Layla Cultural Platform

Terms of Use

Last Updated: June 24, 2024

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OF OUR APPS. BY USING THIS WEBSITE (OR ANY OF OUR APPS) YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OF OUR APPS.

1. General

THESE TERMS OF USE, AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME (“Terms of Use”), ARE A BINDING AGREEMENT (“Agreement”) BETWEEN YOU (“End Users”, “Authors”, "Author Agents", and “Publishers” as defined below) AND LAYLA CULTURAL PLATFORM (“The Platform”).

By registering with, accessing or using www.laylacp.net (the "Site"), or registering with, accessing or using the Android or iPhone App (the "App"), you are using the "Service", and you signify that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, whether or not you are an End User (as defined in Section 4 below) of the Service. You are only authorized to use the Service (regardless of whether your access or use is intended) if you agree to abide by all applicable laws and with this Agreement. The Platform reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or delete portions of these Terms of Use at any time without further notice. If The Platform does this, The Platform will post the changes to these Terms of Use on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms and conditions.

If you do not comply with this Agreement at any time, The Platform reserves the right to immediately cancel or terminate your access to the Service (or any part thereof) and/or your End User account, if any. In The Platform's sole discretion and without prior notice or liability, The Platform may discontinue, modify or alter any aspect of the Service including, but not limited to:

• restricting the time the Service is available;
• restricting the amount of use permitted; and
• restricting or terminating any user's right to use the Service.

You agree that any termination or cancellation of your access to, or use of, the Service may be effected without prior notice. If you do not abide by the terms of this Agreement, you agree that we may immediately deactivate or delete your End User account, if any, and all related information and/or files in your user account and/or bar any further access to such information and/or files and/or the Service (or part thereof). Further, you agree that The Platform shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination or cancellation of your access to, or use of, the Service. You acknowledge that your only right with respect to any dissatisfaction with any modification or discontinuation of or to the Service, or any policies or practices by The Platform in providing the Service, including without limitation any change in content, is to cease using the Service and cancel or terminate your subscription or End User account, as applicable.

2. Digital Content

All literary works on the Service (each, “Digital Content”) are the exclusive property of the publisher or its licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The download of, and access to any Digital Content is available only to End Users and is intended only for such End Users’ personal and non-commercial use. Any other use of Digital Content downloaded or accessed from the Service is strictly prohibited. End Users may not modify, transmit, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the content of any Digital Content, in whole or in part. By downloading or otherwise accessing Digital Content from the Service, the End User hereby acknowledges and agrees to these terms.

2.1. Membership Cancellation

You may cancel your membership by sending an email to us, using the Contact Us form provided on the Service. Except as otherwise set out in these Terms of Use, if you cancel your membership, any books that you published using your account may or may not be removed from the Service at The Platform's sole discretion. However, when your membership is cancelled, the Digital Content associated with your subscription account will be removed from your devices and applications.

2.2. Restrictions

The Platform may also take steps to prevent fraud, such as restricting the number of titles that may be accessed at one time, and monitoring End User accounts for any activity that may violate these Terms of Use. If The Platform discovers any type of fraud, The Platform reserves the right to take enforcement action including the termination or suspension of a User’s account.

3. Publishing on The Platform

The Platform provides a self-serve ebook publishing and distribution platform. We make it fast, free and easy for authors, publishers and agents to publish and distribute ebooks. Although The Platform provides authors, publishers and agents tools to publish and distribute ebooks, The Platform itself is not a publisher, and therefore does not and cannot assume the legal rights, responsibilities or liabilities of a publisher.

3.1. Rights and Obligations of Authors, Publishers and Agents

If you upload (publish) a work to The Platform, you understand and warrant that you are the legal publisher of this work; you control all rights and assume all liabilities associated with the publication of this work; and you warrant and affirm that no aspect of your work infringes or violates the rights of another person, party or entity. In your role as the author, publisher or agent, you understand you are the publisher of your work, and therefore you or your author are responsible for the writing, editing, formatting and cover design for your book. As the authorized author, publisher or agent, you are responsible for uploading your book to The Platform, managing your book's metadata, opting in or out of The Platform distribution channels, and marketing your book. To the extent The Platform or its retail distribution partners provide tools or services to assist in or support any of these publishing activities does not change the fact that you are legal publisher of this work and The Platform is acting in the role of publishing platform, retailer and distributor.

The following describes how users of the Service who review or purchase downloadable digital books (“End Users”, as defined in Section 4 below) can download material and how they may review or use that work by the person or entity who posted the work (the “Author” or “Publisher”). For the sake of simplicity, this Terms of Use may use the term Author and Publisher interchangeably. The term “Author’s Agent” refers to the Author’s duly authorized representative, who is fully authorized and empowered to act on behalf of the Author in all matters described in this Agreement, and who may be authorized to collect and receive directly the monies otherwise payable to Author (or “Publisher”).

The following also describes the rights and responsibilities of the Author and The Platform. Any user of this Service who downloads, reads or previews any Work on the Service is referred to as an “End User.”

3.2. The Grant and the Territory

The Author hereby grants and assigns to The Platform the nonexclusive worldwide right to digitally publish, distribute, market and sell (“Publish”), and to license others to do so, the work identified on the front page of your submission (the “Work”). Since the terms of agreement with The Platform, herein, is non-exclusive, the Author or Publisher is free to Publish, license, market and sell their work elsewhere so long as the Author or Publisher is not violating someone else’s agreement or violating any laws.

3.3. Publication

The Platform will generally Publish any such submissions which do not violate, or which do not appear to violate the Agreement.

3.3.1. Publication of Work As Is. Generally, The Platform will Publish Author’s Work as it is delivered to us, and not edit or modify the Work. Certain modifications may occur caused by file or design conversions. The Platform does not guarantee accurate preservation of the original Work’s formatting.

3.3.2. Publication at Option of The Platform. The Platform may decide not to Publish Author’s work or may decide to discontinue its publication of Author’s work for any reason, and no reason need be provided. Except in the cases of gross violations of this Terms of Use, The Platform will make every attempt to provide reasonable notice to the Author via email, up to and including providing instructions on how to remedy potential issues that might prevent The Platform from listing a title.

3.3.3. How to "Unpublish" Works from The Platform. The Platform may Publish the Work until Author of the Work decides to unpublish the work (to unpublish, log in to the system, click on “User Home”, then click on “Author Hub” and then click “Unpublish a published book”). If author is unable to access the Service, the author may notify The Platform in writing to remove the Work. After that notice, The Platform will remove the work from the Service within five business days. The Platform will do its best to assist Authors and Publishers to have their works removed. To ensure your book is properly and quickly removed from the Service, go to your Author Hub and unpublish it. Do not contact The Platform first and ask to have your account deleted, as this will not remove your book from the Service. After you have unpublished your book, and after you have the book is removed from the Service, then you may contact The Platform if you want your account deleted (and please inform The Platform you have confirmed the book is no longer in the Service).

3.3.4. Removal of poorly formatted works. In the Help page of the Service, The Platform has wrote clear guidelines under the "Publishing" section. It is the sole responsibility of Authors and Publishers to study and implement the The Platform's formatting requirements prior to uploading a manuscript to The Platform. The Platform, at its option, may without warning close the accounts of Authors and Publishers who blatantly ignore the formatting requirements. We urge all our authors not to waste the time of readers or The Platform with poorly formatted works.

3.4. Infringement

3.4.1. Removal of Infringing or Defamatory Work of Author. The Platform takes claims of infringement seriously and may take immediate action upon notice from someone claiming to be an Infringed party and pursuant to our DMCA policy [see policy at end of this document]. Generally, upon receipt of a written notice from a party infringed or defamed by Author’s material (or someone purporting to be his agent, publisher, attorney in fact or assign), The Platform will remove the Author’s Work and reserves the right to remove any and all information about the Author, the Author’s Work or the publisher from the Service.

3.4.2. Infringement by Others Upon Author’s Work. If an Author or copyright holder learns that a third party is violating Author’s copyright or pirating or illegally distributing a work that has been published on The Platform, the Author shall inform The Platform; however, it is the Author’s responsibility to seek relief from the offending parties. If that work is published on The Platform, The Platform will remove it per section 2.4.3.1 above.

3.4.3. Rights Clearances and Other Legal Matters. It is Author’s responsibility to secure permissions to the Work prior to the time Author submits such work if any material from the work belongs to, or has been licensed to, someone else.

3.5. Copyright

The copyright in the Work shall belong to the Author or the party that Author cites as the copyright holder. Author shall be solely responsible for filing its copyrights and any other intellectual property with the appropriate governmental body. It is the Author’s responsibility to place a copyright notice on the copyright page or some other prominent place in the Work.

3.6. Formats of Digital Conversions

Author shall submit their Work as a Microsoft Word .DOC or .DOCX file, or as an Open Document Text .ODT file. The Platform shall utilize the technology of its choice to convert the book into an ebook format that is compatible with our ebook reader, and publish the work for use in sampling, distributing and selling the work. The author/publisher is not authorized to independently sell or distribute Layla Cultural Platform-generated file conversions outside of the Service without first receiving written permission from The Platform (in other words, you cannot use The Platform as a free file conversion service so you can sell the files elsewhere). You acknowledge that if you violate this requirement, your content may be removed from the Service and your account may be deleted without notification.

3.7. Author and Publisher Rights

So long as the proper copyright protection subsists in the Work, and no infringement notices have been filed, the Author and/or publishing party shall be entitled to the following rights:

3.7.1 Promotional Rights. The Platform shall have the right to distribute samples of the Work in any form of media, including printed media, in order to promote (a) the author or author’s Work and/or (b) The Platform's service. These samples will be licensed for free, non-commercial use, duplication and sharing.

3.7.2 Crawlable or Other Searchable Rights. The Platform shall have the right to drive traffic to the Author’s Work on the Service through (a) general Search Engine Optimization services (b) crawlable, promotional hypertext links or (c) arrangements with third parties which make searchable certain sample portions of the Work.

3.7.3 Other Subsidiary Rights. Other than stated above, The Platform, in its current version, shall only Publish electronic versions of the Work, and keeps no other subsidiary rights to the Work including hardcover or paperback editions, audio editions, multimedia editions, theatrical editions, first and second serial rights or media rights other than the electronic version distributed on our Service. Therefore, if another publisher will allow you to keep electronic rights to the Work, you may continue to Publish the Work electronically while publishing a printed version of the Work with a print publisher. These rules are subject to change from time to time, upon electronic or other notice to the End-users and any other users.

3.8. Author and Publisher Warranties

The warranties and representations contained in this Agreement extend to the Author and its licensees and successors and assigns. By uploading content to The Platform, you agree that any violation of the warranties below may result in immediate closure of your account and the possible removal of your content from the Service.

3.8.1. By submitting Your Work to The Platform for publication, you, warrant that you are the author or exclusive publisher or designated author or publisher agent and you warrant and represent that the work (the book) is complete and the author:

• is the only author of the Work;
• is the sole owner of the rights herein granted;
• has not assigned, pledged, or encumbered such rights or have not entered into any agreement which would conflict with the rights granted to The Platform herein; and agrees not to do any of the aforementioned without first unpublishing the work at The Platform;
• has full right, power, and authority to enter into this Agreement and to grant the rights granted herein;
• the content you are uploading to The Platform meets the definition of "a book" or a complete short story.

3.8.2. Prohibited material
You further warrant that the Work contains no materials which:

• violate any right of privacy which is libelous or violate any personal right or other right of any kind of any person or entity (this includes publishing a person's private email address without their permission);
• would violate any of Your contracts or would disclose any information given to You on the understanding that it would not be published or disclosed;
• plagiarize or pirate any other work or infringe upon any copyright, trademark or other proprietary right;
• Are injurious to End-Users or others including but not limited to recipes, formulae or instructions;
• are defamatory to any person or entity;
• violate the publicity rights of another person or entity;
• violate state and federal laws;
• advocates hateful, discriminatory or racist views or actions toward others;
• advocates or condones violence against another person, whether or not the other party is a willing participant;
• advocate illegal activities;
• advocates the use of Private Label Rights (PLR) content to make money on the Internet, or the modification of such content for the creation of Internet content;
• contain images or illustrations depicting individuals perpetrating graphic violence upon another individual or individuals;
• contain hyperlinks to affiliate marketing pages, especially if the ebook is published for the sole intent of publishing hyperlinked content that directs readers to affiliate marketing pages;
• advocate or promote "systems" about how to make money on the Internet by publishing ebooks;
• advocate or promote "get-rich-quick" schemes and systems;
• contains SEO keyword spam, either in your manuscript or your metadata tags;
• contains advertisements for products or services, or is intended to act as an advertising or upselling vehicle for products or services;
• contains incomplete information and prompts the reader to access external resources or services that require registration or payment;
• is an incomplete book for the purpose of promoting the purchase of the complete book elsewhere or on The Platform;
• makes false, misleading or inaccurate claims or promises in the book or book description;
• is not the same book you previously published at The Platform, then republished as a new book for the sole purpose of having it appear as a new book again. You must upload all new versions of previously published Layla Cultural Platform books via the Author Hub's "Upload new version of a book" link.

3.8.3. Originality
You further warrant the book meets the following standards for originality:

• this is not a public domain work;
• the book does not include word-for-word scrapes - or is not a compilation - from Wikipedia or other public domain, government or commercial services;
• your books do not and will not appear elsewhere on the Internet authored by people other than yourself or by pen names (pseudonyms) different from your pen name at The Platform;
• none of your book content, either in part or in its entirety, is sourced from "Private Label Rights" articles (a.k.a. "PLR"), article "spinners," books rewritten from PLR, or ebooks or information sources which license the same content to other people;
• you're not uploading generic, undifferentiated works (such as "101 Household Cleaning Tips"). If it's not 100% original, or if it looks like PLR, it's not allowed on The Platform;
• does not contain or comprise machine-generated language translations (all translated books must be human-translated and edited, not translated by language translation software such as Google Translate).

3.8.4. Completeness of Work
You further warrant the book represents a complete work:

• this is not an unfinished work-in-progress;
• the uploaded file is not a partial sample or sample chapter, or is not a collection of sample chapters, or not simply a catalog advertising other books or products
• the work is complete and self-contained, and does not try to upsell the user to purchase, or register for, access to information that should have been contained in the book;
• the title meets the definition of "book" or "story." Short incomplete ramblings or works that read more like brochures than books are not allowed.
• the uploaded book represents a complete story with a beginning, middle and end.

4. End Users

“End-Users” include authors, publishers and customers. Customers may or may not have an active account on The Service. Customers are allowed to use each copy of the Work for their personal enjoyment in any reasonable non-commercial manner in compliance with copyright law and pursuant to this Agreement.

4.1. Rights of Use

4.1.1. Downloaded works: As End User, you acknowledge that all Work furnished by The Platform is licensed for the use of the End Users of the Site and may not be sublicensed or resold. If you download a work, you hold a non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-distributable right of use. In other words, you are free to enjoy it for your own use, but you are not authorized to share, sell, or distribute the work to others.

4.1.2. Free works including sample works: Free works and sample works published at The Platform are the copyrighted material of the author or publisher, and therefore are not authorized for redistribution without prior written consent from The Platform. Third parties are not authorized to download, host and otherwise redistribute Layla Cultural Platform books without prior written agreement from The Platform. Directory services and affiliate marketers may reproduce the metadata information found on each book's book page (cover image, book description, etc.) provided hyperlinks direct visitors to the The Platform book page, and provided users are not charged for access to these listings, and are not required to register their personal information to gain access to these listings.

4.1.3. Author, Publisher and Customer Conduct. The Platform and its users work together to keep the Service working properly. Please report problems and policy violations to The Platform. The warranties and representations contained in this Agreement extend to End Users and other licensees and successors and assigns of The Platform. While using the Site, Services or Work, End Users agree to not:

• violate any laws, third party rights, or any policies which we have posted on the Service from time to time;
• upload any material which violates this Terms of Use;
• use the Site, Service or Work if you are not able to form legally binding contracts, are under the age of 18, or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from our Service;
• use robots, spiders, shills or other methods in an attempt to unfairly game the site's ranking systems for downloads, reviews and sales, or hire others to do the same;
• engage in advertising, marketing, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes or money laundering involving or using the Work from the Service;
• distribute viruses, malware or any other technologies that may harm The Platform, or the interests or property of The Platform users;
• copy, modify, or distribute content from the Service, or The Platform’s copyrights and trademarks;
• engage in abusive or profane behavior toward The Platform, its employees, its authors, fellow users or retail partners; or
• threaten The Platform or The Platform retail partners with legal action due to inaccurate book listings or failure to remove books in a timely manner.

Without limiting other remedies, we may limit, suspend, or terminate the Platform member accounts, revoke earnings, prohibit access to our Service, demand return or destruction of any Work improperly taken or used from the Site or Service and take technical and legal steps to keep users off the Service if we think that they are creating problems or legal liabilities, or acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of our policies.

4.2. End User's Abilities

Whether the End User is a Customer with an active account, or is a user with no or inactive account, End Users will have ongoing access to and will be able to continuously receive, amongst others, the following additional services and functionality of the Service:

• the ability to access, view, download, store, and read Digital Content on the End User’s Devices while utilizing our application;
• unlimited storage of Digital Content downloaded via our application, which can be accessed at all times on the End User's devices (see below);
• the ability to access certain functionality within Digital Content such as bookmarking.

Additionally, registered End Users (those who have active accounts), will be able to receive the following services from the Service:

• the ability to access the Customer’s account and obtain and download Digital Content (including a listing of Customer’s literary works) via one of Layla Cultural Platform’s applications across multiple platforms, including on the Customer’s devices such as eReaders, tablets, mobile phones, and personal computers (“Devices”) and via The Platform’s website;
• the ability to download Digital Content from the Service by using our Download Queue technology;
• the ability to rate and write reviews on Digital Content;
• the ability to join, create, participate, and leave virtual chatrooms on the Service.

4.3. End User's Disclosure

If you are an End User, whether you have an account or not, then you agree to the following:

(i) in consideration of your use of the Service, you represent that you are of the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside, or 18 years old or older up to the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside with the express written consent of your parent or legal guardian, and are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the State of Qatar or other applicable jurisdiction. You also agree to:

(a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by any registration form(s) on the Service, including your geographical location and billing address (the "Registration Data"); and
(b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, The Platform has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof);

(ii) When signing for a new account, you will select a password and account designation. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to:

(a) immediately notify The Platform of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security; and
(b) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session.

Any personal information you provide in the registration form will be collected in accordance with, and for the express purposes set out in the The Platform's Privacy Policy.

5. Restrictions on Use

These terms apply to all users of the Service, whether or not you are an End User with an active account.

A. You shall use the Service for lawful purposes only.
You shall not post or transmit through the Service any material that

1. violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others,
2. is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane or otherwise objectionable, or
3. encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law.

Without The Platform's express prior approval, you shall not post or transmit through the Service any material that contains advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services. You shall not use the Service to advertise or perform any commercial solicitation, including, without limitation, the solicitation of users to become subscribers of other on-line information services. Any conduct by you that in The Platform's discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Service will not be permitted.

B. All content on the Service, including but not limited to designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement ("Site Content"), are the proprietary property of The Platform or its licensors with all rights reserved. No Site Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without The Platform's prior written permission. Provided that you are eligible for use of the Service and subject to these Terms of Use, you are granted a limited license to access the Service and the Site Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Site Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep all copyright and other proprietary notices intact. You may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Site Content is strictly prohibited. The foregoing license is subject to these Terms of Use and does not include use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of the Service or the Site Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of The Platform, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including without limitation copyright and trade-mark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these terms and conditions shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable by The Platform at any time without notice and with or without cause.

C. You shall not upload, post or otherwise make available on the Service any material protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark or other proprietary right and the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright rests with you. You shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. By submitting material to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such material has expressly granted The Platform the royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, display, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed. You also permit any other user of the Service to access, view, store or reproduce the material for that user's personal use. You grant The Platform the right to edit, copy, display, publish and distribute any material made available on the Service by you.

D. You may not obscure or misrepresent your geographical location, forge headers, use proxies, use IP spoofing or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any message or transmittal you send on or through the Service. You may not pretend that you are, or that you represent, someone else, or impersonate any other individual or entity.

E. You are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Service, including, without limitation:

1. accessing data not intended for you, including logging into a server or account which you not authorized to access;
2. attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization;
3. using any "deep-link", "page-scrape", "robot", "spider" or other automatic device, program, algorithm or methodology, or any similar or equivalent manual process, to access, acquire, copy or monitor any portion of the Service or any Site Content, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Service or any Site Content, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents or information through any means not purposely made available through the Site;
4. taking any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of the Service or The Platform's systems or networks, or any systems or networks connected to the Service or to The Platform;
5. conducting a reverse look-up, tracing or seeking to trace any information on any other user, Customer or visitor to the Service, or any other customer or end user of The Platform, to its source, or exploit the Service or any service or information made available or offered by or through the Service, in any way where the purpose is to reveal any information, including but not limited to personal identification or information, other than your own information, as provided for by the Service;
6. attempting to interfere with, disrupt or disable service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of "denial of service" attacks, overloading, "flooding", "mailbombing" or "crashing";
7. forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting;
8. disrupt network nodes or network services or otherwise restrict, inhibit, disrupt or impede The Platform's ability to monitor or make available the Service; or
9. taking any action in order to obtain services to which you are not entitled.

Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. The Platform will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting any user (whether or not a registered Customer) who is involved in such violations.

6. Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitation of Liability

A. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NEITHER The Platform, ITS AFFILIATES NOR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE WEBSITE OR SERVICE, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR THE APPS.

B. THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES AS TO THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE APPS.

C. IN NO EVENT WILL The Platform, OR ANY PERSON OR ENTITY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DISTRIBUTING THE WEBSITE OR THE CONTENT INCLUDED THEREIN, BE LIABLE IN CONTRACT, IN TORT (INCLUDING FOR ITS OWN NEGLIGENCE) OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY) FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, LOSS OF USE OR SIMILAR ECONOMIC LOSS, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR THE APPS. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO ALL USE OF AND CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL The Platform'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING ITS OWN NEGLIGENCE) OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR ACCESSING THIS WEBSITE.

D. THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY APPLIES TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INACCURACY, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF THIS WEBSITE, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR (INCLUDING STRICT LIABILITY), NEGLIGENCE, OR UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT The Platform IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD-PARTIES AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

7. Disclaimer of Publisher’s Warranties

7.1 DRM, Piracy and the “Trust” System

Layla Cultural Platform is a strong proponent of author’s rights, and the right of authors and copyright owners to receive compensation for their digitally published Works. Therefore, The Platform strongly discourages piracy/infringement of Author Work and encourages customers to purchase licensed copies. However, The Platform does not publish works containing digital rights management schemes that limit the customer’s ability to consume Author’s Work as they see fit. Therefore, The Platform cannot completely prevent piracy/infringement of Author’s Work (the reality of the matter is that even DRMed content can be reproduced and pirated, just as easily as a printed book can be scanned and digitized). When Author lists the Work on The Platform you are trusting the consumer to honor your legal copyright and abide by the licensing terms you set. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that DRMed Works do not sell as well as non-DRMed Work because customers resent limitations and don’t appreciate being mistrusted. Non-DRMed Works often outsell DRMed Works by leveraging the viral nature of uninhibited sampling and sharing which can dramatically increase your total audience and sales opportunities. There is also evidence that by pricing your Works for less than printed equivalents, you can further decrease piracy and increase sales volume. You understand that The Platform is distributing the Works according to this so described Trust system.

7.2 Events Voiding Warranty

Layla Cultural Platform does not warrant the (a) defects caused by failure to provide a suitable installation environment for the Product, (b) damage caused by disasters such as acts of God, wars, riots, strikes, terrorism, governmental restrictions, fire, flood, wind, and lightening, (c) damage caused by unauthorized attachments, modifications or mis-configurations to the Platform Environment, or (e) any other abuse or misuse by Author or the End-Users. Any breach of the End-User License Agreement by or on behalf of an End-User, including, without limitation, unauthorized modification or distribution of the Product or any portion thereof, will void any and all warranties.

8. Monitoring

The Platform shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Service including any chat rooms and forums, to determine compliance with these Terms of Use and any operating rules established by The Platform and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. The Platform shall have the right in its sole discretion to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, The Platform shall have the right to remove any material that The Platform in its sole discretion, finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof, its CONTENT POLICY, or otherwise objectionable. Although The Platform reserves the right to remove, without notice, any posting for any reason, The Platform has no obligation to delete submissions that you may find objectionable or offensive.

9. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Platform and its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, damages, costs, liabilities, losses and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service.

10. Third Party Content

The Platform has no more editorial control over content than does a public library, bookstore, or newsstand. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including content providers and users, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of The Platform. In many instances, the content available through the Service represents the opinions and judgments of the respective content provider or user. The Platform neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Layla Cultural Platform employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities.

11. Public Domain

Some of the literary works offered on the Service have been identified as being in the public domain by certain content providers. The Platform does not verify the accuracy of public domain designations and is not liable for any damage that may result from the downloading or other use of such literary works by you. If you do not reside in the relevant jurisdiction for which the public domain designation has been made, it is your responsibility to check the laws of your country of residence prior to downloading or accessing such literary works.

12. Miscellaneous

Entire Agreement. This Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties concerning the subject matter hereof.

Governing Law; Severability. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of Qatar. If any portion of this Agreement is held invalid, the parties agree that such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Agreement.

No Agency. No agency, partnership, joint venture or other joint relationship is created hereby

Legal Action. Layla Cultural Platform the Service from the State of Qatar. The Service can be accessed from other countries around the world. As each different jurisdiction has laws that may differ from those of the State of Qatar, by accessing the Service, if you are located outside of the State of Qatar, you agree that all matters relating to access to, or use of, the Service, or any other hyperlinked website, shall be governed by the laws of the State of Qatar applicable therein. You also agree and hereby submit to the non-exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Qatar and acknowledge that you do so voluntarily and are responsible for complying with all local laws.

Advertisements. With respect to End Users who utilize Layla Cultural Platform App from any device, The Platform reserves the right to display advertisements and offers on your device. These advertisements and offers may be displayed when the device is powered off or in sleep mode, at the bottom of the home screen, as a screensaver, or through other areas in the user interface as The Platform may choose.

Software Changes and Updates. The Platform reserves the right to alter the software of any device platform, including enhancements, bug fixes, etc., at any time and in The Platform's sole discretion.

Acknowledgement. By using the Service you acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand it and will be bound by its terms and conditions.

13. Layla Cultural Platform Email Policy

The Platform does not engage in spam, nor does it share, rent or sell the personal contact information of its members with third parties.

By joining the The Platform service, you are giving The Platform permission to contact you via email. The Platform is committed to honoring your trust, your time and your interests by limiting the frequency of communications to a reasonable level, ensuring that communications are relevant to your expressed interests.

The Platform sends various email communications to authors and publishers who publish books and to customers who download books. These email alerts may include review reminders, occassional service updates, book status updates, notifications of merchandising and promotional opportunities and Layla Cultural Platform Newsfeed which provide readers notification of new book releases, or other forms of email communications. The Platform may introduce new categories of alerts or discontinue prior alert categories without advance notice.

In all cases, The Platform will endeavor to honor the time and interests of our members.

14. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notice Policy

Layla Cultural Platform is a distributor, and does not own the works uploaded to The Platform. When authors, agents or publishers upload material to The Platform, they certify to The Platform their agreement to this Terms of Service, in which they certify they are legally permitted to upload such works. Allegations of copyright violations against Layla Cultural Platform authors, agents and publishers are extremely rare. Nevertheless, The Platform maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding copyright infringement and we welcome infringed parties to notify us if they believe their material is being distributed by The Platform.

If you feel that content posted on the The Platform Site or Service infringes on your copyright(s), please immediately contact The Platform support team by visiting the "Contact Us" page.

If The Platform takes action in response to an infringement notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by means of the most recent known email address.

To help us help you, infringement notices should include:

1. An electronic signature and full name, address, phone number and email address of the copyright owner and the person authorized to act on their behalf;
2. An identification of the copyright claimed to have been infringed;
3. the location and nature of the content that Infringed party claims to have infringed upon its copyright, in sufficient detail to permit The Platform to identify that content, such as a direct hyperlink to the infringing book listed on The Platform;
4. hyperlinks, if available, to the original author's (the infringed party) work to help The Platform investigate and support your case;
5. and a statement by the Infringed: (a) that you believe in good faith that the use of the content that you claim to infringe your copyright is not authorized by law, or by the copyright owner or such owner’s agent; (b) under penalty of perjury, that all of the information contained in your Infringement Notice is accurate, and (c) a statement that you are either the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf.

Upon receipt of a written notice from a party infringed or defamed by Author’s material (or someone purporting to be his agent, publisher, attorney in fact or assign), The Platform may remove the Author’s Work and reserves the right to remove any and all information about the Author, the Author’s Work or the Publisher from the Service. The Platform may allow corrected or legally vetted versions of the purportedly infringing or defamatory Work to be posted again, (1) with a stipulation between the parties that they have resolved their dispute, (2) a court order or (3) a certification by an independent attorney in whose professional opinion states that in the current version, the infringing material of which the purportedly infringed party has complained has been removed from the Work.

List of updates (most recent first):

• June 24, 2024: First Revision
• April 11, 2017: First Release