BookLaunchIQ legal documents
Terms of Service
The complete draft Terms governing use of BookLaunchIQ.
1. About these Terms
These Terms govern access to and use of BookLaunchIQ, including its publishing tools, author services, Marketplace, Store, customer Library, digital products, publishing workflows, AI-assisted functionality and related services.
By creating an account, using BookLaunchIQ's services, submitting material for processing or publication, or purchasing a product through BookLaunchIQ, you agree to these Terms to the extent applicable to your use of the platform.
Additional policies form part of these Terms where relevant, including the Privacy & POPIA Notice, Digital Purchases & Refunds Policy, Digital Delivery & Fulfilment Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and Copyright & Rights Complaints Policy.
Nothing in these Terms excludes a right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded under the Consumer Protection Act, ECTA or another applicable law.
2. About BookLaunchIQ
BookLaunchIQ is a digital publishing and commerce platform designed to support the journey from manuscript development through publication, distribution, marketing, sale and secure digital fulfilment.
BookLaunchIQ may provide different services to authors, publishers, customers and other authorised users. Availability of a particular service, publishing channel, territory, payment method, format or feature may depend on technical readiness, account status, contractual arrangements, provider capability and applicable law.
BookLaunchIQ is the trading name of Kagoboso Industries Investments (Pty) Ltd T/A BookLaunchIQ, a private company registered in South Africa under registration number 2016/303542/07. Its approved public particulars are available in the Legal & Contact disclosure and PAIA Manual.
3. Eligibility and Accounts
You must provide information that is accurate and reasonably complete when creating or maintaining an account.
You are responsible for safeguarding your credentials and for activity conducted through your account unless the activity results from circumstances for which BookLaunchIQ is legally responsible.
You must notify BookLaunchIQ promptly if you reasonably believe your account has been compromised.
You may not impersonate another person, create an account using materially false information, gain unauthorised access to another account or use BookLaunchIQ for fraudulent purposes.
Where a person lacks legal capacity to enter into the relevant transaction independently, use of the service must occur through or with the legally required authority of a parent, guardian or other authorised representative.
5. Licence Required to Provide Publishing Services
An author grants BookLaunchIQ a limited, non-exclusive licence to use submitted material only to the extent reasonably necessary to provide the services authorised by that author.
This licence does not permit BookLaunchIQ to commercially exploit an author's work outside the services and permissions governing that work.
Where an author lawfully withdraws a work or terminates an applicable service, prospective use of the work will cease where reasonably possible, subject to existing customer rights, completed transactions, contractual obligations, legal retention requirements, security records, backups and other obligations that legitimately survive withdrawal.
- securely store and process submitted material
- analyse a manuscript
- generate or apply approved editorial or production transformations
- prepare publication files and metadata
- create previews
- display approved book information and cover artwork
- list approved products in the Marketplace or Store
- distribute approved products through authorised channels
- deliver purchased products to entitled customers
- create authorised promotional material
- maintain transaction, security, compliance and audit evidence
7. AI-Assisted Functionality
BookLaunchIQ may provide automated and artificial-intelligence-assisted functionality as part of manuscript analysis, editorial assistance, publishing preparation, marketing support or other platform services.
AI-generated or AI-assisted material is provided as assistance. It is not automatically authoritative, error-free or suitable for publication without review.
Where BookLaunchIQ presents a material publishing decision for author approval, the author remains responsible for reviewing that decision before approval.
BookLaunchIQ will not represent AI-generated guidance as legal, financial, medical or other regulated professional advice.
8. Publishing Governance and Approval
Submitting a manuscript does not guarantee publication.
Publication may depend on completion of required stages, author approvals, technical readiness, rights clearance, content eligibility, product readiness, distribution capability and other applicable publishing controls.
Where appropriate, BookLaunchIQ will provide information reasonably sufficient for the affected user to understand and address the issue.
- incomplete author approval
- missing publication requirements
- technical or file-integrity problems
- credible rights complaints
- suspected fraud
- unlawful content
- security concerns
- contractual/provider restrictions
- applicable law
- failure to meet a clearly disclosed eligibility requirement
9. Marketplace and Store
Only products satisfying the applicable BookLaunchIQ publication and commercial-readiness requirements may be made publicly available.
A Store listing may identify matters including title, author, format, price, currency, availability and other product information.
The listing and checkout presented to a customer govern the product being offered in that transaction.
BookLaunchIQ does not guarantee that every published title will be available in every territory, currency, format, distribution channel or payment method.
Availability may change where reasonably required by law, rights status, author instruction, technical capability or provider availability.
10. Prices and Currencies
The price and currency presented through the applicable Store and checkout flow govern the proposed transaction.
BookLaunchIQ may support different regional prices or currencies where those capabilities have been commissioned.
A customer may not combine products governed by incompatible currencies within a transaction where the platform does not support mixed-currency checkout.
Prices may change prospectively. A price change does not retrospectively alter a completed purchase.
Where applicable taxes, charges or fees must be disclosed separately, BookLaunchIQ will present them as required by law and the applicable transaction.
11. Payment Providers
BookLaunchIQ may use third-party payment providers to process payments.
The available provider may depend on currency, territory, provider approval, account status and technical capability.
Payment information entered directly into a provider-controlled payment interface is handled under that provider's applicable terms and privacy practices.
BookLaunchIQ does not treat a browser redirect or return from a payment provider as conclusive evidence that payment succeeded.
A paid entitlement is created only after BookLaunchIQ receives and verifies the required successful payment confirmation.
12. International Payments and Currency Conversion
A customer's ability to use an international payment card does not necessarily mean BookLaunchIQ or its payment provider processes or settles the transaction in the customer's home currency.
Where a transaction is presented and processed in South African rand, an international customer's bank or card issuer may convert the transaction into another currency.
Any exchange rate, foreign transaction fee or other bank charge imposed independently by the customer's financial institution is outside BookLaunchIQ's control unless applicable law provides otherwise.
BookLaunchIQ will not represent that a payment provider supports a currency or international capability unless that capability has actually been commissioned for the applicable account.
13. Order Formation
Before proceeding to payment, customers must have a reasonable opportunity to review the proposed purchase and correct or withdraw from the order through the available cart or checkout controls.
An order submitted for payment may remain pending while payment is being verified.
A failed, cancelled, declined, expired or unverified payment does not create a completed paid entitlement.
BookLaunchIQ may prevent duplicate or conflicting payment attempts where reasonably necessary to preserve transaction integrity.
14. Digital Fulfilment
Digital purchases are normally made available promptly after BookLaunchIQ receives and verifies successful payment confirmation.
A verified purchase may create an entitlement to the purchased product in the customer's authenticated BookLaunchIQ Library.
Only the formats included in the applicable purchased product are supplied.
Access and download mechanisms may use secure temporary delivery controls. Customers are not entitled to direct access to BookLaunchIQ's internal storage systems.
Where payment has been successfully verified but fulfilment fails, BookLaunchIQ will investigate and provide an appropriate remedy in accordance with the Digital Delivery & Fulfilment Policy, Digital Purchases & Refunds Policy and applicable law.
15. Refunds and Digital Purchases
Digital purchases are governed by the BookLaunchIQ Digital Purchases & Refunds Policy.
BookLaunchIQ does not promise an unconditional change-of-mind refund after a digital book has been successfully purchased and fulfilled where applicable law does not require such a refund.
This does not affect remedies that may arise from duplicate charging, non-delivery, an incorrect product, an unavailable advertised format, a corrupted or unusable product that cannot reasonably be remedied, an unauthorised transaction, inability to perform the order, or another right arising under applicable law.
Where BookLaunchIQ is legally required to refund or otherwise remedy a transaction, these Terms do not override that obligation.
17. Marketing and Promotional Services
BookLaunchIQ may provide tools or services to help authors prepare, approve, schedule or distribute promotional material.
An author remains responsible for approving material where author approval is required.
BookLaunchIQ does not guarantee that marketing will result in sales, engagement, rankings or commercial success.
BookLaunchIQ may refuse to distribute promotional material that is unlawful, materially deceptive, infringes third-party rights or violates applicable provider requirements.
18. Acceptable Use
Users must comply with the BookLaunchIQ Acceptable Use Policy.
BookLaunchIQ does not adopt ideological or political agreement with an author as a general condition of publication. Restrictions should arise from legitimate legal, rights, safety, security, contractual or platform-integrity concerns.
- violate applicable law
- infringe intellectual-property rights
- commit fraud or impersonation
- distribute malicious software
- interfere with platform security or availability
- obtain unauthorised access
- manipulate transactions or entitlements
- make materially deceptive rights or ownership claims
- use BookLaunchIQ infrastructure to facilitate unlawful activity
19. Copyright and Rights Complaints
BookLaunchIQ respects intellectual-property rights.
A rights holder who reasonably believes content available through BookLaunchIQ infringes their rights may use the Copyright & Rights Complaints procedure.
BookLaunchIQ may temporarily restrict affected material while a credible complaint is investigated where reasonably necessary.
BookLaunchIQ may request evidence from the complainant and from the affected author or account holder.
The existence of a complaint does not automatically establish infringement.
20. Third-Party Services
Some BookLaunchIQ functionality may depend on third-party infrastructure, payment services, distribution services, communications providers or other commissioned services.
BookLaunchIQ remains responsible for its own obligations but cannot guarantee uninterrupted operation of independent third-party systems.
Third-party services may also be governed by their own terms where the user directly interacts with them.
21. Platform Availability and Changes
BookLaunchIQ may maintain, improve, replace or discontinue platform functionality.
Reasonable efforts will be made to avoid unnecessary disruption to completed purchases, existing customer entitlements and active publishing obligations.
BookLaunchIQ does not guarantee uninterrupted availability at all times. Planned maintenance, provider outages, security incidents, force majeure and other circumstances may affect availability.
Material changes affecting existing contractual rights will be handled consistently with applicable law.
22. Suspension and Termination
BookLaunchIQ may restrict or suspend an account where reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to fraud, material breach of these Terms, unlawful activity, credible rights violations, serious security threats, abuse of platform infrastructure, payment manipulation or another legal obligation.
Where appropriate and legally permissible, BookLaunchIQ will provide notice or an opportunity to remedy the issue.
Termination does not erase obligations or rights that properly survive termination, including completed customer entitlements, payment/accounting records, legal retention duties, outstanding liabilities and legitimate audit evidence.
23. Closing an Account
Users may request account closure subject to reasonable identity and security verification.
Account closure does not necessarily require BookLaunchIQ to delete information that must lawfully or reasonably be retained for completed transactions, tax/accounting requirements, fraud prevention, security, legal claims, PAIA/POPIA obligations or other legitimate purposes.
Personal-information handling after closure remains governed by the Privacy & POPIA Notice and applicable law.
24. Security
Users must not attempt to bypass access controls, payment controls, entitlement controls, rate limits or other security mechanisms.
BookLaunchIQ may take proportionate steps to detect, investigate and prevent abuse, fraud or unauthorised access.
No internet-based service can guarantee absolute security. BookLaunchIQ will use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the information and systems it operates.
25. Disclaimers
BookLaunchIQ will perform its services with the standards required by applicable law.
Except for warranties or rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, BookLaunchIQ does not warrant that every manuscript will be accepted or published; every third-party channel will accept a publication; services will be uninterrupted at all times; AI-assisted output will always be accurate; marketing will produce a particular result; or publication will generate a particular level of sales, income or recognition.
Nothing in this section limits a mandatory statutory warranty or remedy.
26. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, BookLaunchIQ is not responsible for indirect or consequential losses that were not reasonably foreseeable from the relevant breach or event.
Any contractual limitation of liability must be interpreted subject to applicable consumer law and other mandatory law.
BookLaunchIQ does not exclude or limit liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by law.
Nothing in this section removes a customer's right to a statutory remedy where BookLaunchIQ fails to meet a legally applicable standard.
27. User Responsibility and Indemnification
A user remains responsible for loss or liability resulting from that user's unlawful conduct, intentional misconduct, fraudulent activity, or publication of material they had no right to provide.
Where permitted by law, a user may be required to indemnify BookLaunchIQ against third-party claims arising directly from such conduct.
This provision does not require a consumer to indemnify BookLaunchIQ for BookLaunchIQ's own unlawful conduct, negligence or breach where such an allocation would be prohibited or unfair under applicable law.
28. Privacy
Personal information is processed in accordance with the BookLaunchIQ Privacy & POPIA Notice and applicable law.
The Privacy Notice explains the categories of information processed, purposes, lawful grounds, recipients, international processing, retention, security measures, data-subject rights and complaint procedures.
Acceptance of these Terms does not constitute blanket consent to all personal-information processing or optional direct marketing.
29. Electronic Communications
Users agree that BookLaunchIQ may communicate electronically where legally permissible, including through the platform or by email.
Operational communications necessary to provide an account, transaction, security, publishing or legal service are distinct from optional direct marketing.
Users must be able to exercise applicable direct-marketing opt-out rights.
30. Notices
BookLaunchIQ may deliver notices through the user's registered contact information or through an appropriate platform notice where permitted.
Users are responsible for maintaining reasonably current contact information.
Formal legal notices to BookLaunchIQ must use the legal-contact information published in the Legal & Contact disclosure.
31. Changes to the Terms
BookLaunchIQ may amend these Terms where reasonably necessary because of changes to services, law, providers, security requirements or business operations.
The current version and effective date will be published.
Where applicable law or the nature of the change requires advance notice or renewed agreement, BookLaunchIQ will take the required steps.
Changes will not be applied retrospectively to deprive a user of rights already accrued under a completed transaction.
32. Governing Law and Mandatory Rights
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
However, nothing in these Terms is intended to deprive a consumer or data subject of a mandatory protection that legally applies to them and cannot validly be waived by contract.
BookLaunchIQ may serve users internationally. International availability does not, by itself, mean that every foreign law governs every BookLaunchIQ transaction.
Where a mandatory foreign consumer or privacy rule legally applies to a particular person or transaction, these Terms will be interpreted consistently with that mandatory rule to the extent required.
33. Disputes and Complaints
Users should first raise service or transaction concerns through BookLaunchIQ's published support/contact channels so the matter can be investigated.
Nothing in these Terms prevents a consumer from approaching a regulator, ombud, court or other competent body where they have a legal right to do so.
BookLaunchIQ will not require a consumer to waive a mandatory statutory complaint or enforcement right merely by using the platform.
34. Severability
If a provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to operate to the extent legally possible.
An unenforceable provision should be interpreted or limited only to the extent necessary to make it lawful where that approach is permitted.
35. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with policies and transaction-specific terms expressly incorporated into them, constitute the applicable agreement concerning use of BookLaunchIQ, except where a separate written agreement expressly governs a particular service.
36. Contact and Statutory Supplier Information
BookLaunchIQ's approved public Legal & Contact disclosure identifies Kagoboso Industries Investments (Pty) Ltd T/A BookLaunchIQ, registration number 2016/303542/07, South Africa, Setlopo Utlwanang, Mahikeng, South Africa, +27 73 018 7782, support@booklaunchiq.co.za and https://www.booklaunchiq.co.za.
Kagoboso Industries Investments (Pty) Ltd T/A BookLaunchIQ accepts formal legal notices and service at Setlopo Utlwanang, Mahikeng, South Africa. Privacy and information-access requests may be directed to Kamogelo Segapo, Information Officer, through support@booklaunchiq.co.za. Office-bearer particulars are not asserted where they have not been supplied for public disclosure.
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