Copyrights
Literary Universe takes Copyright very seriously. All the content that is published by users is their own and available under the license that is specified. Beside the full set of Creative Commons licenses, Literary Universe also offers 2 commercial licenses, exclusive and non-exclusive.
The Literary Universe Non-Exclusive License allows you to publish on Literary Universe without giving away any of your rights as the copyright holder. You are free to publish anywhere else. Literary Universe only reserves the right to use your IP for marketing purposes. If you decide to sell you IP on Literary Universe the platform will charge 30% platform fee.
The Literary Universe Exclusive License allows you to publish on Literary Universe exclusively. That means you can't publish your IP on other online platforms or anything else outside of Literary Universe. If you want to publish a physical medium like a book you need to ask as for permission. If Literary Universe doesn't respond in 30 days then that is automatic consent. In the future we hope to offer you physical publishing and other services via our partners. Don't be afraid to contact us, we wish for your success and in most cases we are just looking out for fraudulent companies. Still this is restrictive, so as a thank you, the platform fee is only 10%.
Choosing a license is extremely important and affects how your work will be accessed in the future. To make selection easier you can check out our license chooser bellow.
What type of content are you licensing?
The type of content affects which licenses are available to you.
Original Work
Content that you have created entirely yourself.
Fan Fiction
Content based on existing works by other creators.
publishingAgreement
1. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
1.1 These Author Terms and Conditions constitute a contractual agreement between Literary Universe s.r.o., Company ID: 17397758, with registered office at Barrandovská 158/14, Hlubočepy, 152 00 Prague 5, as the Operator of the Platform www.literaryuniverse.com on one side, and the Authors uploading digital content to the Platform on the other side. Unless otherwise agreed in writing between the Contracting Parties, or unless the validity of certain provisions of these Author Terms and Conditions is expressly excluded in writing between the Contracting Parties, these Author Terms and Conditions shall apply to the mutual relationship between the Operator and the Author.
1.2 In addition to these Author Terms and Conditions, the Business Terms and Conditions for the use of the Platform shall also apply to the mutual relationship between the Operator and the Author, insofar as they concern the conduct of the Author as a User of the Platform. In case of any conflict between the Business Terms and Conditions and the Author Terms and Conditions, the provisions of these Author Terms and Conditions shall prevail.
1.3 All capitalized terms used in these Author Terms and Conditions and not otherwise defined shall have the same meaning and interpretation as in the Business Terms and Conditions.
1.4 Contact details of the Operator:
email: info@literaryuniverse.com
telephone number: +420 731 817 901
data mailbox: zc9phcb
2. DEFINITIONS
2.1 “Author” means any natural person who intends to upload their Work to the Platform and simultaneously conclude a License Agreement with the Operator, under which the Operator obtains the right to use and make the Author’s Work available to Users of the Platform.
2.2 “Author Terms and Conditions” means these terms, intended for Users of the Platform who are also Authors. The Author Terms and Conditions form an integral part of the Business Terms and Conditions, including their possible future amendments and supplements made by the Operator.
2.3 “Work” means any Digital Content (as defined in the Business Terms and Conditions) uploaded by the Author to the Platform, especially literary works of authorship – books, texts, scripts in the form of .pdf files, e-books, and other intangible intellectual property objects that the Author uploads to the Platform and with respect to which the Author concludes a License Agreement with the Operator. For the purposes of these Author Terms and Conditions, “Work” also includes a Universe, to the extent that it is a unique result of the Author’s creative intellectual activity.
2.4 “License Agreement” means the license agreement for the Works concluded between the Operator and the Author.
2.5 “Business Terms and Conditions” means the general business terms and conditions regarding the use of the Platform, including their possible future amendments and supplements made by the Operator.
2.6 “OZ” means Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code, as amended.
2.7 “Partner” means a natural or legal person – entrepreneur who is a book publisher and who has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Operator concerning the publication of Authors’ Works in physical book form.
2.8 “Platform” means the online platform accessible at www.literaryuniverse.com, which allows Authors to upload their Works to the Platform, which are then made available to Users according to the Author Terms and Conditions and Business Terms and Conditions.
2.9 “Operator” means Literary Universe s.r.o., Company ID: 17397758, with registered office at Barrandovská 158/14, Hlubočepy, 152 00 Prague 5.
2.10 “Contracting Parties” means the Operator and/or the Author.
2.11 “User” means any natural or legal person who uses the Platform under the Business Terms and Conditions.
2.12 “Universe” means a set of Digital Content, especially Works or parts thereof and other intellectual property items uploaded by the Author to the Platform, forming one comprehensive and interconnected whole designated as “Universe” or similar within the Platform.
3. AUTHOR’S USER ACCOUNT, UPLOADING WORKS
3.1 The registration of the Author on the Platform, creation and management of the Author’s User Account, responsibility related to the use of the User Account, and other related rights and obligations of the Author in connection with concluding the Platform Usage Agreement shall be governed in full by the relevant provisions of the Business Terms and Conditions, unless expressly stated otherwise in these Author Terms and Conditions.
3.2 If a User wishes to upload Works to the Platform, they shall complete and submit the relevant form regarding the change of their User Account to an Author User Account within the Platform. Upon confirmation of the requested account change by the Platform, in connection with acceptance of these Author Terms and Conditions, the User becomes an Author.
3.3 The Author is entitled through their User Account to create Universes using forms located in the user section of the Platform and upload Works to the Platform, primarily for the purpose of making the Works available to other Users of the Platform. By uploading Works to the Platform within individual Universes, the Author agrees to the publication of the Works and their use by the Provider and other Users within the scope of these Author Terms and Conditions.
3.4 When creating Universes and uploading individual Works to the Platform, the Author shall select, within the upload form, the mode in which the License Agreement concerning the use of the given Work will be concluded between the Author and the Platform (“Mode of Use”). The Author acknowledges that the choice of Mode of Use directly affects the scope and type of rights to use the Works granted to the Platform under the License Agreement, as well as the amount of remuneration to which the Author will be entitled under the License Agreement. The Author further acknowledges that the choice of Mode of Use concerning a Universe directly affects the possible Modes of Use under which the License Agreement for Works published within that specific Universe may be concluded. In case of doubt, the Author has the right to contact the Operator with a query as to which Mode of Use they are entitled to conclude the License Agreement for a specific Work.
3.5 When creating Universes and uploading individual Works to the Platform, the Author undertakes to properly and truthfully provide the following information and facts within the upload form:
a) whether the Work was created solely by the Author, and if not, information about co-authors of the Work;
b) whether the Work is to be placed on the Platform as public or private;
c) whether the Work was created wholly or partially using artificial intelligence or other automated tools utilizing algorithmic machine learning, neural networks, or similar mechanisms, and the Author is obliged to duly indicate this fact in the upload form;
d) whether the Work contains advertising content or is a sponsored text;
e) the age categories of Users defined within the Platform for which the given Work is intended.
3.6 If the Work contains advertising content or is a sponsored text, the Author undertakes, beyond the obligations set forth in clause 3.5(d) of these Author Terms and Conditions, to properly label the Work and the advertising content contained therein as advertising or sponsored content in accordance with applicable legal regulations, and undertakes to ensure that its publication does not violate legal obligations, especially Act No. 40/1995 Coll., on the Regulation of Advertising, and Act No. 634/1992 Coll., on Consumer Protection, as amended.
3.7 If the Work was created as a joint work of co-authors, and these co-authors are also Users of the Platform, the Author undertakes to properly identify them within the upload form when uploading the Work to the Platform. The Author of the joint Work who uploaded the Work to the Platform hereby declares that they are fully entitled to upload the Work to the Platform, that they are authorized to conclude the License Agreement regarding the use of the Work, that by uploading the Work to the Platform they do not violate any agreement concerning the handling of the Work concluded between them and the other co-authors, and that they are authorized to collect remuneration on behalf of the other co-authors in accordance with these Author Terms and Conditions. The Author undertakes to indemnify the Operator for any property or non-property damage incurred in the event this declaration proves to be untrue, incomplete, or misleading.
3.8 The Author declares and undertakes to ensure that uploading the Work to the Platform will not violate any rights or legitimate interests of any third parties, especially copyrights and personal rights, and that the Author will hold all rights to the Work and all its parts, whether created by the Author or a third party, to the extent necessary for proper performance of the Agreement and the License Agreement. The Author further declares and undertakes to ensure that uploading the Work to the Platform will not violate any legal regulations, that no obligation, whether contractual or statutory, prevents the Author from uploading the Work to the Platform and granting the Operator the rights under the License Agreement, particularly that the Author has not granted any third party an exclusive right to use the Work.
3.9 The Author acknowledges that violation of the obligations set forth in clauses 3.5 to 3.8 of these Author Terms and Conditions may result in significant damage to the Operator, as well as damage to its good name and reputation. Should this occur, the Author undertakes to fully compensate the Operator for all such property and non-property damage. Without prejudice to the foregoing, if the Operator pays any financial compensation due to infringement of third-party rights related to the Work, the Author undertakes, regardless of whether they were aware of the third-party rights, to reimburse the Operator in full within 10 days of delivery of the payment request.
4. WORK MODIFICATIONS
4.1 The Author is entitled to grant other Users of the Platform special rights to handle the Works within individual Universes, especially the rights to add comments to the Works, rights to translate the Work, as well as rights to proofread the Works. The Author undertakes to settle all claims and rights of third parties related to modifications of the Works made by such authorized Users. The Author undertakes to ensure that such authorized Users will not claim any payments or rights from the Operator or any other person associated with the operation of the Platform as a result of the modifications, particularly that they will not claim payment of remuneration or any part thereof from the Operator. The Author undertakes to indemnify the Operator for any property or non-property damage caused by breach of their obligations under this clause 4.1 of these Author Terms and Conditions.
4.2 If the modifications to the Works are of such nature that they can be considered a unique result of the creative activity of the authorized User, and thus a Work, or if the Author grants rights to another User to the extent that such User could become a co-author of the Work, the provisions of clause 3.7 of these Author Terms and Conditions shall also apply to the relationships between the Operator, the Author, and such User.
5. LICENSE AGREEMENT
5.1 At the moment the Author uploads the Work to the Platform, a License Agreement regarding the uploaded Work is concluded between the Contracting Parties. The License Agreement is concluded in one of the following Modes of Use, based on the choice made by the Author when uploading the Work to the Platform:
a) Public Domain;
b) Free Use;
c) Non-exclusive Use;
d) Exclusive Use.
5.2 Regardless of the chosen Mode of Use, the following conditions of the License Agreement apply:
a) The Author grants the Operator the right to use the Work, in whole or in part, independently or in combination with other works, in original or processed form, by all known or yet unknown methods of use, without limitation of purpose, scope, or quantity, for the entire duration of copyright protection.
b) The Operator is entitled, on its own or through third parties, to make changes and modifications to the Work, complete the Work, publish, process, include it in another work, collective works, or databases, and grant these rights to third parties.
c) The Operator is entitled to have the Work translated into other language versions, on its own or through third parties.
d) The Operator is further expressly entitled, for promotional purposes of the Platform, to create and use without limitation any shortened versions of the Work, as well as summaries of its content, and to include the Work in whole or in part in an audiovisual work. The producer is also entitled to display advertisements or translate the Work. In this respect, the Author agrees that the Work or its part may be used without attribution where customary.
e) The Operator is entitled, but not obliged, to exercise the License granted.
f) The Operator is entitled to transfer or sublicense the License or any rights constituting part thereof, in whole or in part, to third parties (by assignment, granting license or sublicense, or otherwise), for consideration or free of charge, including the right to further transfer and sublicense acquired rights.
5.3 If the Author chooses the “Public Domain” Mode of Use according to clause 4.1(a), the rights granted under the License Agreement shall be granted as non-exclusive and free of charge. The Author acknowledges that the Work will be made available to other Users under the Creative Commons license, type CC0, and by accepting these Author Terms and Conditions, the Author declares having read and agreed to the terms of this license.
5.4 If the Author chooses the “Free Use” Mode of Use according to clause 4.1(b), the rights granted under the License Agreement shall be granted as non-exclusive and free of charge. The Author acknowledges that the Work will be made available to other Users under the Creative Commons license of the type chosen by the Author when uploading the Work, and by accepting these Author Terms and Conditions, the Author declares having read and agreed to the terms of this license.
5.5 If the Author chooses the “Non-exclusive Use” Mode of Use according to clause 4.1(c), the rights granted under the License Agreement shall be granted as non-exclusive and for remuneration. The Author shall be entitled to remuneration pursuant to clause 7.1(a).
5.6 If the Author chooses the “Exclusive Use” Mode of Use according to clause 4.1(d), the rights granted under the License Agreement shall be granted as exclusive and for remuneration. The Author shall be entitled to remuneration pursuant to clause 7.1(b).
5.7 The Parties agree that the exclusivity of the License Agreement concluded in the Mode according to clause 4.1(b) does not prevent the Author from concluding, with the Operator’s consent, a contract for the publication of the Work or its part as a physical literary work – book – with the Operator’s Partner. If the Author wishes to conclude such a contract with a Partner, they shall inform the Operator via the Platform with a request for consent. The Operator shall inform the Author of the consent by email or electronically via the Platform. If the Operator does not respond to the Author’s request within 30 days of its receipt, consent to conclude the publishing contract with the Partner shall be deemed granted.
6. USE OF THE PLATFORM
6.1 Unless otherwise specified in these Author Terms and Conditions, the Author is entitled to use the Platform to the extent and in accordance with the conditions set out in the Business Terms and Conditions.
6.2 The Author is not entitled to store or disseminate on the Platform any information whose content is contrary to good morals or generally binding legal regulations effective in the Czech Republic or other countries where the Platform is accessible, particularly the Author undertakes that the Work will not contain content whose public availability:
a) infringes personal rights, reputation or good name of third parties;
b) violates legal norms aimed at protection against hatred towards any nation, ethnic group, race, religion, class, or other group of persons or limiting rights and freedoms of its members;
c) violates legal norms regarding illegal handling of narcotic and psychotropic substances;
d) calls for or directs violence against an individual or group of people;
e) incites, glorifies, trivializes, or encourages suicide or self-harm;
f) violates legal norms regarding support or approval of criminal activity or constitutes other participation in its commission;
g) constitutes or may be considered political statement, political propaganda or part of a political campaign;
h) constitutes or aims at spreading disinformation or other false or manipulative statements aimed at destabilizing society and threatening public order;
i) constitutes or aims at creating false digital content realistically imitating third parties using machine learning algorithms.
6.3 The Author acknowledges that in accordance with § 5 of Act No. 480/2004 Coll., on Certain Information Society Services, as amended, the Operator bears no responsibility for the content of information stored by the Author. The Author further acknowledges that the Operator is not liable for unlawful acts of the Author.
6.4 The Operator is entitled (but not obliged) to perform preventive control of information and Works stored or disseminated by the Author on the Platform. If such information or Works may violate these Author Terms and Conditions, the Business Terms and Conditions, generally binding legal regulations or good morals, or be contrary to the interests of the Operator, the Operator is entitled to delete such information or prevent their dissemination, and further to withdraw from the Agreement and License Agreement. If any third party asserts rights against the Operator in connection with information or Works stored or disseminated by the Author on the Platform, the Operator is entitled to immediately remove such information and Works without further notice.
7. AUTHOR’S REMUNERATION AND ITS SETTLEMENT
7.1 The Author’s remuneration for granting the rights under the License Agreement is agreed individually for each Work as a share of the Operator’s revenues from sales of access to the Works through the Platform. For the purposes of this Agreement, revenue from the use of the Work means the Operator’s final income from completed sales of access to the Works through the Platform to Users within the meaning of Articles 5 and 6 of the General Terms and Conditions, after possible deduction of VAT (“Remuneration”). The Author’s remuneration is agreed at the following rates depending on the chosen Mode of Use of the Work:
a) In the Mode of Use under section 4.1(c) of these Author Terms and Conditions: 70%
b) In the Mode of Use under section 4.1(d) of these Author Terms and Conditions: 90%
For the avoidance of doubt, the Author shall receive no remuneration for granting rights under the License Agreement in the Modes of Use under sections 4.1(a) and 4.1(b) of these Author Terms and Conditions; these rights are therefore granted free of charge.
7.2 The share-based remuneration is payable within 5 days from the date of each individual sale of access to the Work through the Platform to a User as per Articles 5 and 6 of the General Terms and Conditions. The Operator provides the Author with ongoing remuneration statements via an interface located in the user section of the Platform.
7.3 The remuneration will be paid to the Author by bank transfer to the account stated in the User Account or to another account that the Author notifies the Operator of in writing. If the Author is or becomes a VAT payer, the Author shall invoice the remuneration increased by VAT at the statutory rate with a tax document issued after receiving the settlement. The payment term for the tax document is set to 30 days from its delivery to the Operator, payable by bank transfer to the account stated in the tax document. Should the Author become a VAT payer during the term of this Agreement, they are obliged to immediately notify the Operator in writing.
7.4 The remuneration under these Terms and Conditions includes payment for all performances of the Author under these Terms and Conditions. By agreeing to these Author Terms and Conditions, the Contracting Parties declare that when agreeing on the remuneration amount, they took into account the purpose of the rights granted for use of the Works, the manner and circumstances of use of the Works, and the territorial, temporal, and quantitative scope of rights granted under the License Agreement. The remuneration for the use of the Works is set as the highest possible and is not affected by any extraordinary unforeseeable circumstance. The Author understands, agrees with, and does not consider the remuneration disproportionate or reducing and waives any rights that might arise due to disproportionate reduction.
8. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
8.1 All rights and obligations arising from agreements between the Author and the Operator shall be governed by the legal system of the Czech Republic, especially the relevant provisions of the Civil Code (OZ), as well as, to an appropriate extent, the General Terms and Conditions and these Author Terms and Conditions.
8.2 By agreeing to these Author Terms and Conditions, the Author grants the Operator and persons authorized by the Operator permission under §§ 84 and 85 of the Civil Code to use their personal attributes, i.e., name, likeness, and biographical data, for purposes related to the use of the Work according to these Author Terms and Conditions, for promotion of the Work, and also for purposes related to the promotion of the Platform.
9. MEASURES TAKEN BY THE OPERATOR
9.1 The Operator is entitled to temporarily or permanently restrict access to a Work wholly or partially, or to temporarily or permanently hide or remove a Work if it finds that the content of the Work is or may be contrary to legal regulations valid in the territory where the Platform or its content is made available, especially legal regulations governing the protection of minors, consumer protection, criminal law, advertising regulation, or other special legal regulations. The Author acknowledges that in such cases they have no right to any compensation for any damage or lost profit.
9.2 The Operator reserves the right to deny access to its User Account, temporarily or permanently, to any Author who breaches any provision of these Author Terms and Conditions, who damages the good name of the Operator by their conduct, or for whom the Operator has reasonable suspicion that the Author intends to violate these Terms by their conduct.
9.3 The Operator usually denies access for an indefinite period. In cases of a fixed-term denial of access, the Operator informs the Author of the duration in an appropriate manner.
10. OPERATION OF THE PLATFORM
10.1 The Author acknowledges that the Operator performs regular maintenance of the Platform in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions and is entitled to limit or temporarily suspend operation of the Platform for this purpose. The Author shall not be entitled to any compensation or damages for any interruption or limitation of Platform operation due to the above.
11. FINAL PROVISIONS
11.1 These Author Terms and Conditions form an integral part of the Agreement on the Use of the Platform between the Operator and the Author. A copy, whether a photocopy, electronic PDF version, or scan of these Author Terms and Conditions, shall be considered valid as the original unless proven otherwise.
11.2 The Operator is entitled to change, modify, or supplement these Author Terms and Conditions at any time, with each amendment becoming effective upon delivery of the full text of the updated Author Terms and Conditions to the Author. If the Author disagrees with the change, they have the right to withdraw from the Agreement on the Use of the Platform in writing. Consent to changes is deemed to be given by clicking the relevant button indicating agreement with the change or by continuing to use the Platform after the date set by the Operator as the effective date of the changes.
11.3 Legal relations between the Operator and the Author not specifically governed by these Author Terms and Conditions shall be governed by generally binding laws of the Czech Republic.
11.4 If the relationship based on the Agreement on the Use of the Platform or the License Agreement contains an international element, the Contracting Parties agree that the relationship shall be governed by Czech law.
11.5 The Operator is entitled at any time to assign or transfer its rights and obligations under the Agreement on the Use of the Platform to a third party. The Author is not entitled to assign or transfer rights or obligations under the Agreement on the Use of the Platform without prior written consent of the Operator.
11.6 The Operator and the Author undertake to settle all disputes related to or arising from the Agreement on the Use of the Platform, the License Agreement, or these Author Terms and Conditions primarily amicably and by mutual agreement. If an agreement is not possible, the dispute shall be resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction in the Czech Republic.
11.7 Individual provisions of these Author Terms and Conditions are enforceable independently of each other, and the invalidity and/or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect the validity and/or enforceability of the other provisions, except where, due to the importance or other circumstances related to such provision, it is clear that the provision cannot be separated from the relevant provisions.
11.8 These Author Terms and Conditions enter into force and effect on June 29, 2025.
Effective from Jun 29, 2025