terms of use

Welcome to Goodreads. We hope that you will enjoy our service for years to come. The following Terms & Conditions are necessary to provide you with the best possible experience and are intended to:

Outline the Code of Conduct for all members of the service
Protect users from those few individuals who act in an inappropriate or fraudulent manner
Maintain the integrity of the data collected
Share information with our users in an honest, upfront manner

your account

In order to use the Goodreads, you must register as a member of the Site ("Member") and agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions ("Agreement"). To have the ability to access our website and services, you must obtain access to the World Wide Web. In addition, it is your responsibility to find the equipment (i.e. computer, modem, and/or other devices) necessary to make such a connection to the Internet.

Once you complete the registration process with Goodreads, you will receive an account designation and password that is associated with your new account. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, and are fully accountable for all activities that occur under your account. You also agree to immediately notify Goodreads of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security.

Unless otherwise specified, Goodreads grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to access, use and display this website and the material provided hereon, for your personal, noncommercial use, provided that you comply fully with the provisions of this Agreement.

You agree that you shall only use the Services and content in a manner that complies with all applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which you use the Services and Content, including, but not limited to, applicable restrictions concerning copyright and other intellectual property rights. Except as specifically authorized herein, you may not: (i) permit other individuals to use the Content and Services; (ii) modify, translate, distribute or create derivative works of the Content or the Services; (iii) copy or redistribute the Content; (iv) rent, lease, transfer, or otherwise transfer rights to the Content or the Services; (v) remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Content or Service; and (vi) add to, alter, delete from, or otherwise modify the Content.

In consideration of your use of Goodreads, you agree to: (1) provide accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the registration form and (2) maintain and promptly update your personal contact information to keep it current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, inappropriate or not current, or if Goodreads has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, inappropriate or not current, Goodreads has the right to disable or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the site.

Eligibility

You must be 13 (thirteen) or older to register as a Member of Goodreads. Membership in the Service is void where prohibited. By using this Site, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement and to abide by all of the Terms & Conditions of this Agreement. Children under 13 are not permitted to use this website.

Term

Joining Goodreads is free and you may continue to use this Service as long as you adhere to these Terms & Conditions.

Content Posted on the Site

You understand and agree that Goodreads may review and delete any content, reviews, photos or profiles (collectively, "Content") that in the sole judgment of Goodreads violate this Agreement or which might be offensive, inappropriate, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of other Members.

You are solely responsible for the Content that you publish or display (hereinafter, "post") on the Service, or transmit to other Members.

By posting Content to any public area of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Goodreads an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute such information and content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited on the Site. Goodreads reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the Service and terminating the membership of such violators. It includes Content that:

is patently offensive to the online community, such as Content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
involves the transmission of "junk mail", "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming"
promotes information that you know is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;
promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;
seeks to impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
contains restricted or password only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
displays pornographic or sexually explicit material;
provides material that exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone under 18;
provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users; and
engages in commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes.
You must use the Service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other Members to buy or sell any products or services through the Service. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. Although Goodreads cannot monitor the conduct of its Members off the Site, it is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Service in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, Goodreads reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which Goodreads deems appropriate in its sole discretion.

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Goodreads Members. Goodreads reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members.

Non-Commercial Use by Members

The Site is for the personal use of individual Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become Members and should not use the Service or the Site for any purpose. Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of the Site, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email and unauthorized framing of or linking to the Site will be investigated, and appropriate legal action will be taken, including without limitation, civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

Termination

Goodreads reserves the right to cancel or terminate an individual's account if there is speculation of misconduct or similar behaviors. Should you breach this Agreement, Goodreads will revoke your license to use the Service and suspend your right of access.

Modifications to Service

These Terms & Conditions were last modified on August 28, 2006. At any time and without prior notice, Goodreads shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, add or remove terms of these Terms & Conditions, without notifying our customers of such modifications, additions or removals, and all such changes shall be effective immediately. Your continued participation and use of this website and/or the Goodreads services following our posting of any such change on our site will constitute binding acceptance of such change. You agree that Goodreads shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the service.

Communication

As a part of the service Goodreads provides to our Members, we communicate via e-mail and other means to inform you of enhancements or changes in offerings, services, or other relevant information targeted to your interests. Details of these communication efforts are noted within the Privacy Policy. Users have the option to remove themselves from various e-mail communications by following the conditions listed within the message or by following the procedures as noted in the Privacy Policy. However, even though users may request removal from the distribution of certain e-mails, Goodreads has the right to send messages from time to time that we believe would interest them. Goodreads reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the service (or any part thereof) with or without notice.

Privacy Policy

You should review the other Goodreads policies to better comprehend our practices and how we govern your visit to our website. Registration data and certain other information about you are subject to our privacy policy. For more information, see our entire privacy policy.

Advertiser Links

This website contains links to Internet websites maintained by third parties. Goodreads does not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on such third-party sites. Third-party links do not constitute any endorsement by Goodreads and/or its affiliates. User assumes sole responsibility for use of these third-party links. The disclaimers set forth herein are equally applicable to such third-party sites.

Copyright and Trademarks

The content included on this website, including, but not limited to the Goodreads tests, reports, text, graphics, logos, icons, and images is the exclusive property of Goodreads and other respective owners that have granted Goodreads the right and license to use such property and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are proprietary to Goodreads or other respective owners that have granted Goodreads the right and license to use such marks. The Goodreads website contains copyrighted material, including, but not limited to: trademarks and other proprietary information, content, text, and graphics. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, users may not copy, publish, redistribute, modify, transmit, display, sell, create derivative works, or in any way exploit the content or any portion of the Goodreads website without the express permission of the organization. Goodreads's Copyright Counsel for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be contacted here.

Disclaimers of Warranties

The products, offerings, content and materials (including, without limitation, the Fee-Based products) on this website are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Goodreads disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title or implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, security, accuracy or non-infringement.

Neither Goodreads, any of our affiliates, nor any of our or their respective licensors, licensees, service providers or suppliers warrant that this website or any function contained in this website will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this website or the servers that make this website available are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Neither Goodreads, any of our affiliates, nor any of our or their respective licensors, licensees, service providers or suppliers warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the products, offerings, content and materials (including, without limitation, the fee-based products) in this website in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise. Further, please note that no advice or information, obtained by you from our personnel or through this website shall create any warranty not expressly provided for in this agreement.

Limitation of Liability

You expressly understand and agree that Goodreads and our affiliates shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or any other damages whatsoever, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages), arising out of, or resulting from, (a) the use or the inability to use this website (including, without limitation, the fee-based products); (b) the use of any content or other material (including, without limitation, the fee-based products) on this website or any website or websites linked to this website, (c) the cost of procurement of substitute goods and services resulting from any goods, data, information or services purchased or obtained or messages received or transactions entered into through or from this website (including, without limitation, the fee-based products); (d) unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (e) statements or conduct of any third party on our website (including, without limitation, the fee-based products); or (f) any other matter relating to this website. In no event shall our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action (whether in contract, tort (including, but not limited to, negligence), or otherwise) exceed the amount paid by you, if any, for accessing this website. If you are dissatisfied with any portion of our website, or with any of provision of this agreement, your sole and exclusive remedy is the discontinuation of your use of this website.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold Goodreads, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and other partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney's fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Service in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of these Terms & Conditions and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

All questions relating to this website's validity, interpretations, performance and enforcement, including the Terms & Conditions, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California. Any action relating to this website's validity, interpretations, performance and enforcement, including the Terms & Conditions, must be brought in the federal or state courts located in Santa Monica, CA, and you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. Our failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of these Terms & Conditions will not constitute a waiver of our right to subsequently enforce such provision or any other provision of this policy. Any waiver, amendment or other modification of any provision of these Terms & Conditions will be effective only if in writing and signed by an authorized representative of Goodreads.

Goodreads will not be responsible or liable to you for any delay or failure to perform under these Terms & Conditions if such delay or failure results from fire, explosion, labor dispute, earthquake, casualty or accident, lack or failure of transportation facilities and/or services, lack or failure of telecommunications facilities and/or services including Internet services, epidemic, flood, drought, or by reason of war, civil commotion, blockade or embargo, act of God, any inability to obtain any requisite license, permit or authorization, or by reason of any law, proclamation, regulation, ordinance, demand or requirement of any government or by reason of any other cause whatsoever, whether similar or dissimilar to those enumerated, beyond the reasonable control of Goodreads.

Special Admonitions for International Use

Recognizing the global nature of the Internet, you agree to comply with all local rules regarding online conduct and acceptable content. Specifically, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

Software from this Site (the "Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the Site or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Syria, or any other Country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods; or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the Software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

Miscellaneous Terms

Goodreads may assign our rights and obligations under this Agreement. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of our successors, assigns and licensees. The failure of either party to insist upon or enforce the strict performance of the other party with respect to any provision of this Agreement, or to exercise any right under this Agreement, will not be construed as a waiver or relinquishment to any extent of such party's right to assert or rely upon any such provision or right in that or any other instance; rather, the same will be and remain in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement

These Terms & Conditions represent the complete and entire agreement between Goodreads and you and supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements of the parties relating to the subject mater hereof. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. You acknowledge that you have read these Terms & Conditions and understand and agree to all of them in their entirety. You have independently evaluated the desirability of using Goodreads, and are not relying on any representation, guarantee, or statement other than as set forth in these Terms & Conditions.

We sincerely hope you enjoy your use of the Goodreads site. Please understand that these rules help make it possible to offer members these Services.

IMPORTANT: These Terms & Conditions of Service for Goodreads Services ("Agreement") is a legal agreement between you and Goodreads Inc. By using or accepting the Services, you agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to the Terms of this Agreement, do not use these Services. You agree that your use of the services acknowledges that you have read this Agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its Terms and Conditions.