be paid to You on all sales of the Work, EXCEPT: (a) sales of used copies of the Work; (b) sales of the Work to Yourself; and (c) copies of the Work given to any person or entity free of charge. You shall receive One hundred percent (100%) of the difference of the Suggested Retail Price less promotional discounts, distribution discounts and sales taxes, for each sale of the individual Work in audio format through any distribution channel. However, this clause is not applicable if you have not publish your book with Universal Media Firm.

DISCLAIMER OF SALES

SALES ARE NOT GUARANTEED. WE CANNOT CONTROL THE SUBJECTIVE PURCHASING DECISIONS OF CONSUMERS OR BOOKSELLERS. WE CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE SALES OF THE WORK. WE MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR PROMISES AS TO THE MINIMUM SUCCESS OF THE SERVICES OR THE AMOUNT OF BOOK SALES WHICH MAY RESULT FROM ANY OR ALL OF THE SERVICES.

PRICING AND PAYMENT TERMS

We reserve the right to adjust/modify the Pricing and Payment Terms at any given time. However, Universal Media Firm ensures that You will be informed thirty (30) days prior to the effective date.

SHIPPING & HANDLING

Universal Media Firm packages include the cost of the complimentary books and print materials, but You are responsible to pay the cost for shipping and handling.

TERMINATION OF WORK

Universal Media Firm is liable to provide a refund if You terminated Your agreement with the company for any of the following reasons; 1) Breach of contract committed by Us, 2) the Agreement was terminated after You submitted the manuscript but prior to the beginning of the interior design, and if 3) the agreement was terminated after the start of the interior design but prior to completion of the Digital Preview approval form.

REFUNDS

Refund should be in writing with complete details of the request by You. You are entitled to a 50% refund of the paid amount after this agreement is signed. However, only 30% refund of the paid amount is provided to You if the agreement was terminated after You submit the manuscript but prior to the beginning of the interior design. Finally, you will only receive 20% refund of the purchase price if the agreement was terminated after the start of the interior design but prior to completion of the Digital Preview approval form.

For Marketing Services, you are entitled to a 50% refund of the paid amount after this agreement is signed. However, only 20% refund of the paid amount is provided to You if the agreement was terminated after the fulfillment of the services has started. Finally, you will not receive any refund if the agreement was terminated after the services are fulfilled.

Your right to claim a refund will be forfeited if You failed to provide materials necessary in publishing Your book within three months from the date of the service order. Refund fees related to pre- and post-publication services namely, copyediting, books sales, and corrections will not be provided by the Us. Moreover, the We do not offer refund to the publication of second and later editions of Your book. A refund is also not provided when We terminate the publications of Your work due to breach of contract committed by You.

Note: Refunds will be processed and directly credited to Your bank account within 30 days from the date of request.

COMPLETE AGREEMENT

This written contract is deemed as the sole and entire agreement between Universal Media Firm and You. The Parties agree that the electronic signatures included in this Agreement are intended to authenticate this writing and to have the same force and effect as manual signatures. Nothing contained in this Agreement will be construed as creating any agency, partnership, joint venture, or other form of joint enterprise, employment or fiduciary relationship between the Parties, and neither of the Parties will have authority to contract for or bind the other Party in any manner whatsoever.

This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Parties hereto and each of their respective heirs, executors, successors and permitted assigns. You may not assign any of Your rights or delegate any of Your obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent by Us.

By affixing my signature below, I read, understand and agree to the terms set forth above.

I HAVE READ, I UNDERSTAND, AND I AGREE TO COMPLY WITH THE CONTENT GUIDELINES, AS WELL AS APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS. I HAVE ALSO READ, I UNDERSTAND, AND I AGREE TO THE TERMS SET FORTH IN THIS SERVICES AGREEMENT.

Author Name (“You”):
Street Address:
City/ Town, State/ Province, Zip/ Postal Code:
Phone:
Email:
Date:
Author Acceptance:

* If You are executing this Agreement electronically, please select “Approve” and click the “Submit” button to agree to the terms and conditions. If you are executing this Agreement manually and you accept the terms of conditions, please enter the “Date” and sign in the blank space next to “Author Acceptance” and return to Us by mail or fax.