Types of Users

In these Terms, Leanpub Users may be referenced according to their functions or responsibilities, as follows:

• Account Holder: The individual or organization that owns a Leanpub Account. An organization can hold an account through a designated representative.
• Author: A person who has created a Product on Leanpub.
• Cause: A non-profit or charitable organization included in the Leanpub for Causes program.
• Co-Author: An additional Author of a Product, who is not the Primary Author.
• Contributor: A person credited for contributing to a Product but not receiving royalties (e.g., editors, reviewers).
• Editor: A User with editing access to Products associated with an Organization’s Leanpub account.
• Minor: A person under the legal age of majority in their jurisdiction.
• Organization: Any User holding or having held an Organization Account.
• Original Account Holder: The person or organization that initially created a Leanpub Account.
• Partner: An organization or individual in our Partner Program.
• Primary Author: The Author or Account Holder with administrative authority over a Product, responsible for tasks like setting royalties and managing Co-Authors.
• Reader: A User who accesses a Product on Leanpub. This includes Users without a registered account.
• Visitor: Any person interacting with the Services (e.g., browsing the website or forums).

When a Product is created by a User, the User who creates it is automatically designated as the Primary Author of that Product. The Primary Author can perform tasks such as managing royalties, adding or removing Co-Authors, and other administrative actions allowed by Leanpub.

The Primary Author has the most administrative authority over a Product on Leanpub, except for Leanpub platform administrators. However, when a Product is created by or transferred to an Organization, the Organization Account Holder holds more administrative authority than the Primary Author.

The assignment of Primary Author status by Leanpub does not reflect any claim by Leanpub to ownership of copyright or other rights in the Product or Content. However, a User can only create a Product if they are the copyright holder or have the legal rights to do so. Therefore, when a User creates a Product and becomes its Primary Author, this implicitly represents a claim to ownership of the copyright or the necessary rights to the Product.

The Primary Author can transfer their status to another User. When this happens, the new User becomes the Primary Author with all its responsibilities, and the previous Primary Author becomes a Co-Author if they remain associated with the Product. Leanpub may also transfer Primary Author status at its discretion.

The Primary Author can assign Co-Author status to other Users, and Co-Authors must accept this role through Leanpub’s user interface. Assigning Co-Author status does not imply any statement about their copyright ownership or other rights in the Product.

If there is a dispute about authorship, Leanpub may investigate and take actions such as removing the Product or restricting access to it for both the Primary Author and any current or former Co-Authors.

The Primary Author can revoke Co-Author status at any time, and the Co-Author will no longer receive new royalties for the Product. This revocation does not affect previously earned royalties.

The Primary Author may unilaterally change the royalty allocation between themselves and any Co-Authors. These changes take effect going forward and do not affect royalties already earned.

In case of disputes between Authors, Leanpub may investigate and take any necessary actions, such as retiring or removing the Product, or revoking access from one or more Authors, including the Primary Author and any Co-Authors.

Organizations may include all types of entities, including companies, publishers, and universities. There are no separate terms for different types of Organizations, but the type of the Organization may be asked, and may affect how the Organization information is displayed on Leanpub.

The terms in this Terms of Service and the Leanpub Privacy Policy also apply to Organizations.

Organizations are responsible for managing any payments, including royalties or compensation, to authors, content creators, editors, and other individuals or entities they work with. Ruboss is not responsible for handling or mediating any financial or contractual disputes between an Organization and those it works with. Ruboss will only disburse royalties according to the royalty payment settings configured within the associated Leanpub Account. Any internal agreements or divisions of royalties among the Organization and its collaborators are the sole responsibility of the Organization and are outside of Ruboss’s control.

An Organization may have multiple addenda that specify additional terms, such as a non-sublicensable license, special account closure terms, indemnification terms or limitation of liability terms.

Authors and Organizations are free to assign a royalty percentage from their royalties on a particular Product to any Cause that has been approved as part of the Leanpub for Causes program, which allows Authors and Organizations to share royalties with a Cause (“Leanpub for Causes”, or the “Leanpub for Causes Program”). However, this does not imply any endorsement on the part of the Cause of the Author and/or Organization or the associated Product, Content, actions, or statements made by any party associated with the Product or its promotion or dissemination on Leanpub or elsewhere.

Royalties owed to Causes will be paid via PayPal using the PayPal email address associated with the Cause in the form used to register and maintain information about Causes.

Any User with the ability to change the royalty percentage owing to a Cause in association with the sale of a Product may change the royalty percentage owing to a Cause at any time and for any reason. Such changes have no effect on royalties owing prior to the change in the royalty percentage owing to the Cause.

Partners will have a signed contract with Ruboss regarding their participation in our Partner Program. A Partner is not required to have an Account.