Terms and Conditions 
Last Updated April 19, 2025
This website and any other communication portal (the “Platform”) are all provided by Trunk of My Car Cooperative, a Hawai`i multi-stakeholder cooperative (the “Cooperative”). All interactions with the Platform are governed by these Terms and Conditions (these “Terms”).
The Platform includes communications between You and the Cooperative, any of its members or users, including, but not limited to, email communications, Platform comment and/or feedback forums, community governance forums, event participation, and other communications conducted through the Platform.
These Terms incorporate the Privacy Policy and any other applicable agreement between You and the Cooperative.
Your Acceptance of These Terms/ Updates
Your use of the Platform constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Your agreement to comply with them. If You do not agree to these terms, You must not use the Platform. Your use of the Platform does not in any way create an employer/employee relationship between You and the Cooperative.
We may amend these Terms from time to time and shall notify users whose current email addresses we have on file via email. We highly recommend that You revisit these Terms each time You use the Platform.
Your continued use of the Platform shall indicate Your acceptance of the most current version of the Terms.
These Terms Apply to You
The Platform operates for users based in the United States. We do not represent that our Platform is permissible or available in Your location if You are not based within the United States or any of its territories.
You must create an account on the Platform in order to utilize our services. The Cooperative offers both member and non-member accounts. Only one registration per person is allowed and the Cooperative does not permit shared accounts.
You are responsible for all activity on Your account. Should You suspect that Your account has been compromised in any form, it is Your responsibility to notify the Cooperative immediately via email to info@trunkofmycar.org.
The Cooperative reserves the right to terminate any user’s account for failure to comply with these Terms.
Sales, Delivery, Return Policy
The Platform operates in a manner that allows users to both publish, sell, and/or buy literary works and services. We operate in such a way that we honor the hard work of our Creators, our Readers, and our Workers. So all sales are final. But.
If there is a problem with your order, say, the digital file is corrupt or won’t load or what-have-you, reach out to our tech team tech@trunkofmycar.org and we’ll figure out a solution. If there is an issue with a service you’ve paid for and you are unable to work out a reasonable solution with the user offering said service, reach out to info@trunkofmycar.org and we will request more information and do our best to reach a resolution that leaves both parties satisfied.
That said, Creators are encouraged to double-check the quality of their book files – both electronic and audio. Creators providing services are also encouraged to ensure that they can meet the stated goals (you have those right?) in the timetable agreed upon (y’all did that right?). Users who are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution to any transaction or agreement with another user shall utilize the Cooperative’s mediation dispute process by contacting info@trunkofmycar.org.
Books purchased through the Platform will be available immediately for download and purchases will remain attached to Users’ accounts until User deletes their account or in the event the Cooperative dissolves, in accordance with the terms set forth in the formation documents. We recommend that Users download their purchases immediately after purchasing. Each purchase is limited to one (1) download. If, for any reason, you need to download a file more than once, or if your download is unavailable, or does not load, please contact tech@trunkofmycar.org.
Payment Methods
We use Stripe to process payments to and from the Cooperative and/or Platform. While we cannot guarantee that every transaction will run smoothly, we can provide support, to the extent that we are able, with any payment issue that arises with Stripe. While we can provide transaction documentation related to a dispute, the Cooperative is not responsible for advocating on Your behalf, nor are we responsible for any payment issues not caused by our actions.
Non-members who use the Platform to sell books (e-books, audiobooks, physical books shipped directly by the Creator) agree to receive a royalty rate of 80% for books. Non-members who offer services agree to pay 5% of the transaction service fee to the Cooperative. Non-members should not offer, nor accept payment for work generated from the Platform outside of the Platform. The Cooperative reserves the right to ban Users from access for violation of this policy. All sales are subject to Stripe transaction fees (as of 3/27/2025 .30 + 2.9%).
Rules of Engagement
This Platform runs on the content You provide. Content includes, but is not limited to, books in both written and audio formats, comments, reviews, and any such material posted, offered, and/or uploaded onto the Platform. Such Content shall not contain hate speech or glorification of abuse or threats of any kind, including but not limited to, that which includes sexual, racial, and/or gender expression.
Users shall not harass or SPAM or attempt to intimidate or coerce or interact with other users against their consent. If another user asks You to no longer contact or interact with that user, You must cease contact and interactions immediately.
Users shall not copy, recreate, take screenshots of or share Content that belongs to the Cooperative or another user in any other space outside of the Cooperative without permission from that Content’s owner. This includes, but is not limited to, social media sites, text messages, email communications, print communications, or recordings of any kind. Our duty is to protect users of the Platform’s privacy and from unintended or undesired exposure, we take that duty seriously.
Cooperative membership is limited to adults who are at least 18 years old. The Platform welcomes Users of all ages; however, Users under 18 are restricted from access to forums and content uploaded by Users that contain adult content warnings. Users under the age of 18 who misrepresent their age to access forums and other restricted content shall be banned from the Platform.
Users who disregard these policies shall face immediate termination and/or removal from community, in accordance with the process outlined in the Bylaws, from the Cooperative without opportunity to return. Our goal is to create community here, let’s play with kindness and mutual respect.
Copyright
Users agree to respect the intellectual property of other Users of the site and any intellectual property rights belonging to others outside of the site. In other words, Users are prohibited from sharing work that is not of their own creation and/or is not in the public domain.
Should the Cooperative receive a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) takedown notice on behalf of a User, we will notify the User of said notice and remove any such work until we can determine the rightful owner of the work. If we are unable to determine the rightful owner, we must remove the work from the Platform without option to reload. If You receive a DMCA takedown notice directly, You must notify the Cooperative at info@trunkofmycar.org within five (5) business days of receiving said notice.
For this reason, we recommend Users register their work with the US Copyright Office upon completion of the work. Yes, copyright automatically belongs to You upon completion of a work, but registered works have greater protection than that which is unregistered. Note, this statement does not constitute legal advice.
Users found violating copyright laws shall be barred from the Platform.
ISBN Registration
ISBNs are numbers assigned to books to make them more discoverable. ISBNs are available through Bowker. The Cooperative buys blocks of ISBNs for Users to register their books with. ISBNs are recommended but not required for books sold on the Platform.
One book format per ISBN registration. If You choose to register Your book with an ISBN, note that You must register a separate ISBN for each format – for example, if You register an ebook and an audiobook, each format must have its own ISBN.
The Cooperative does not sell nor charge for Cooperative issued ISBNs; however, we do charge an administrative fee of $5.00 for member Users and $15 for non-member Users to register each ISBN with Bowker. Note that books imprinted with Cooperative issued ISBNs will list the Cooperative as the publisher. Users have the option to purchase ISBNs individually directly from Bowker in order to be listed as publisher.
The Cooperative does not prohibit the use of Cooperative issued ISBNs from being utilized on any other site where You publish Your work.
Bowker offers UPC codes for physical works (physical books, CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes…) for $25.00. To attach a UPC to an ISBN registered via the Cooperative, select the service on the ISBN registration page. We do not charge fees for obtaining UPC codes for members or non-member users. Upon receiving payment, we will process and return your UPC code within 24 hours.
Digital Rights Management
Digital Rights Management or DRM is the use of technology to control how the public can interact with Your work. The Cooperative does not utilize any DRM technology or make any available to both member or non-member user. If You would like to protect Your work using DRM technology, You must do so with the process You choose and at Your expense. The Cooperative shall not provide assistance nor support with any DRM-related conflicts.
Governance
These Terms shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Hawai`i.
Severability
If any provision of these Terms shall be found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall be deemed valid and fully enforceable to the extent permitted by law.