Le Villain Book Covers Terms and Conditions

Le Villain Book Covers is a Company that provides:

 

1. Premade and custom cover design services:

• Photo-manipulated ebook and print book cover designs
• Audiobook cover designs
• Vector illustration cover designs
• Typography designs

 

2. Interior book formatting and layouts

 

3. Premade logo design

 

4. Marketing material designs, such as:

• Cover reveal images
• Social media covers
• Book release banners
• Advertising images
• A+ content
• Box set images
• Business card designs

 

5. Author website design

Le Villain Book Covers offers website design services specifically for authors. These websites are built using WordPress and the Divi Theme, and may include:

• Custom-designed layouts (not templates)
• Mobile-responsive design
• Contact forms (via Gravity Forms)
• Email newsletter sign-up forms (via Bloom)
• Book showcase pages
• Blog or podcast integration (if requested)
• Basic on-page SEO and search engine listing
• 12 months of included hosting and basic maintenance
• One month of post-launch email support for small updates

 

The Company reserves the right to modify, alter, or add services at any time and without prior notice, except if the Client has already submitted the order or the Company has already started to execute the Client’s order, in which case no changes will be made.

 

Ownership and Copyright

1. Upon purchasing a premade or custom-designed cover, the Client is purchasing a license to use the cover. The copyright of the final design belongs to me, the designer and the copyright of the image/s used in the design is retained by the artist or photographer.

2. The Client cannot ask another designer to design the paperback cover for a custom ebook cover or a premade cover designed by Le Villain Book Covers because the designer holds the copyright on the final design. Please do not ask another designer to copy one of Le Villain Book Covers’ designs or use a cover creator to create a paperback. If the Client would like a paperback, please contact Le Villain Book Covers to discuss the pricing.

3. The Client has no right to alter the final cover design in any way except to change the size for printing or digital display. If the Client desires any alterations, they have to consult Le Villain Book Covers. Additional payments may be required to make these alterations.

4. The Client may not hire another designer to create derivative, imitative, or closely matching works based on a design provided by Le Villain Book Covers, including for series branding or continuation purposes. This includes copying the layout, fonts, colours, composition, or overall visual style of the original design.

If you require additional covers for a series or wish to maintain cohesive branding, you must commission those covers directly through Le Villain Book Covers. Sharing a design with another designer for the purpose of duplication, adaptation, or emulation constitutes copyright infringement and is strictly prohibited.

 

Design Protection and Unauthorised Use

5. All designs displayed on the Le Villain Book Covers website, social media accounts, or marketing materials are protected under UK and international copyright law, regardless of sale status. Any reproduction, imitation, adaptation, or substantial copying of a Le Villain Book Covers design—including composition, layout, colour palette, typography, or concept—without written permission constitutes copyright infringement. The Company actively monitors for infringement and will issue DMCA takedown requests and pursue legal action when necessary. Displaying or reselling a work that imitates a Le Villain Book Covers design will be treated as theft of intellectual property.

 

Licensing

6. All of the covers and marketing materials are designed with licensed stock images, illustrations, and vectors purchased from Shutterstock, Depositphotos and iStock; no AI images, images used from free sites, or images sourced from Canva are used to create these images.

7. Images used to create all of my book covers have standard licenses that allow an unlimited number of ebook sales and online postings, 500,000 physical print sales, and cannot be used to create merchandise.

8. In the event that the Client’s physical book sales exceed 500,000, please let Le Villain Book Covers know because I will need to purchase an extended licence for an extra fee per image. Don’t worry, it’s not as expensive as you’d imagine. In this instance, I will calculate the cost, forward you the invoice, and then purchase the correct licenses.

9. PSD or source files are not available for sale due to stock and font license terms and conditions.

10. All of the covers designed by Le Villain Book Covers cannot be sold without text.

11. The book covers and marketing images designed by Le Villain Book Covers cannot be resold due to the image licensing terms and conditions.

 

Payments

12. All fees are payable before the premade cover, custom cover design, formatting, marketing materials and logo design process can begin. This is to avoid the theft of book covers and other design materials, where the client ghosts the designer after getting the final design and refuses to pay.

13. Because of the nature of these book covers, Le Villain Book Covers can not accept returns for digital products; however, the designer will work with the Client to ensure you are satisfied with the final book cover. If you have any questions about the changes Le Villain Book Covers can make, please send me an email first. Please note: I live and work in London, UK, so there might be a short delay between sending your message and my reply.

14. In the unlikely event that I cancel and issue a refund, you cannot use the formatted book files or book cover and no longer have any creative, publishing, or ownership/rights over the files; these rights are forfeited back to me as the designer. And you cannot go to another designer and ask them to recreate the cover I designed for you. That would be considered intellectual property theft.

15. Website design fees are non-refundable once work has commenced. If a project is cancelled before work begins, the deposit may be partially refundable at the Company’s discretion. In the event of a cancellation, the Client may not use any part of the unfinished design or request a handover of partially completed files.

16. Upon final payment, the Client receives full ownership and administrative access to the finished website. However, any third-party tools (e.g. Divi theme, Gravity Forms, Bloom) are provided under the Company’s license and may not be transferred or reused outside of the original website project.

 

Premade Covers

17. Edits to the title, series title, and author name are included in the price of all my premade book covers. It is possible to request tiny changes to font colours, but I cannot change major parts of the premade cover, including the cover model, move items around, change the font, or remove the book title completely; these kinds of changes are considered custom work. So, please ask about making changes before purchasing the cover.

 

Premade Logos

18. Premade logo designs are digital products delivered in PNG and JPEG formats. No vector or source files, such as PSD or AI files, are included with the purchase due to stock image and font licensing restrictions.

19. Each premade logo is sold with either a non-exclusive or exclusive licence. The non-exclusive licence is the default and allows the same base design to be resold to other clients with different customisations. The exclusive licence must be selected and purchased at the time of order and guarantees that the design will be removed from sale and will not be resold.

20. All premade logos include personalisation of the author name, tagline, and colour. The purchase price includes up to two rounds of revisions. Font changes are not included in the standard price and require an additional fee, as commercial font licences must be purchased for any changes beyond the default design.

21. Premade logos are for personal branding use only. They may be used on author websites, social media platforms, book cover designs (as part of the cover), and printed promotional materials such as bookmarks or flyers, provided these materials are given away for free. The logos may not be used on merchandise intended for resale, such as mugs, clothing, or tote bags, and may not be used as part of any registered trademark, business name, or copyright application.

22. Final files will be delivered via email within 48 business hours after approval of the watermarked proof. The Client is responsible for checking all spelling and tagline details before final delivery. Once the final logo has been approved and delivered, no further changes will be made unless quoted and agreed upon separately.

 

Book Formatting Services

23. Before the book formatting services commence, the client needs to provide an edited and proofread manuscript. Le Villain Book Covers will not accept manuscripts with spelling and grammatical errors, and double spacing after a period. In the event that Le Villain Book Covers receives a manuscript that is not edited, the designer will suggest an edit, then refund the sale or wait for the editing process to end, depending on the Client’s wishes.

 

Attribution

24. When your book is offered for sale, please credit “Le Villain Book Covers” on the copyright page of your book.

 

Author Website Design Services

25. The website design service includes setup, layout design, mobile responsiveness, basic SEO, and integration with select third-party services such as mailing list providers. Each website package specifies the number of included pages and features (e.g. contact form, email sign-up, blog, book pages). Any requests outside the scope of the selected package may incur additional fees.

26. Each website package includes up to two rounds of design revisions before launch. These are intended for fine-tuning the layout, updating copy, or adjusting visual elements. Additional revisions can be quoted separately and will be invoiced before implementation.

27. All website packages include 12 months of hosting and basic maintenance through Le Villain Book Covers. This includes updates to WordPress, the Divi theme, and included plugins, as well as security monitoring and support for minor changes. After 12 months, hosting may be renewed at the current listed rate or transferred to the Client’s own hosting account for a one-time migration fee.

28. Each website includes one month of post-launch email support for minor edits and questions. Ongoing support is available as a monthly add-on. This support does not include content creation, major redesigns, SEO strategy, or marketing services.

 

Communication

29. The Company communicates with Clients via email, the Etsy message portal, or through the website (levillainbookcovers.com). Messages will be responded to in a timely manner. Please note that responses may not be immediate and are subject to the designer’s availability and the designer’s timezone.

30. Estimated turnaround times are listed on the service page and begin once the Client has paid the deposit and submitted all required content. These are estimates only. Delays caused by missing content, late feedback, or revision requests may affect the final delivery timeline.

31. Timely communication and respect for deadlines help ensure a smooth author website design process. The Company reserves the right to pause or cancel projects if the Client becomes unresponsive for more than three business days without prior notice (this includes known public or bank holidays).

 

Client Responsibilities

32. Before purchasing any of my premade covers, please check that the covers best represent your stories as closely as possible and read all of the details in the description below the images.

33. The client is responsible for proofreading all text on the book covers.

34. It’s the Client’s responsibility to provide the Company with the correct book size and ISBN number before the design is finalised.

35. When executing a book cover design or any other artwork for print or digital use, Le Villain Book Covers does not take responsibility for mistakes related to the content of the provided blurb (spelling, typographical, grammatical, semantic, lexical, and stylistic). The Company does not correct any mistakes in the blurb.

36. The Client is responsible for providing all written content, images, and relevant links required for the website build. All content must be submitted before the design process begins. Delays in providing content may extend the delivery timeline.

 

Responsibilities of the Designer

37. Le Villain Book Covers will respect the privacy of the Client’s ideas, manuscripts, files and personal data. These assets won’t be shared or distributed to any third parties.

38. Le Villain Book Covers will only use appropriately licensed images, illustrations, vectors, and fonts from reputable sources.

 

Liability

39. Le Villain Book Covers is not liable for incidental, indirect, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including loss of revenues or profits, loss of business or reputation, or loss of data, in any way related to our services.

40. Le Villain Book Covers is not responsible for any claim, loss, or injury based on errors or any other inaccuracies appearing on our site or in our clients’ written documents, including, without limitation, because of any breach of the terms and conditions of this agreement.

41. The finding of any provision of this agreement to be invalid or unenforceable does not render the remaining provisions invalid or unenforceable.

42. Le Villain Book Covers does not guarantee any specific results, such as book sales, visibility, or business success, as a result of using any design, website, or marketing materials. The Client acknowledges that outcomes are influenced by factors beyond the Company’s control.

43. Le Villain Book Covers reserves the right to refuse service to any client who violates these terms, disrespects the intellectual property of the Company, or otherwise behaves in a way that undermines a professional working relationship. Once a client has been declined future service, any attempt to purchase additional products or services may be blocked or cancelled.