Last Modified: July 1, 2026
1. Ownership of Site; Acceptance of the Terms of Use
These Terms and Conditions of Use are entered into by and between You and Lightning Source LLC ("LS," "we," or "us"). The following terms and conditions, together with any documents expressly incorporated by reference (collectively, "Terms of Use"), govern your access to and use of https://coveredbooks.com, including any content, functionality, and services offered on or through the Covered platform (the "Website"). Covered is a digital catalog and discovery platform enabling publishers to share catalogs, marketing materials, and digital review copies (“DRCs”) with booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals.
Please read the Terms of Use carefully before you use the Website. By using the Website or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Use, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Use, including our Privacy Notice which is incorporated herein by reference. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, do not access or use the Website.
The Website is the property of Lightning Source LLC and its licensors. LS belongs to a group of affiliated companies doing business as Ingram Content Group (“Ingram”). By agreeing to these terms, you may grant rights to LS affiliates as set out below.
LS reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use, at any time. Your continued use of the Website will mean that you accept and agree to the changes. As long as you comply with these Terms of Use, LS grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited privilege to enter and use the Website.
This Website is only offered and available to users who are eighteen (18) years of age or older. By using this Website, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with Lightning Source LLC and meet all eligibility requirements. If you do not meet all of these requirements, you must not access or use the Website.
2. Accessing the Website and Account Security
We reserve the right to withdraw or amend this Website, and any service or material we provide on the Website, in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Website, or the entire Website, to users, including registered users.
You are responsible for both:
To access the Website or some of the resources it offers, you may be asked to register and provide certain details or other information. Your account role—publisher, bookseller, librarian, or other industry professional role—will determine the features available to you. It is a condition of your use of the Website that all the information you provide is correct, current, and complete. You agree that all information you provide is governed by our Privacy Notice and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Notice.
You further represent and warrant that you are a bona fide publisher, bookseller, librarian, or other industry professional with a legitimate business need to access the Website, and that neither you nor any entity on whose behalf you are acting is a Competitor of LS or its affiliates. A "Competitor" means any person or entity that, in LS’s sole reasonable judgment, operates, owns, controls, or is affiliated with an entity that operates, a business that competes with LS, Ingram Content Group, or any of their affiliates. LS may, in its sole discretion, condition access to the Website on verification of your identity, business role, and eligibility, and may approve, deny, suspend, or revoke access for any applicant or user at any time, with or without cause or notice.
If you choose, or are provided with, a username, password, or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your username, password, or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your username or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
We have the right to disable any username, password, or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms of Use.
You may not create or maintain more than one account without our prior written consent, and you may not share your login credentials with, or permit access to your account by, any other individual or entity, including any Competitor. We may immediately suspend or terminate your access to the Website, without notice, if we suspect fraud, misuse, unauthorized automated access or scraping, a violation of these Terms of Use, or that you are, or are acting on behalf of, a Competitor.
3. Beta Services
LS may make the Website and/or features available to Beta users (“Beta”). By accessing the Beta, you understand and acknowledge that the Beta is provided on an "As Is" and "As Available" basis. The Beta may contain bugs, errors, and other problems. LS may discontinue the Beta or any Beta feature at any time, for any reason, and without notice or liability.
To the extent permitted under applicable laws, LS will have no liability for any loss, expense, or damage arising from or in connection with the Beta. We are not obligated to provide any maintenance, technical, or other support for the Beta beyond what is expressly communicated. The Beta is made available to you for the purposes of evaluation and feedback without any compensation or reimbursement of any kind.
As part of using the Beta, you may be asked to provide feedback regarding your use. You hereby assign to LS all right, title, and interest in and to any feedback you provide, and to the extent any such assignment is not effective, you grant to us and our affiliates a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully sublicensable, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, and otherwise exploit such feedback and incorporate it into any of our products or services at our sole discretion with no compensation to you. If we choose to publish such feedback, we will either do so in a way that does not identify you or seek your consent in the event we do wish to identify you. We may also monitor how you use the Beta and use that information to improve the Website or our other products and services.
4. User Roles and Permitted Uses
The Website serves multiple categories of users. The following general permissions apply based on your registered role:
4.1 Publishers
Registered publishers may create and publish catalogs, upload marketing materials and metadata, provide DRCs, and manage access to their content for booksellers, librarians, and others, and any other features or functions permitted by LS. Publishers are solely responsible for all content they upload, including ensuring they hold appropriate rights in relevant jurisdictions to distribute such content through the Website. Publishers represent and warrant compliance with Content Standards in section 10.
4.2 Booksellers and Librarians
Registered booksellers and librarians may browse publisher catalogs, access DRCs, create profiles, write reviews, manage contacts, use tools (including rep notes, buy suggestions, comps, and order export), and utilize applicable point-of-sale integrations, and any other features or functions permitted by LS. Access to content is subject to publisher permissions and availability. Booksellers and Librarians represent and warrant compliance with Content Standards in section 10.
4.3 Other Users
Other approved user types may access DRCs and catalog information as permitted by LS and publishers. Use of DRCs is limited to review and promotional purposes only and must not be shared, redistributed, or commercially exploited. All users represent and warrant compliance with Content Standards in section 10.
4.4 Eligibility; Excluded Users.
Access to the Website is limited to bona fide publishers, booksellers, librarians and libraries, and other industry professionals approved by LS in its sole discretion (collectively, "Authorized Users"). LS reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without liability, to (a) refuse, suspend, or revoke registration or access for any applicant or user it determines to be a Competitor or otherwise ineligible, and (b) request documentation verifying an applicant's or user's business role and eligibility at any time.
5. Data Sharing
LS may offer data-sharing features that allow users to share certain business, transaction, or other data with each other or with LS. Participation in these data-sharing programs is optional. If these features are available to you, you may opt in or opt out of data-sharing features through your account settings at any time. Where a user opts in to data sharing, additional terms will apply.
6. Content and Intellectual Property Rights
6.1 Platform Content
The Website and its platform infrastructure, features, and functionality (including but not limited to all software, interface design, data compilations, aggregated and anonymized data, usage analytics, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by LS, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
6.2 Publisher Content
Publishers retain intellectual property rights to their own titles and DRCs they upload to the Website ("Publisher Content"). By uploading Publisher Content, publishers grant LS a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, distribute, and make available such Publisher Content to Authorized Users through the Website.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, DRCs remain subject to the display-only, review-and-promotion restrictions. and LS will not sell, mine, or use Publisher Content to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models or for any purpose beyond operating the Website and providing the services described herein. The license to Publisher Content shall terminate upon removal of such content by the publisher, subject to a reasonable period (not to exceed thirty (30) days) for LS to complete removal from its systems, caches, and backups.
6.3 Marketing Information
Bibliographic and descriptive information about a title, plus marketing assets that is authorized for public distribution, including book titles, authors, descriptions, categories, and similar catalog data ("Marketing Information") is licensed to LS on a broader, ongoing basis. By uploading Marketing Information, you grant LS a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free, fully sublicensable license to host, display, analyze, distribute, and make available such Marketing Information across the Website and other Ingram platforms and services, unless otherwise agreed, for the purposes of operating, marketing, and improving those platforms and development of products and services by LS and its affiliates. This license survives removal of the associated Publisher Content, so that catalog records remain intact across Ingram’s systems. In addition, we may use artificial intelligence including generative AI with Marketing Information and User Generated Content (but not Publisher Content) to support the discovery, evaluation, and marketing of titles, and to improve the Website and support processes.
6.4 User-Generated Content
Booksellers, librarians, and other registered users may contribute collections, reviews, ratings, tags, comments, profile information, store or event details, and similar content through the Website ("User-Generated Content"). You retain ownership of your User-Generated Content, but by submitting it, you grant LS a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, fully sublicensable license to host, display, distribute, analyze, and otherwise use such User-Generated Content across the Website and other Ingram Content Group platforms and services, for purposes such as improving the Website, supporting analytics, and enhancing the experience for other users. This license does not extend to Contact Information or user photos, which are addressed in Section 6.5.
6.5 Personal Data
All data collected and processed in connection with the Website is subject to our Privacy Notice. LS will not sell your personal data to third parties. Contact information, user photos, and other personal data (except Marketing Information) you provide are not licensed to LS as intellectual property. This information stays associated with your use of the Website and is not shared outside the Website except as described in the Privacy Notice.
7. Permitted Use of Website Content
These Terms of Use permit you to use the Website for lawful business purposes consistent with your registered role and the features made available to you through the Website. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on our Website, except as follows:
You must not:
8. Trademarks
The Lightning Source LLC name, the Covered name and logo, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of Lightning Source LLC or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of LS. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans on this Website are the trademarks of their respective owners.
9. Prohibited Uses
You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Website:
Additionally, you agree not to:
10. Content Standards
These content standards apply to any and all information and material provided by you using the Website. LS reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove, disable, or refuse to host any content that violates these standards, without liability to you. Content must not:
11. Terms of Sale
Certain products, services, subscriptions, features, or other offerings made available through the Website may be offered for purchase (collectively, “Purchases”). All Purchases made through the Website are subject to these Terms of Use and any additional terms presented to you at the time of purchase. In the event of a conflict between these Terms of Use and any additional purchase terms, the additional purchase terms will control solely with respect to the applicable Purchase.
By making a Purchase through the Website, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to use the payment method provided and to incur charges on behalf of yourself or, if applicable, the entity for which you are acting. You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate billing, payment, and account information and to promptly update such information as necessary to complete your transaction and contact you, as needed, in connection with your Purchase.
All prices, fees, charges, and payment terms for Purchases are as displayed on the Website or otherwise presented at the time of purchase. Unless expressly stated otherwise, all amounts are stated and payable in U.S. dollars and are exclusive of any applicable taxes, duties, levies, or similar governmental assessments, all of which are your sole responsibility. Sales tax will be calculated, displayed, and charged as applicable, for United States sourced purchases at checkout from the Covered web store or via invoice or other statement if you are an existing LS customer. Sales tax will be based on the Authorized User’s credit card billing address if purchased via the Covered web store or based on the billing address on file if transacted via invoice or other statement. When billed via invoice or other statement, the Authorized User’s location may be used if provided and allowed based on the respective state’s taxability.
You authorize LS and its third-party payment processors to charge your selected payment method for all amounts due in connection with your Purchase, including any applicable taxes and other charges disclosed to you at the time of purchase.
DRC Availability. Publisher DRCs are available to Authorized Users for a maximum period of twelve months from the date of upload. Booksellers’ and Librarians’ access to DRCs are equal to the availability permitted by Publisher subject to these terms.
We reserve the right, at any time and in our sole discretion, to change the products, services, features, availability, specifications, descriptions, pricing, and fees associated with any Purchases offered through the Website subject to applicable law. We also reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions relating to pricing or availability and to cancel or refuse any order placed based on incorrect information, including after submission of an order or after a charge has been initiated. We may limit or refuse any Purchase in our sole discretion, including where we suspect fraud, unauthorized activity, or a violation of these Terms of Use.
Unless otherwise expressly stated at the time of purchase, all Purchases are final and non-cancelable and all amounts paid are non-refundable except as required by law. If we offer subscriptions, recurring services, or automatically renewing paid features through the Website, the applicable billing frequency, renewal terms, cancellation process, and any additional terms will be presented to you at the time of enrollment, and you authorize us to charge your payment method on a recurring basis in accordance with those terms until you cancel in the manner specified.
Delivery or access to purchased digital products, services, or features may be made available electronically through the Website or Covered mobile app immediately following successful payment processing or through a binding agreement for payment. You acknowledge that access to certain purchased items may be subject to technical requirements, account status, role-based permissions, availability, or additional eligibility criteria communicated on the Website. We shall have no liability for any delay or failure in providing access caused by inaccurate account information, payment failure, third-party payment processor issues, or your failure to satisfy applicable access requirements.
You are responsible for reviewing your Purchases promptly upon delivery or access. If you believe that you have been charged in error or have not received the applicable purchased item, you must notify us by email at support@coveredbooks.com within thirty (30) days after the charge date or the date such item should have been made available, whichever is earlier. Failure to notify us within that period will constitute your waiver of any claim relating to such issue to the extent permitted by applicable law.
We may suspend or terminate access to any purchased product, service, subscription, or feature if your payment cannot be completed, is reversed, is subject to chargeback, or if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated these Terms of Use or any applicable purchase terms. Our exercise of such rights will not limit any other remedies available to us.
12. Copyright Infringement
If you believe that content hosted on the Website infringes your copyright, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 512) ("DMCA") by providing our designated Copyright Agent with the required information below at copyrightagent@ingramcontent.com and we will respond based on your allegation. LS has adopted and implements a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, accounts of users who are repeat infringers. In order to evaluate your allegation, the following information is required:
Our Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on its site can be reached as follows:
Lightning Source LLC 1246 Heil Quaker Blvd. LaVergne, TN 37086 ATTN: Copyright Agent copyrightagent@ingramcontent.com.
Please note that this procedure is exclusively for notifying us that your copyrighted material has been infringed.
13. No Reliance on Information Posted
The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. WE DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR USEFULNESS OF THIS INFORMATION. ANY RELIANCE YOU PLACE ON SUCH INFORMATION IS STRICTLY AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY ARISING FROM ANY RELIANCE PLACED ON SUCH MATERIALS BY YOU OR ANY OTHER VISITOR TO THE WEBSITE, OR BY ANYONE WHO MAY BE INFORMED OF ANY OF ITS CONTENTS.
This Website may include content provided by third parties, including Publisher Content uploaded by publishers. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of LS. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties, including publishers.
14. Links from the Website
If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.
15. Geographic Restrictions
The owner of the Website is based in the State of Tennessee in the United States. We make no claims that the Website or any of its content is accessible, accurate, or appropriate for use outside of the United States at this time. Access to the Website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Website from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
16. Disclaimer of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available from the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER LIGHTNING SOURCE LLC NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED OR AFFILIATED WITH LIGHTNING SOURCE LLC MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, LIGHTNING SOURCE LLC HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
17. Limitation on Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL LIGHTNING SOURCE LLC, ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT OR WHICH INTERACTS WITH IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL LIGHTNING SOURCE LLC, ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE FOR ANY AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO LS FOR USE OF THE WEBSITE DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) $500.
The limitation of liability set out above does not apply to liability resulting from our gross negligence or willful misconduct. THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
18. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Lightning Source LLC, its affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms of Use or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to, (a) any use of the Website's content, services, and products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, (b) your use or misuse of any information obtained from the Website, or (c) any Publisher Content you upload to the Website, (d) any misrepresentation regarding your eligibility or Competitor status under Section 4.4, or (e) any unauthorized scraping, harvesting, or use of the Website or its content for any purpose other than as explicitly permitted herein. LS reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify LS, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of such claims.
19. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Tennessee without giving effect to conflict of laws principles. Each party irrevocably agrees that the United States district courts and state courts having jurisdiction in Davidson County, Tennessee shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or the Website, and each party irrevocably waives any objection to such venue on the grounds of inconvenient forum or otherwise.
20. Limitation on Time to File Claims
ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE WEBSITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.
21. Waiver and Severability
No waiver by Lightning Source LLC of any term or condition set out in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of Lightning Source LLC to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.
22. Entire Agreement
The Terms of Use, our Privacy Notice, and any additional terms expressly referenced herein or presented to you through the Website (including additional Purchase terms or Data Supply terms) constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and Lightning Source LLC regarding the Website and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Website.
23. Your Comments and Concerns
This website is operated by Lightning Source LLC, 1246 Heil Quaker Boulevard, LaVergne, TN 37086.
All feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Website should be directed to: support@coveredbooks.com
