Terms of Service for Google eBooks (“Terms of Service”)
Welcome
to Google eBooks!
Thanks for using the Google eBooks Digital
Content store (the “Service”), which allows you to view, download,
display and use a variety of digitised electronic content, such as books,
journals and other periodicals, and other digital content ("Google Digital
Content").
There are 4 different ways that you can buy
Google Digital Content, and we have set these out below:
Sales from
a Google website
You can buy Google Digital Content from a
website owned or operated by Google. When you buy Google Digital Content this
way, you will either buy Google Digital Content:
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directly
from Google Ireland Limited (which is referred to as “Google”,
“we”, “our”, or “us” in these Terms of Service) (a
“Direct Sale”); or
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from the publisher of the Google Digital
Content (the “Publisher”), where Google is acting as agent for the
Publisher (an “Agency Sale”).
Sales from a third party
website
You can also buy Google Digital Content from one of our
third party retailer partners (a “Third Party Seller”). When you buy
Google Digital Content in this way, you will either buy Google Digital
Content:
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directly from the Third Party Seller acting as an
authorized reseller for Google (a “Bookseller Sale”)
-
from the
Publisher, where the Third Party Seller is acting as a sub-agent (a
“Sub-Agent”) for the Publisher (a “Sub-Agency
Sale”).
Each time that you purchase Google Digital
Content, you enter into a contract based on these Terms of Service with: Google
in relation to the use of the Service and (in the case of a Direct Sale) the
purchase of that Google Digital Content; and also (in the case of Agency Sales
and Sub-Agency Sales) with the Publisher of the Google Digital Content you have
purchased.
Date Published: 8 November 2011
1.
General Google Terms of Service
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In addition to
these Terms of Service, the Google Terms of Services for your location (found
at http://www.google.com.au/accounts/TOS)
(“General Google Terms of Service”), apply to your use of the Service
and to the Google Digital Content that you access and/or purchase through this
Service. In relation to your use of the Service and your purchase of Google
Digital Content, and for the purpose of your contract with us (and your
contract with the Publisher, in the case of an Agency Sale or a Sub-Agency
Sale), all references to "Google Inc." in the General Google Terms of Service
are to be read as references to Google Ireland Limited. For Agency and
Sub-Agency Sales the statement in paragraph 20.6 of the General Google Terms
of Service that “Other than this, no other person or company shall be third
party beneficiaries to the Term” shall not apply to your use of the
Service.
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Please read these Terms of Service and the General Google
Terms of Service. If you do not understand the General Google Terms of
Services or these Terms of Service, or do not accept any part of them, then
you should not use the Service or purchase Google Digital Content. If there is
any conflict between these Terms of Service and the General Google Terms of
Service, then these Terms of Service will override for that
conflict.
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Changes to the General Google Terms of Service: Google may
change the General Google Terms of Service from time to time, as explained in
those terms, and post any modified terms at http://www.google.com.au/accounts/TOS
(Google may update this web address from time to time). If you use the Service
after the date on which the General Google Terms of Service have changed,
Google will treat your use as acceptance of the updated General Google Terms
of Service. If you do not understand or accept the updated General Google
Terms of Service then you should not continue to use the Service. This
paragraph does not apply to changes that we make to these Terms of Service,
which changes are addressed below.
2. Acceptance and Amendment
of these Terms of Service
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The first time you buy
Google Digital Content either from a Google website or a third party website,
you will be asked to confirm that you accept these Terms of Service. These
Terms of Service will apply to your first purchase of Google Digital Content,
and then all subsequent purchases, until we notify you of changes to these
Terms of Service.
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Our contract with you (and, in particular, these
accepted Terms of Service) will not be filed by Google.
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We will
occasionally need to amend or modify these Terms of Service or any additional
terms that apply to the Service and the purchase of Google Digital Content.
For example we may need to make amendments to reflect changes to the law or
changes to our services.
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Your continued use of the Service after seven
days following the date such amended terms are posted will constitute your
acceptance of and agreement to be bound by the amended terms.
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If you
are buying Google Digital Content from a Third Party Seller website, the Third
Party Seller might require you to accept additional terms. In the event of
any conflict, these Terms of Service prevail.
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The Service is designed
to evolve and change from time to time. As we work to improve the Service we
may, for example, make changes and improvements to the way that you can view
and access the Google Digital Content (including Google Digital Content you
have purchased in the past).
3. Usage Requirements
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To use the Service, and to access and download Google Digital
Content that you purchase, and that you have purchased in the past, you will
need to have the following “Requirements” in place:
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a compatible Device (as defined below); working Internet
access; and compatible software (please see 3(b) below for more information
in relation to compatible Devices and software);
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every time you want
to download Google Digital Content (including Google Digital Content that
you have purchased in the past), then you will need to be connected to the
Internet; and
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you may also need to install updates to the Service
that we introduce from time to time in order to use the Service and to
access and download Google Digital Content you purchase and that you have
purchased in the past. These updates are designed to improve, enhance and
further develop the Services and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced
functions, new software modules and completely new versions.
Your
ability to use the Service, to purchase Google Digital Content, and the
performance of the Service and Google Digital Content may be affected by these
Requirements. It is your responsibility to make sure you have all those
Requirements in place before you make a purchase and whenever you want to
access the Google Digital Content that you have purchased.
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For more
information on the system requirements including what devices
("Device(s)") are compatible with the Service and the purchase of and
access to Google Digital Content, please look at books.google.com.au/help/ebooks/devices.html.
4. Google Digital Content
-
When you
buy Google Digital Content from a Google website, your contract for the
purchase and use of that item of Google Digital Content is completed once you
click “Complete your purchase”, and you are not able to withdraw from the
contract after that point. Service delivery will begin straight away. When
you place a pre-order for Google Digital Content, your contract for the
purchase and use of that item of Google Digital Content is completed when the
Google Digital Content becomes available in your account, and you are not able
to withdraw from the contract after that point. Please see paragraph 7 for
your cancellation rights for pre-ordered Google Digital Content. When you
purchase the Google Digital Content from a Third Party Seller website, your
contract for the purchase and use of that item is completed when you
affirmatively accept these Terms of Service.
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Once you pay for Google
Digital Content it will, subject to these Terms of Service and the General
Google Terms of Service, be available to you through the Service for as long
as Google and the applicable copyright holder have rights to provide you that
Google Digital Content. You have a non-exclusive right to download, subject to
the restrictions set out below, copies of the Google Digital Content that you
purchase to your Devices, and to view, use, and display such Google Digital
Content on your Devices or as otherwise authorised as part of the Service, for
your personal non-commercial use and always in accordance with these Terms of
Service and the Google Terms of Service, including the restrictions below.
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Restrictions:
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You may not use the Service and
may not purchase Google Digital Content if you are under the age of 18.
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You may only use Google Digital Content for your personal
non-commercial use. For the avoidance of doubt, you may not use Google
Digital Content as part of a library service or for the purpose of any other
non-profit institution.
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Select, copy and paste functions may be
available for some Google Digital Content, but will not be available for all
Google Digital Content, and you must use these functions within the
prescribed limits and only for personal non-commercial purposes.
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You
may not use the Google Digital Content for the purpose of any public
performance.
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You may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast,
transfer or assign your rights to the Google Digital Content or any part of
it to any third party except as expressly permitted by Google (or, in the
case of Agency Sales and Sub-Agency Sales, by the Publisher). Provided,
however, that nothing in these Terms of Service shall prohibit any uses of
Google Digital Content that would otherwise be permitted under applicable
copyright law notwithstanding the contractual prohibitions listed
here.
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You may not remove any watermarks, labels or other legal or
proprietary notices included on or in the Google Digital Content.
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You may not access nor attempt to access a Google account that you
are not authorised to access. You must keep your user details secure and
must not share them with anyone else.
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If you have multiple
Google accounts with different user names, you may transfer Google Digital
Content out of an account and into another account, provided you are the owner
of each such account and provided Google has enabled a feature of the Service
allowing such transfers.
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Google may place limits on the number of
Devices and/or software applications you may use to access Google Digital
Content. Such limits may be set at any time. In some circumstances (for
example, where we are required to do so by law) we may change such limits in
relation to Google Digital Content that you have previously purchased. You
must adhere to all such limits. Google may record and store the unique device
identifier numbers of your Devices in order to enforce such limits. If you do
not agree to Google recording and storing this type of information then you
should not use the Service or purchase Google Digital
Content.
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Additionally, Google or the copyright holders of Google
Digital Content may update such Google Digital Content and change digital
rights settings for such Google Digital Content from time to time. For
example Google or the copyright holders may correct errors in the Google
Digital Content or may add additional features, or may change the security
features for the Google Digital Content. Where these changes are made the
Google Digital Content that you see will automatically update, except where
you have downloaded a copy of the Google Digital Content to a Device.
5.
Security; User-Submitted Content
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The Service and
Google Digital Content provided through the Service use technology designed
to protect the security of digital information. It is a condition of your
use of the Service and your access to Google Digital Content that you may
not attempt to, nor assist, authorise or encourage others to circumvent,
disable, defeat, reverse-engineer, decompile or tamper with any of the
security features or components, such as digital rights management software,
that protects the Services or Google Digital Content. If you violate any
security feature, you may incur civil or criminal
liability.
Content license from you
-
You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold
in content which you submit, post or display on or through, our products and
services (for example, if you have added a book review). By submitting,
posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable,
worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt,
communicate, make available, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform,
publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or
display on or through, our products and services. This license is for the
sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute, improve and promote
our products and services and may be revoked for certain services as defined
in the additional terms of those services. If you do not want to grant
Google this licence then please do not submit, post or display content on or
through our products and services.
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The license that you grant
includes a right for Google to make such content available to other
companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships
for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such content in
connection with the provision of those services.
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Google, in
performing the required technical steps to provide our products and services
to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your content over various
public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your
content as are necessary to conform and adapt that content to the technical
requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. The license
that you grant shall permit Google to take these actions. If you do not
wish to grant this licence, please do not submit, post or display any
content. The licence that you grant continues even if you stop using our
Services or the Google Digital Content.
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You confirm and warrant to
Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant
the above license. If you are not able to grant the license then please
don’t submit, post or display any content.
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You must not submit
content that infringes any law, or infringes the rights of others (including
intellectual property rights). If you submit such infringing content then
we may terminate your use of the Service and the Google Digital Content. If
you see content on the Service or in the Google Digital Content that you
think infringes your rights, then please contact us.
6.
Availability, Pricing and Refunds
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To purchase
Google Digital Content from a website owned or operated by Google, you will
need to have a Google Checkout Account. When you purchase Google Digital
Content from a Third Party Seller website, you may be able to do so using
Google Checkout, or there may be alternative requirements. If you do not
have a Google Checkout Account, you can set one up by going to this
link, where you can also find more information about Google Checkout.
The Checkout Terms of Service located here
also apply whenever you want to make a purchase of Google Digital Content
using Google Checkout. Please ensure that you read those terms carefully
before making any purchase.
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In the case of Direct Sales and Agency
Sales, we display the pricing for the Google Digital Content on our website.
For Third Party Seller sales the Third Party Seller will display the price
on their own website. Prices and availability of any Google Digital Content
are subject to change at any time. We try very hard to make sure there are
no pricing mistakes. However, we (and, in the case of Agency and Sub-Agency
Sales, the Publisher) will not be bound by mistakes in the price of the
Google Digital Content (unless you have already purchased Google Digital
Content at the incorrect price).
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All prices are inclusive of GST
unless otherwise stated.
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You are responsible for the timely
payment of all fees and for providing Google, or the Third Party Seller, as
appropriate, with valid account and other details necessary, as requested,
to process payments.
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When you purchase Google Digital Content you
are buying a service. Performance of this service begins as soon as the
purchase is complete, as the Google Digital Content will then be available
to you through your account. You have the right to cancel the contract for
each purchase of Google Digital Content from us within a period of 7 working
days beginning with the day after you purchase that Google Digital
Content.
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Once the Google Digital Content is available to you through
your account, you should check the Google Digital Content as soon as
reasonably possible to ensure that it has downloaded correctly and performs
as stated, and notify us as soon as reasonably possible if you find any
errors or defect. Where possible, we would request that you should notify
us of any errors or defects you have identified in such Google Digital
Content within 7 days of purchase (please contact us at
http://books.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=refund). You
may return Google Digital Content you purchased from the Google eBooks
Digital Content store to Google if the Service does not perform as stated
with respect to that purchased Google Digital Content and we will provide
either replacement Google Digital Content or a refund if we are not able to
provide a replacement.
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If for any reason Google or the applicable
copyright holder no longer has the right to continue to provide you any
Google Digital Content you have purchased, then Google will stop making that
Google Digital Content available to you and you may lose the ability to use
such Google Digital Content. If that happens, and if you are not able to
download a copy of the Google Digital Content before it becomes unavailable,
then Google will offer you either a replacement of the Google Digital
Content, or a refund of the price of the Google Digital Content.
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Please note that for Google Digital Content purchased from Third
Party Sellers, the refund policies of such Third Party Sellers shall apply.
We're only able to grant refunds for purchases made directly from the Google
eBooks store.
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If a replacement or refund is granted for any sale, the
transaction will be reversed, and you will not be able to access the Google
Digital Content.
7. Pre-Ordering
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When you pre-order Google Digital Content, the Google
Digital Content will automatically be available in your account once it
becomes available to read, and your card will be charged for the purchase at
that time.
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You can cancel your pre-order at any time up to the point
at which the Google Digital Content becomes available to read (if you want
to cancel the pre-order you will be able to do so by visiting your Purchase
History page and following the instructions there). Once the Google Digital
Content is available for you to read, your cancellation and return rights
are the same as for other Google Digital Content that you purchase through
the Service. Please see paragraph 6 for more information.
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In some
cases, we will need to cancel a pre-order you have placed (for example, we
will cancel the pre-order if: the price of the Google Digital Content
changes between the time of your pre-order and the time at which the Google
Digital Content becomes available in your account; the Publisher of the
Google Digital Content requires us to withdraw the Google Digital Content
from sale; we have not been able to process your payment for the Google
Digital Content; or where we are required to do so by law). In this
situation, your pre-order will be cancelled and we will notify you by email.
8. Warranties and Liability
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You
are entitled by law to certain rights when you purchase Google Digital
Content. For example, we provide the Services and the Google Digital
Content that you purchase using a reasonable level of skill and care. We
hope that you will enjoy using the Services and the Google Digital Content,
but there are certain things that we don’t promise, which we explain below.
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Google intends (and, in the case of Agency and Sub-Agency Sales, the
Publisher intends) to rely upon only these Terms of Service and the General
Google Terms of Service in respect of the Services and the Google Digital
Content. For example, other than as expressly stated, we don’t make any
commitments about the Google Digital Content within the Services, the
specific functionality available through the Services or the Google Digital
Content, their reliability, availability, or ability to meet your needs.
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Liability for the Services and the Google Digital Content.
Google
is not responsible or liable for (and, in the case of Agency and Sub-Agency
Sales, the Publisher is not responsible or liable for):
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losses that were not caused by our breach of these Terms
of Service or the General Google Terms of Service;
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any loss or
damage that was not, at the time the relevant contract with you was
formed, a reasonably foreseeable consequence of Google (and/or the
Publisher) breaching the agreement; or
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losses relating to any
business of yours, loss of profits, loss of data, or loss of opportunity.
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Nothing in these Terms of Service is intended to exclude
or limit the liability of any party for (i) death or personal injury; (ii)
fraud; (iii) fraudulent misrepresentation; or (iv) any liability that cannot
be excluded or limited by law.
Nothing in these Terms of Service limits
your responsibility for infringement of intellectual property rights.
9. General
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Privacy. Google's general privacy
policy, and specific privacy
practices for the Service, explain how we treat your personal data
(and certain other information generated by your use of the Service and
your purchase of Google Digital Content) and protect your privacy when you
use our Services and purchase Google Digital Content. By using our
Services and purchasing Google Digital Content, you agree that Google can
use that data in accordance with our privacy policies. If you do not
agree to this use, please do not use our Services or purchase Google
Digital Content.
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Service Changes. Google reserves the right to
suspend, modify, or discontinue the Service at any time. Should it
exercise such right, where possible Google will take steps to ensure that
you can continue to access the Google Digital Content you have purchased.
In order to continue to access that Google Digital Content, you may need
to download the Google Digital Content to a Device. If Google elects, or
is required, to discontinue the Service, we shall, if we are able to do
so, provide you with reasonable prior notice of the discontinuance, in the
event that you wish to download purchased Google Digital Content in your
account. Please see paragraph 6 for your rights in the event that you are
not able to download a copy of the Google Digital Content before it is no
longer available to you through the Service.
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Your breach of the
terms: If you fail to comply with any material term of these Terms of
Service (for example if you breach any applicable intellectual property
rights or paragraph 4 of these Terms of Service), Google may terminate
your rights hereunder without notice. In case of such termination, Google
may immediately revoke your access to the Service or to Google Digital
Content without notice to you and without refund of any fees.
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Google contact details. Google has its principal place of
business at Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (registered
number: 368047). For more information about how to contact Google, please
visit http://www.google.com/contact/.
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Governing law. These Terms
of Service, and contracts formed under these Terms of Service, are
governed by the laws of the state of California, except for its conflicts
of laws principle and any dispute arising out of these Terms of Service
will be subject to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts
located in Santa Clara County, California.
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These Terms of Service
control the relationship between Google and you (and, in the case of
Agency and Sub-Agency Sales, between Google, the Publisher, and you).
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Assignment and Sub-contracting: Google is allowed at any time
either to assign or subcontract all or part of its role under these Terms
of Service to one or more Google entities. For example we may assign or
subcontract our role so that the entity from which you download Google
Digital Content changes. Where we have assigned or subcontracted all or
part of our role, as set out in this paragraph, we shall be responsible
for any breach of these Terms of Service by the relevant assignee or
subcontractor, as though the breach was our own.
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If you do not
comply with these Terms of Service, and we don’t take action right away,
this doesn’t mean that we are giving up any rights that we may have (such
as taking action in the future).
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If it turns out that a
particular term of these Terms of Service is not enforceable, this will
not affect any other terms.
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